How Hard Should Your Game Be? Pros of Easy vs Hardcore Games

Easy, medium, hard, extreme, nightmare – many games present players with a sliding scale of difficulty. Developers provide players with the right to choose the difficulty level. Sometimes it is not possible to adjust the difficulty.

For example, in multiplayer online games, difficulty largely depends on the skill of your opponents and other members of your team (it's not your fault your team lost, don't worry. Torbjörn was *absolutely* the right attacking pick, and the rage is gone!)

When it's time to create your own game, there is no one-size-fits-all difficulty. You can't find some universally accepted formula. Instead of arbitrarily deciding how hard or easy to make your game, you need to think about it through the lens of what you're trying to achieve.

Should the game be a crazy challenge? Or do you want to create something lighter and more accessible? Spoiler: there is no right answer.

When there is no right answer, you can't be wrong. And when you can't be wrong, you can do whatever you want! But we'll still look at some issues related to difficulty, as well as the pros and cons of addressing them.

The Unique Problem of Difficulty – The Role of Time in Multiplayer Online Games

Perhaps you're not developing a competitive online AAA game. But we're sure you've played one. Developers cannot control the difficulty of the game once other live players are involved. How do you balance a wide range of player skill levels? You can't have pro-level players going up against beginners.

Many team-based online games use a level system and some form of skill-based matchmaking. In recent entries in the Call of Duty franchise, players have expressed dissatisfaction.

Players complained that skill-based matchmaking takes precedence over connection-based matchmaking. As one Reddit user eloquently put it: "Skill doesn't mean anything if you're in a laggy lobby."

As a game developer, what should you do? Sacrifice the gaming experience by putting players into laggy matches... or sacrifice the experience by putting players into matches with much better players? This is a question that CoD hasn't answered in a way that pleases everyone. And still their games sell millions.

Ubisoft's new hit, For Honor, is forced to make similar sacrifices. In matchmaking, they start with "strict" adherence to player skill level. The longer it takes to find a match (based on player availability and open slots), the more the skill range expands.

To reduce wait times, they match players of different levels. If you're an average player, playing against someone who has mastered a character in For Honor can be very frustrating.

But is that better than waiting five minutes to find a match? Possibly (we don't know because... well, you know, we're really good at For Honor).

Another Downside of Online Gaming

The more you play, the more experience you gain. That's how it usually works in games with a level system.

In many online games, you can reach the max level and start over ("prestige" as it's called in CoD – For Honor calls it achieving a new "reputation"). When you enter a skill-based game, you're matched with other players of similar level... But similar level doesn't always mean similar skill. In short, you don't have to be good to level up.

You can just spend a huge amount of time playing the game! Most games award extra XP for playing well, but time is a great equalizer. Players who aren't that good can still get prestige by spending days playing CoD.

In For Honor, certain "contracts" allow players to earn bonus XP for completing tasks (this isn't a "new" feature for online games; it has appeared in others). These contracts refresh every 48 hours. If a player logs in at least once every two days, they can earn thousands of bonus XP towards their character's reputation.

Although the extra time spent playing the game should hone their skills, it doesn't mean they're a great player. That's why a Valkyrie with Reputation: 0 Level: 12 can beat a Shugoki with Reputation: 4 Level: 19.

Some game developers, like Blizzard, have built ranked match systems into their online games. For example, in Overwatch, you go through a series of placement matches before entering a competitive season for the first time. Based on these matches, you are assigned a rating.

This system is also imperfect. A weak link in Overwatch can nullify all your efforts. You can be at the top of your team in kills and objective time and play the match of your life, but if your team composition is off, you'll probably lose.

So why have we spent so much time talking about difficulty in online games? We wanted to show that even the biggest players can't define difficulty, but people still enjoy the game. It's not an exact science.

Developing Difficulty for Your Own Game

Start by thinking about the ultimate goal of your game.

It's a game. You probably want it to be fun. You want people to play it. You want them to enjoy playing it. People are quirky and unique, so different players will have different experiences.

Some players like simple and accessible games. Game designers like Peter Molyneux (Fable franchise) prefer to target this market. Not all players are looking for a challenge. There is a market for relaxing games (Minecraft, Goat Simulator, Wii Sports). These players want to play something that feels more like an interactive movie than a video game.

Advantages of Easy Games

There are plenty of advantages to creating an easy game.

Accessibility is an important factor. Sixty-five percent of households own devices for playing video games. Games are reaching more people than ever before. An easy game opens up opportunities for people with disabilities. Younger children can play. The older generation can play. Friends or loved ones who are not gamers can play.

Who is your target audience for your game? Find out what difficulty level they like to play games at. Ask the people you want to target about what difficulty settings they used in the last game they completed. If you don't know, you'll have to guess. And if you're guessing, you might be wrong. Let them tell you.

Hardcore Experience

When you hear the word "hardcore," you probably think of Dark Souls – and you'd be right. Dark Souls is infamous for its extremely challenging gameplay.

For some people, this game isn't a game. It's a severe trial. It's a task that requires serious effort, concentration, skill, and dedication.

If your girlfriend or boyfriend doesn't play games, you wouldn't drag them into a first flight in Dark Souls. They wouldn't be interested. A player without the necessary skills won't be able to beat the game. Instead of a worthy challenge, it's just an insurmountable task.

Dark Souls isn't the only hard game, but it's one of the ones done really well. If you really want to make a hard game more accessible, you can try simplifying the concept. This is a self-proclaimed hardest game in the world. It's definitely a challenge, but it's also very simple. Collect yellow dots. Avoid blue circles. Reach the green zones.

It's easy to understand, and it ends up being quite fun in a "I enjoy punishment" kind of way. It's simple and accessible, yet extremely hard. You want the player to feel challenged, not cheated. A game where the player dies randomly won't be fun (or gets randomly stuck in a pit – again, E.T.). Clarity and consistency help make a hard game enjoyable.

If you want to make a hard game, avoid random difficulty spikes. A boss fight will naturally be harder than the enemies on the previous level, but it shouldn't be so hard that the player suddenly has no chance.

Advantage of Hardcore

When you beat a hard game, you feel really good. There's a sense of accomplishment. That's the gift you give your players when you develop a hard game.

You can also reward them in-game with more loot, unique skins, or other bonus content. Think about what would make sense in the context of your game... If you're not developing a game with loot, then loot won't make sense. If your game is in first-person, unique skins probably won't make sense either.

Conclusion

You know that there is no "right" answer, no matter how big a developer you are. That means you are free to do whatever you want. The next time you catch yourself asking "how hard should I make my game?" take a minute to shift your thinking. Instead, ask: "What difficulty will bring out the best in this game?"

The most important thing for creating any game is to play it. Test it. If you don't like the challenge, change the difficulty. There is no formula, and difficulty is not a decision you should make in a vacuum.

Get feedback from your audience and your testers. And let your game itself decide what the difficulty should be.