Kyle Labriola

@kylelabriola

blogging (ashamedly)

he/him
blueberrylemonade.pika.page/

Hello! I'm an artist, writer, and game developer. I work for @7thBeatGames on "A Dance of Fire and Ice" and "Rhythm Doctor."

I run @IndieGamesofCohost where I share screenshots and spotlights of indie games. I also interview devs here on Cohost.

Kyle Labriola @kylelabriola12/12/2022, 5:22 AM

Game design question: is there a term for this concept?

Is there a term for the concept in game design whereby a chunk of your player audience actually, sincerely enjoys doing long and methodical things?

For example, players who intentionally enjoy grinding monotonously in an RPG for hours and hours to max out their stats.

Another example, players who enjoy methodically hunting for Shinies in Pokemon even if it takes hours and hours.

In other words...is there a term for game design decisions where something that is methodical, specific, monotonous, and time-consuming is left in the game on purpose because there is a type of player who is coming to the game specifically for that experience?

I know there is huge overlap with "being a completionist" but I feel like it's a venn diagram. Like finding some sort of comfort or "zen" in doing monotonous tasks in a game.

#game design #game dev #gamedev #indie game dev #game development #games #gaming

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in reply to @kylelabriola's post:

Ezra Szanton @ezraszanton12/12/2022, 4:14 PM

IIRC, sometimes the "Submission" aesthetic in the MDA framework gets interpreted as this? In the original paper they say that it's "Games as pastime" which I think gets pretty close to it. https://users.cs.northwestern.edu/~hunicke/MDA.pdf

ChanceNCounter @ChanceNCounter12/12/2022, 8:24 PM

It’s a grind mechanic.

matthew r.f. baloušek @mrfb12/13/2022, 6:49 PM

I would suggest Sifting maybe, it feels like the equivalent of finding a needle in a haystack—engaging in a simple task over a long period of time.

I would maybe differentiate it from Grind in the sense that grinding is (in my mind) about small gains, over and over. You grind experience by fighting a hundred thousand slimes. But you sift for the Slime Sword as a rare item that is boom/bust. (That said, I don’t think anyone would balk at grinding for rare drops.)

Where I think Grinding is more about submission as Ezra mentioned, I think Sifting is more about persistence and patience for the sake of a worthwhile thing. Muddy distinction, maybe.

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