Design Games

Reward Systems, Part Two

Episode Summary

We had more to say about reward cycles, systems, and mechanisms in theory and in practice, so this episode is about more of that.

Episode Notes

We had more to say about reward cycles, systems, and mechanisms in theory and in practice, so this episode is about more of that.

As proof that the podcast is doing its job (for us, at least): we have thoughts beyond what we were able to squeeze into this longer episode. (Will had something of an epiphany a couple of days after we recorded.) Here’s a quick rundown of additional thoughts from Nathan, starting with some mechanical forms that rewards take in-game:

• Currencies, pools of points to spend to help you (in the short or the long term)
• Immediate rewards, like a bonus or some kind of advantage that applies immediately
• Growth; some kind of pool, metric or meter that triggers different effects based on thresholds or overall totals but aren’t spent like currency

Some effects of rewards that make them, well, rewarding:

• Unlock new character elements or abilities
• Allow the player a certain kind of fictional authority, or fuel its use
• Ensure success or counteract randomness
• Establish new relationships between fictional elements or factors

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Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/