Practical Game Design

Combat depth

This is going to be valid for games in general, not only for combat systems: what is depth?

It is an interesting concept to analyze because depth comes from the dynamics (the interaction of each mechanics) rather than from the mechanics themselves. Depth in games comes from the number of meaningful choices available to the player. I don’t usually look for a formal definition of game design concepts but I love this particular one and I believe it's one of the best.

Let's analyze it.

We have already seen how choices are at the core of every fun game experience. When aiming for depth, it’s a common mistake to think that the more choices available, the more depth the gameplay will have. That, of course, is not true, as, for a choice ...