Practical Game Design

How to design a combat system

When we talk about combat systems it is easy to think about games with stunning combat action and incredibly satisfying fights. Games such as Batman: Arkham Knight or Dark Souls have set a pretty high standard for how combat should be designed in action games. But truth be told, one of the greatest combat systems of all time still belongs to the King (and the Queen) of all games: Chess.

There is only one combat mechanic in Chess: By moving one of your pieces onto an enemy piece, you take it (out of the game). Space represents the only element of Chess' combat mechanic. So how is it possible that just this simple mechanic is at the core of one of the most competitive and long-lived games of all times? The greatness ...