TYPE SIMULATOR | GAME DESIGN
Balancing difficulty and
punishment in a rage game.
TYPE SIMULATOR | GAME DESIGN
Balancing difficulty and
punishment in a rage game.
TYPE SIMULATOR | GAME DESIGN
Balancing difficulty and
punishment in a rage game.
Type to advance
TypeSimulator is a game where you have to type a sentence correctly in order to advance.
If the player makes a mistake, he will have to type the sentence again from the beginning
If the player is unable to write the sentence correctly in time, the game goes back to the previous level.
The Difficulty Curve
The difficulty curve of a game defines how the game's difficulty changes over the course of gameplay.
In our case, the difficulty curve looks like this:
The difficulty curve of a game defines how the game's difficulty changes over the course of gameplay.
In our case, the difficulty curve looks like this:
The difficulty is set by the length of the sentence, how complex the sentence is and how much time the player has to complete it.
The first 3 levels are really easy, allowing the player to get used to the game. These levels are composed of short sentences with one minute for each to be completed.
The sentence provided in level 4 is the following:
well, you did q u i t e good, but can you defeat s p a c i n g. maybe yes ma ybe not
This is the first peak of difficulty as we introduce spacing between letters and not just words. Plus the player only has 40 seconds to type it.
The difficulty is set by the length of the sentence, how complex the sentence is and how much time the player has to complete it.
The first 3 levels are really easy, allowing the player to get used to the game. These levels are composed of short sentences with one minute for each to be completed.
The sentence provided in level 4 is the following:
well, you did q u i t e good, but can you defeat s p a c i n g. maybe yes ma ybe not
This is the first peak of difficulty as we introduce spacing between letters and not just words. Plus the player only has 40 seconds to type it.
The other two peaks of difficulty are:
Level 6:
ff jj fj fjj fjfj ffj jjjf f j jj.
It may not seem as difficult as level 4 but testers only had 10 seconds to complete the sentence, which proved really stressing and increased the chances of making a mistake by going too fast.
Level 9:
Can you end this nivel without making any erroooor. Let's start with something fasilito. abcdefghijlkmnopqrtsuvwyz. Oops.
This is the big boss, and where most testers coudn't pass because the part where you have to write the whole alphabet. Plus, the alphabet is incorrect in purpose. Can you see what is wrong?
The other two peaks of difficulty are:
Level 6:
ff jj fj fjj fjfj ffj jjjf f j jj.
It may not seem as difficult as level 4 but testers only had 10 seconds to complete the sentence, which proved really stressing and increased the chances of making a mistake by going too fast.
Level 9:
Can you end this nivel without making any erroooor. Let's start with something fasilito. abcdefghijlkmnopqrtsuvwyz. Oops.
This is the big boss, and where most testers coudn't pass because the part where you have to write the whole alphabet. Plus, the alphabet is incorrect in purpose. Can you see what is wrong?
Conclusions
I'll end this topic saying that every peak of difficulty (except level 8) was followed by a low one, in order let the player release stress, acting also as a reward for their struggle.
This project was made under 4 hours and it really was a challenge to pull all of it together. It allowed me to understand how difficulty is so crucial to the experience.
I'll end this topic saying that every peak of difficulty (except level 8) was followed by a low one, in order let the player release stress, acting also as a reward for their struggle.
This project was made under 4 hours and it really was a challenge to pull all of it together. It allowed me to understand how difficulty is so crucial to the experience.