What Makes a Game Worth Playing Twice

Crossed Design Team play-testing game in development.

A good game is like a good story, both need tension and anticipation to drive the engagement. This was something we learnt while developing a board game for a recent project in climate resilience and disaster preparedness. While the game was primarily intended as an educational tool, we designed it as a stand-alone game, which can also be played outside classrooms and workshops.

The challenge with games as educational tools is that these often become too focused and limit their life to classroom and workshop. When removed from the classroom, these have little to no memorability and replayability. So what makes a game memorable? Much like a memorable story, a game only leaves a lasting impression if the audience feels engaged. There are many different plot devices and techniques to tell effective stories. Here are few that also make engaging games:

• Make readers feel emotionally invested

• There are stakes, tensions and consequences of actions

• Strong anticipation is built and rewarded 

• Avoid predictability

1. Evoke Emotional Resonance

Catan making player feel resource aware like a settler in an unknown land.

A good story evokes deep emotional resonance in the readers.

It can make readers feel fear, anxiety, excitement etc. This emotional resonance makes a narrative stay with the reader long after its end. In the same vein, a good game needs to evoke an emotional resonance for a memorable playtime. For example, games like Snakes and Ladder can make players excited when they get on ladder or evoke dread of falling when rolling the dice for the final row. Gathering rents from other players in Monopoly can bring out the greedy landlord even in the kindest of people. The game of Catan makes you feel like a settler in an unknown land. It starts with a thrill of adventure and as the game progresses makes you feel desperate and vulnerable without resources. A good emotional connection ensures memorability.

What should the players feel?

So when we were developing an educational game for disaster preparedness, we started with the question, “What should the players feel?” We didn't just want players to understand preparedness measures, we wanted them to experience the uncertainty of an approaching disaster, the tension of making decisions with limited resources, and the relief of seeing those decisions pay off. The emotions become the vehicle through which the learning becomes more engaging and memorable.

2. Raise the Stakes

Scotland Yard players must make every count.

A good story has tension and conflict. Without friction, the story stagnates. Conflict forces characters out of their comfort zones and compels them to act with thought and caution. Characters must own their actions and face the consequences. Similarly, without stakes, the game becomes meaningless. In a good game, actions carry weight and player choices have consequences. In chess, loss of a piece is permanent. Scotland Yard players have limited movement tickets. They must make each move count and move strategically to capture or evade. Consequences force players to think critically before they play. When a player falls behind, the stakes feel higher and the tension peaks. This tension makes the game feel more involved and engaging.

3. Build and reward anticipation

Jenga & the Anticipation of the great fall

A good story builds anticipation and turns a passive observing reader into an active participant of the tale. Anticipation drives engagement and a good story rewards it. Games can use anticipation to build interest, engagement and drive the gameplay forward. Consider the game of Jenga where the game is driven by the anticipation of the tower falling. All players know that the tower will eventually fall but await its fall in eagerness. The game of Scotland Yard builds anticipation of Mr. X’s capture with every move. Both the detectives and Mr. X feel a rush. The detectives anticipate the capture, and Mr. X feels the thrill of successfully evasion.

4: Avoid predictability

UNO and the wrath of Draw 4

Predictability is boring and makes stories uninspiring. An exciting rising action creates conflict that makes the story engaging. The story becomes even better when it subverts the expectations and does something unexpected. Similar to story, if done well in a game, the build of tension and sudden subversion of expectation leaves a lasting impact. Games often use randomness to achieve this. The game UNO is a good example for this. When the leading player is down to one card, expecting an easy win, the game can take a sudden turn with play of a Draw 4 or a Draw 2 card. While common in card games, the dice based games such as Ludo, Catan, Monopoly use the randomness of dice to increase stakes and drive engagement. Thus, when done right, games with randomness feel more repayable.

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While games are fun, their design is far more complex. Similar to writing an effective story, game design also involves a lot of thinking, weighing choices and decision making behind the scenes. A memorable game, like a memorable story, succeeds when players feel genuinely engaged, not just entertained.