MEANINGFUL DESIGN #001: TWO OR MORE USES PRINCIPLE

INTRO

I believe we all have faced a feature in a game, that just didn’t have that much purpose. Maybe it was some skill or item we’d use once and never again after that – or even worse: not at all. It’s clearly there just for the sake of being a “cool” feature or to justify just some lonesome scenario in the game or just as a plain filler, checking some “we have to make at least 10 different skills” box. Encountering these kind of things have made me wonder how to could we prevent something from feeling like that. Below I’m going to propose a solution for this, which I’ve noticed to be happening with a lot of good and well working game feature design.

As my main example I’m going to use Völgarr the Viking. It’s a game I’ll surely be referencing every now and then thorough my articles. In my books it’s a game that has very well thought out and clear design and it pretty much doesn’t have ANYTHING that doesn’t need to be in that game. Everything is meaningful and has a real purpose, and thus it works as a good example in many cases, this being one of them. I really recommend everyone to give it a try. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I honestly think it’s one of the best action platformers EVER made, as it’s just all around so well designed game.

THE PRINCIPLE

The “two or more uses principle” in its core is as simple as just making sure, that the gameplay features you’ll have, possess two or more uses – usually one or two primary uses and at least one secondary use, which can be more of an advanced technique (although two main uses doesn’t necessarily need any secondary uses). Basically it is as simple as that.

Let’s observe this thru some examples:

I’ll start with Völgarr’s Spear: its primary uses are dealing damage and working as a platform (if you throw the spear against a wall, it’ll stick on it and you can use it as a platform).

The secondary uses are protecting from projectiles falling from above (being under a spear thrown against a wall will protect you from projectiles falling from above) and charged spear throw (dealing more damage or killing multiple enemies). Usage count: 4.

Then the Double Jump: its primary uses are (of course) movement (reaching places, avoiding hazards, cancelling a bad jump decision and so on) and dealing damage (this is an important feature in Völgarr: the double jump executes also a somersault with sword swing, which deals damage).

The double jump also has a secondary use, more of an advanced skill: it resets the ability to throw a spear while in air, which is an important technique in the game, especially in the later levels and if one likes to start speedrunning the levels. Example: you jump, throw a spear, double jump (reset) and throw another spear. This makes the usage count 3.

Völgarr’s Shield: mains as being a health point (getting hit loses the shield, but you’ll live) and of course protecting from hits.

Secondaries: when climbing, it protects your back from hits and when sliding slopes, it protects from projectiles. Usage count: 4.

One more Völgarr feature, Roll: mains are movement and dodging.

Secondary: rolling past the enemy and get behind (you can roll past small enemies and get on their backside, in some cases reaching their weak spot). Usage count: 3.

Völgarr sure isn’t the only game that has these. I’ll throw in few more examples:

Super Mario games: Mario’s Jump: movement, damage & chaining damage, breaking tiles/getting coins/powers/secrets.

Aladdin: Sword Swipe: dealing damage and blocking projectiles.

DuckTales: Pogo Jump: movement, reaching places, that normal jump won’t reach, dealing damage, breaking things.

Bubble Bobble: Bubbles: trap enemies, functioning also as “platforms” to reach places.

The Talos Principle: most of the usable objects in the game have multiple uses, for example a box allows you to block lasers, reach places, activate pressure plates and so on.

Duke Nukem 3D: Rocket Launcher: damage, breaking walls (revealing secrets and hidden paths).

Keep in mind, that it isn’t like you always have to have this principle going on in order for having people really like and use some feature in the game. A well designed and executed feature can of course work as a single use principle - it just has to be a meaningful part of the core gameplay, work in a meaningful way. Sometimes it can be also enough, if the feature is just so damn much FUN, that it creates its meaningfulness via just that: players WANT to use it all the time.

It just helps to make a feature as meaningful as possible by using this principle. And of course the best scenario is fun + multiple uses. Multiple uses in itself doesn’t necessarily make the feature fun, even though it might have a lot of meaningfulness. But, if some feature is in the game just for few laughs or sake of being a “cool idea”, and not much else, and/or is just way too specific with its usage function (quite many RPGs suffer from this as they have so much abilities and features), there lies a HUGE risk, that players won’t be using it a lot, as it doesn’t have much meaning. You’ll just end up wasting valuable development resources for something the players will use once or twice.

Keep also in mind, that every good gameplay feature we enjoy and reminiscent in a positive light, is usually tightly knit with a good level design. For example in Völgarr the level design makes you, as a player, use these things in a manner, which really makes them shine and gets the most out of the fun and meaningfulness of those features. And by having features, that have multiple uses, you’ll give your level designers way more tools to do those fantastic and clever level designs. Bad level design on the contrary can make even the best features to feel dull.