Practical Game Design

Restricting negative consequences

Respawning at checkpoints, replaying stages, equipment and character removal, and last but not least, the states of permanent failure (aka permadeath); these are some of the most common examples of negative consequences.

In most cases, taking away a player's progress is a surefire way of making your game less accessible. It's especially true if you pair it with technical issues, failure to teach game systems, and a lack of anticipation and clear feedback. The last thing you want is to leave your audience unaware of the negative consequences and ill-prepared to handle them.

Don't get me wrong, failure can be good and motivating, and we obviously want our players to be challenged. But while it's great to have ...