Finding Balance

CONFIDENCE

Grimslingers features a very balanced player vs. player experience.

I've said it before and today's post is a detailed explanation of why I can say it with confidence.

IMBALANCE

I personally dislike imbalanced game mechanics in player vs player (PVP) games. It's ok in a player vs. enemy situation (PVE) because naturally imbalance is a core function of those types of games (i.e. bosses being ridiculously hard and overpowered). 

But, just like in every aspect of life, we generally prefer to be on even ground with our peers, especially when in a competitive environment (well, some people prefer imbalance... if it's in their favor). 

Imbalanced game mechanics create a distaste for the game in which it occurs. It's one thing to be frustrated because you lost to a player who has more skill than you, it's another to lose because the game favored them in some way. 

For instance, let's talk about our beloved Hearthstone (I actually do think it's a great game, I promise). 

Player 1 fights Player 2. Player 1 gets to go first, and draws a great first hand from the deck at random. Player 2 goes second, and gets a crappy hand randomly from his deck. This continues for the entire fight. Even though Player 2 played his hand perfectly every turn, he lost. 

The game gave player 2 a disadvantage over and over, and gave player 1 plenty of advantages. These are unfair game mechanics. It would have been one thing for Player 1 to have played so well that they gained an advantage, or another if Player 2 played so poorly he gained lots of disadvantages. However, this wasn't the case. Both players played their hands perfectly, but the game favored one player over the other. 

This is an imbalanced game system. Randomness can be a great game mechanic, but when used too heavily in a pvp situation, it throws balance out the window.

BALANCE

Chess is, in my mind, a balanced skill based game. Each player has the exact same pieces, and the only difference is ones own skill, EXCEPT for the fact that one person goes first and one goes second.

Going first means you get to act, and going second means you get to react. Both can be beneficial (studies show that going first in chess is better. However, for most of us the difference is probably imperceivable). 

Rock-paper-scissors is my idea of another perfectly balanced game. Both players go at the same time, and each player has the same options. Though, the game itself does not allow player skill to get involved (excluding the ability to read your opponent), and ultimately that's why RPS gets boring after 3 goes.

Grimslingers was born out of these two games. Let's get into the details:

BALANCED FOUNDATION

Each player has the same 6 element spells. Consider these your "chess" pieces. Thus, your spells provide no advantage over your opponent's spells, all that matters is how you use them.

NO TURNS

The game technically has turns, but players take their turns at the same time. Just like in rock-paper-scissors. 

This means that no one has the possibility of gaining an advantage by going first or second. 

SKILL BASED

Because the system provides you no advantages, how you use your spells is what makes all the difference. 

In rock-paper-scissors you have no idea what the other person is going to choose. Thus you can't strategize against them in any real sense. 

Grimslingers faces a similar issue. You do not know what the other player is choosing, so how is this skill based, and how do you strategize? 

Luck?

Yes, there is an element of luck/randomness to the game (which I find adds excitement) but there are many things still in your control. You may not know what your opponent is choosing, but you can choose the outcome if you do succeed. 

For instance: I choose to play ICE so that if I succeed, you lose energy. Or I choose Earth which has a "blue" banner effect (guaranteed to occur) to prevent damage if my spell fails. Or I choose FIRE so that if I succeed, you'll lose a card, making it easier to tell what you will/won't play next turn. This also touches on another important aspect, mitigating luck. 

Mitigate it!

Discards and Deactivations allow you to mitigate luck and have greater success in guessing what your opponent might play. You know they only have 6 cards, so when you discard one of their cards, you'll know which one, and your odds of succeeding improve next turn.

Wind allows you to deactivate 6 of your opponents spells, effectively disabling them for a turn giving you free range to attack. 

Also, whenever a spell is used, it automatically gets deactivated for a turn. Thus you know they can't use the same spell twice in a row, giving you a better idea of what they might play. 

Along with auto-deactivation after use, elements have "synergies". Meaning, unless a specific element is active, your spell will not get a special effect. Ex: if your WIND is deactivated, your FIRE loses it's discarding ability. 

So, you'll be better able to tell what your opponent won't play, based on what was previously played, which also goes along with my next point:

Situational Awareness

Because each element has various abilities and traits, each serves a different purpose. For instance, if you want more energy, you'll need to use WATER to get HP to sacrifice for energy. If you're low on HP and need to avoid damage, EARTH will do that for you. If your opponent is low on energy and you want to deplete them, ICE does that. 

Different elements for different situations. Because of this, you'll be able to better guess what your opponent is likely to play, based on the situation. 

Face-Off

The elements have strong/weak relationships to each other, like rock-paper-scissors.

WIND > FIRE > ICE > WIND, and EARTH > LIGHTNING > WATER > EARTH.

When opposing elements are played that don't have a strong/weak relationship, you have a "face-off". Face-offs are about pushing your luck and resembles Blackjack. 

When a face-off starts, each player is automatically given a card from the top of the deck. The player with the highest card goes first. The higher card is slightly more disadvantaged than the lower card, which is made up for by allowing the high card to go first.

Face-offs work like this: Try to get 11 points or as close to it without going over. Players take turns drawing numbered cards (or not) until it's resolved. Here, your skill will involve counting the deck (which only consists of 10 cards, two of each number (1,2,3,4,5) and knowing when to draw or hold.

THE BIG PICTURE

All of these features combined create a fun, luck based, skill based, well balanced pvp game. 

Don't agree? Explain in the comment section! 

Remember to check out the print-and-play or the playable web demo @ www.GRIMSLINGERS.com