Product Doc for Injury System

Overview

Company goal

Provide robust and engaging challenge for players, with duende and emphasis on the fragility of life, in addition to the freedom to create and gift items for friends

Hypothesis

If we introduce an injury system on top of the mobility system, players will find it gratifying when they are able to create things after successfully navigating the world, collecting items, crafting items, and placing items.

Success State

More than 90% of initial playtesters find the injury system to be fair, intuitive and balanced, and complementary to the gameplay of creating and interacting with friends.

Plan for Failure

If players find the injury system to be too restrictive, such that it primarily determines the gameplay aesthetic over the ability to create:

  • introduce different difficulty modes

If players find the injury system to be balanced, but also want to be able to play and create without injury constraints:

  • Allow players to play with an immortality mode

If players find the injury system to be bloated:

  • consider how well the injury system is communicated to the player, through gameplay design and interface design
  • pare back

If players find the injury system to be unintuitive:

  • consider how well the injury system is communicated to the player, through gameplay design and interface design

If players find that the injury system is counterintuitive or contributes to ludo-narrative dissonance:

  • examine the gameplay loops and redesign the injury system

Iteration and design

Initial iteration and design

Injuries can affect the limbs, which in turn affects mobility.

Players can help friends who are injured seek hospitalisation and help.

Background