#difficulty game design

[mrrempton]

More Than Meets the Eye: The Secrets of Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment

More Than Meets the Eye: The Secrets of Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment

In last week’s article I examined some of the most interesting and common hidden mechanics in games. However, there is one category of hidden mechanics that is more varied and pervasive than any other – mechanics that adjust the game’s difficulty and balance. These mechanics are collectively known as dynamic difficulty adjustment.

Dynamic difficulty adjustment (DDA) is a process in which video…

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[mrrempton]

The Difficulty Dilemma Part 2

The Difficulty Dilemma Part 2

Last week I began this two part article about the concept of difficulty in games. In part 1 (which you can find here) I looked at whether modern games were too easy, and some of the considerations designers should keep in mind regarding adding difficulty settings to their games.

In this part I am instead going to be looking at the implementation of difficulty in a video game. While making a…

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[mrrempton]

The Difficulty Dilemma Part 1

The Difficulty Dilemma Part 1

Lately I have been playing through the game Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and I can confirm that the rumors are true – this game is hard as heck. This is pretty much par for the course for FromSoftware, the makers of Sekiro, who are well known for making BloodBorne and the Dark Souls series. These games are so well known for their brutal difficulty that the phrase “as hard as Dark Souls” is often…

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