Video games have skyrocketed in popularity for entertainment nowadays. However, keeping players engaged can be challenging with many video game titles in the market. Designing game difficulty is vital to keeping people hooked on the game and making them yearn for more. 

Everyone loves a challenge, and at CIIT Philippines, we encourage our CIITizens to push their boundaries and create fresh and exciting titles. How can aspiring creators make their video game titles stimulating yet user-friendly?

Ready player one

Here are some tips and tricks for designing game difficulty to consider.

Use leading lines

You have to help your players navigate in the right direction. Leading lines are a game design technique that helps guide the player’s eye toward a particular item, location, or event. This technique is a subtle yet effective method to move players to the right path without too many breadcrumbs or additional prompts. 

Leading lines when designing game difficulty can range from different textures on the floor and wall to pipes in the ceiling. This element’s purpose is to draw to a critical gameplay moment. It can be very helpful to stir up some drama or get players excited. 

Create a timeline to design the pacing and intensity of the game

Balance is key to designing game difficulty with dynamic gameplay. Your goal is to keep your players engaged without being overwhelmed. At the same time, you don’t want them to get bored. 

Creating a timeline can help you with designing game difficulty as it enables you to calculate the average time to complete each activity and complete the level. This visualization allows you to experiment with different game elements while being mindful of how much time players need to accomplish each level’s goals. 

Utilize different tools to help players with navigation

When designing game difficulty, you need to determine how to make it easy for players to navigate through the game. The route can be complex, and the goal may not always be crystal clear. However, your players should know what to do to get there. 

The better the navigation in a game, the better the player’s experience. Adding landmarks is effective in helping players distinguish locations and roads from each other. Landmarks should be strategic and placed where they’re needed. Moreover, your landmarks should be helpful in world-building and have to make sense of the game’s overall narrative. 

Conduct some testing before it gets complex

While it’s essential to challenge your players when designing game difficulty, you shouldn’t overwhelm your players. Testing should be done in the early stages of designing a title, and this practice should be done often. 

During testing sessions, you should ask for feedback to identify and amend elements that people might find irritating. You can use their criticism constructively to improve the project continuously. Testing is vital to keep the game world consistent and intuitive, adding to the overall gamer experience.

Learning application with a little guide

Applying these tips when designing game difficulty can help aspiring creators make their video game projects more exciting. Before anything else, future creators should invest in entertainment and multimedia computing skills to master their craft. At CIIT Philippines, you enroll not only in a school that helps you become industry-ready but you’re welcomed by a community of innovators! 

Our academic institution prides itself on having industry practitioners as instructors and professors. Hence, our CIITizens are exposed to experts who can walk the talk. We use the latest game development tools to ensure our creators are ahead of the curve and ready for the real world. 

We at CIIT Philippines believe that quality education, like a Bachelor of Science in Entertainment and Multimedia Computing degree, should be accessible to everyone. That’s why we offer multiple scholarship programs, including the Interweave Scholarship Program, Future CIITizen Scholarship Grant, and CIIT Financial Aid Program to help dreamers achieve their goals. Moreover, our CIIT Online Admission System (COAST) enables aspiring CIITizens complete and receive updates on their applications in real time. 
When you enroll at CIIT Philippines, you won’t just be exposed to Entertainment and Multimedia Computing students. You will also be immersed in a community that will maximize your potential for future success. Explore our college and senior high school offerings to know more.