This was originally posted in my now-defunct blog in 2014. It's been modified and re-investigated for modern discussion.
What makes a game hard? Deadlier enemies, harder puzzles, and challenging competition are common examples of creating the illusion of difficulty, but once a player understands the mechanics behind an obstacle it just becomes a game of numbers (after all, electronic games tend to rely on numbers at the end of the day). So the question is, how can a designer or developer create a difficult experience that doesn’t feel mechanical.
My solution is user-generated difficulty (UGD), a concept I would never take credit for but gladly redefine in my own terms. UGD from a non-technical perspective is a dynamic approach to game difficulty that doesn’t affect player behavior, but is based off it. Two examples of this already existing in both independent and AAA circles would be Minecraft (Mojang, 2009-) and the Hitman series (IO Interactive, 2000-). While there isn’t an existing “true” example of UGD, these two are very different examples of UGD elements.
From a large studio’s perspective, the Hitman games contain some elements of UGD but are generally overlooked by the immersive, visceral experience of being Agent 47, a skilled assassin. While the series doesn’t provide gamers with nearly the same amount of freedom as Minecraft, it is an example of players given enough freedom to play any particular level or area repeatedly with a different experience every time. Gamers wanting a fast-paced shooter can attack their targets head-on and try to rough it out in a firefight. Those craving a stealthy, slow-paced experience will play by the rules and stealthily eliminate their targets the “right” way with silent weapons, poisons, traps, and melee attacks from the shadows. Assuming the player doesn’t simply change the game’s difficulty to change their experience, they are given the freedom to get to the same destination with numerous unique journeys. Despite large studios being commonly associated with a lack of innovation, IO Interactive has managed to keep the Hitman series true to its roots for over a decade, discarding the notion of linear gameplay and allowing the player to define their experience.
Minecraft has become a household name to gamers worldwide. The simplistic graphics, sandbox gameplay, and surprisingly tame content has attracted young, old, PC, mobile, and console gamers alike, resulting in staggeringly impressive sales (and even Minecon, a yearly convention for Minecraft fans). But what makes this game so accessible? When a user begins a new game, they’re in the middle of an endless world with nothing in their inventory and no apparent goals. They choose their own adventure, which is a great example of UGD in action. Richard Bartle originally categorized gamers as Achievers, Explorers, Socializers, and Killers, which Minecraft allows any player to become. As the player plays, they naturally fall into any combination of these categories or if they want to, consciously become a great warrior, brave explorer, traveling merchant, and more. The fact that Minecraft is so open and the player is given so much freedom, they can explore any type of playing style to make the game as difficult and exciting (or as safe and relaxing) as they want: the player actively creates the game’s difficulty without changing game settings or following explicit directions. James Bishop wrote a brief article exploring this further for Escapist Magazine (http://bit.ly/hhSQQG).
In a small design experiment, I decided to approach the concept of UGD in the most simple way possible. My concept was a top-down shooter where the player controls a space ship that avoids enemies to live and shoots them (or just stays alive) to score points. Enemies frequently spawn four at a time, one on each side of the screen (top, left, right, bottom) based on the ship’s coordinates at the time of spawn. They move in a straight line towards those coordinates and do not turn or stop. All the player has to do is avoid them or shoot them. However, the player’s ship fires four shots simultaneously at diagonals and the shots behave the same way as the enemies. Therefore, the player cannot stay still and shoot to stay alive (effectively becoming a turret), which results in enemies heading towards new coordinates. As the player destroys enemies they spawn more frequently, quickly resulting in a “bullet-hell” style game. This forces the player to choose their playing style: by staying alive they constantly generate points in a simple “avoid the projectiles” type game and are left with a more relaxed experience. By actively attacking the enemies the player can dynamically increase the game’s difficulty for more of a challenge. As previously stated, this is more of an experiment than a game, but in the end it results in a rewarding playing experience.