We’ll begin with the most obvious, then discuss it in comparison to other methods that tend to get overlooked. Each method has its benefits and its costs, though some entail a higher cost than others. This piece will examine a variety of tension-building elements, from the basic die roll to other methods that-quite undeservedly-receive less attention and respect. Randomness creates uncertainty, it is true, but so do other elements. Indeed, there is an assumption prevalent in the design community that any turn-based game without randomness will feel stale, predictable, devoid of tension. Many developers working on turn-based games mistakenly believe that unpredictability is necessarily bound up in randomness. Without this sort of real-time interaction, turn-based games must look elsewhere for their mechanical unpredictability. The chance of making a mistake in the heat of the moment adds uncertainty, and thus tension. Spatial navigation requires accuracy and timing a real-time attack could miss or hit depending on a player’s physical input. Real-time games, as a general rule, have an easy time fostering mechanical unpredictability. This is the sort of unpredictability we are going to talk about today: since it concerns game mechanics, let’s call it mechanical unpredictability. Challenge exists only where the player cannot know exactly how a scenario is going to play out ahead of time. Exploration, experimentation, discovery: all of these depend upon unpredictability, on gaps in the player’s familiarity with the game. Twists of plot, unconventional characterizations, and surprising character development engage a reader’s imagination unique instrumentation, sudden shifts in time signature, or an unexpected chord progression delight the ear.
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