开车上班 #11 - 每个游戏必备的10件事

好的。

Okay.

我正从车道上倒车出来。

I'm pulling on my driveway.

大家都知道，这意味着又该去上班了。

As we all know, that means it's another time for drive to work.

今天我想聊的是，一些不同的主题。

So today, one of the things I've been thinking about is, different kinds of topics.

我意识到，光靠讲那些固定系列内容是不够的，毕竟我做的系列就那么几个，我还想继续做这个播客很久。

It became apparent to me that I can't solely do sets because there's only so many sets I've worked on, and I like to keep doing this podcast for a while.

所以我打算把内容分散开来。

So I'm spreading those out.

因此，我打算时不时挑一篇我写过的热门文章，来聊聊它的内容。

So one of the things I thought I would do from time to time is take popular articles I've written and talk about them.

今天要讲的，是我过去几年里最受欢迎的一篇文章，叫《每个游戏都必须具备的十件事》。

So today is one of the most popular articles I've written in the last couple years called 10 things every game needs.

所以还没读过的朋友，赶紧去读一读。

So for those that have never read it, a, go go read it.

这篇文章特别棒。

It's very good.

当时我女儿蕾切尔还在上五年级，她的老师叫尼科尔斯先生。

So what happened was my daughter Rachel was in fifth grade at the time, and she had a teacher named mister Nichols.

我去参加了家长会。

And I went to the teacher you meet the teacher night.

会上他说，我很喜欢家长来给孩子们分享经验。

And in it he said, you know, I really like having parents come and speak.

如果你有什么专长，尽管告诉我，我可以安排进课程里。

If you have some expertise, let me know about it and I'll find a way to fit you into the to the curriculum.

我就跟他说，我可是经常公开演讲的人，经验丰富。

So I said to him, oh, I'm you know, I've done pub pub I've done plenty of public speaking.

我很乐意去给孩子们讲一讲。

I'm more than happy to talk to the class.

他问：‘哦，那你具体是做什么的？’

He says, oh, well, what do you do?

我说：‘我是个游戏设计师。’

And I said, I'm a game designer.

他一听就说：‘太好了，我知道怎么用上你了。’

And he goes, oh, I know exactly how I'm gonna use you.

原来在他的课上，讲美国革命的时候，学生要自己设计一款游戏。

So it turns out that in his class, for the American Revolution, the assignment is they make a game.

于是他请我到班上给孩子们讲讲怎么设计游戏。

And so he had me come in and speak to the class about making games.

为了准备这次演讲，我整理了一份内容，讲清楚游戏需要哪些要素。

And so to prepare for it, I had put together a speech about what what what games needed.

我决定帮孩子们设计他们的游戏，教他们一些游戏设计的基本原理。

I I decided that what I would do is try to help the kids make their game, teach them some things about what games needed.

后来我根据这次演讲写了一篇文章，谈了我对游戏设计关键要素的看法，还拿《万智牌》做例子，说明它为什么在这方面做得很好。

And then I ended up writing an article about this based on my speech in which I talked about what I thought the things were and then I applied them to magic to say why I think magic does a good job at this thing.

我觉得《万智牌》在这十点上都做得非常好。

I think magic actually hits all 10 very well.

所以今天我想逐一聊聊这十点。

So I thought today, I would examine the 10 things and talk about them.

在我的播客里，我想说的是，写文章的时候，篇幅毕竟有限。

The idea of this on my podcast is, look, when I write my article, you know, I I only have so much space.

我通常写三千到四千字左右。

I usually write between three and four thousand words.

但在播客里，我有更多时间可以展开讲。

But in my podcast, I have a little more time.

我可以把一些内容讲得更细致一些。

I can I can explain things in a little more detail?

所以这次的目的是，让你对这个话题有更全面的了解，比我写文章时能展开的要多。

So that's the idea here is to give you sort of a a a more breadth of a topic, you know, than I was able to write it.

好的。

Okay.

那我们开始吧。

So let's start.

我一开始提到的那第一点，这些顺序之所以这样排，是因为我演讲的时候自然觉得这样讲最顺，能最自然地把它们讲清楚。

So the very first thing I said oh, and the reason these are in the order they're in is organically when I gave the talk, it felt like they made the most sense to a talk, that they felt in the order by which I could explain them the most.

我其实也说不准具体是什么顺序。

I don't exactly know what the order is.

我确实想过这个问题。

I've I've thought about it.

我觉得这样的安排，是按照你需要了解的先后顺序来呈现的。

I I think what it does is it presents in a way that sort of gives you what you need to know in the order.

我想这些内容的排列，对听的人来说是有逻辑的，但完全是凭直觉安排的。

So I I think these are in some order that makes logical sense for hearing it, but it's all intuitive.

我平时经常凭直觉做决定，之后再回头去理解为什么这样是对的。

So one of the things I I tend to do is I make a lot of decisions intuitively, and then I later figure out why it's correct.

有时候，我甚至根本不去深究。

Sometimes I never do.

但我的直觉一向很准，所以我信它。

But my intuition is pretty pretty on, so I listen to it.

明白了。

Okay.

第一，你的游戏必须有目标，或者多个目标。

Number one, your game needs a goal or goals.

那为什么这一点这么重要呢？

So why is this so important?

其实，研发团队特别喜欢讨论游戏和游戏设计这类话题。

Well, so one of the things that r and d loves to do is to talk about games and game design and such.

以前我们研发部还专门有个文件夹叫‘Kickshaw’，里面就随手写写、聊聊各种想法。

In fact, we used to have a folder in r and d called Kickshaw, and we would just write and discuss topics.

有一次，大家就讨论到一个问题：到底是什么让游戏和玩具区分开来？

And so one of the topics that came up at one point was what separates a game from a toy?

因为这两者你都是在玩的。

Because both of them are you play with them.

但到底是什么让一个游戏成为游戏，而不是玩具呢？

But what what makes a game a game and not a toy?

你知道吗，这两者之间的界限在哪里？

You know, where's the line between the two?

我们后来意识到，游戏是有目标的。

And what we realized was that a game had a goal.

这一点正是定义游戏的关键。

That that was a big thing that defined a game.

而玩具呢，就是给你一个有趣的东西。

That a toy is like, here's this fun thing.

去玩这个有趣的东西吧。

Do this fun thing.

这东西玩起来很有趣。

This thing is fun to do.

可你为什么要这么做呢？

What's the purpose to doing it?

没什么目的。

There is no purpose.

目的就是做起来有意思。

The purpose is it's fun to do.

你有没有想过，为什么拿个悠悠球让它上上下下？

You know, why do you take a yo yo and make it go up and down?

因为让悠悠球上上下下还挺好玩的。

Because it's kinda fun to make a yo yo up and down.

你为什么要转陀螺？

Why do you spin a top?

转陀螺本身就挺有意思的。

It's kinda fun to spin a top.

但游戏可不止这些。

But games have a little bit more than that.

游戏不能只是……嗯，我待会儿再说。

Games can't just be I mean, I'll get to it.

当然要有趣，但不能只是为做而做，得有点更深的意义。

Obviously, want to be fun, but it has to be more than just an activity for the sake of the activity.

从最基础的角度来说，游戏的核心是智力上的挑战。

That games are about on on the kind of the the bare level, games are about a mental challenge.

人们被游戏吸引，是因为他们想要某种挑战，而且希望有个清晰的结构来应对这个挑战。

That what games attract people is they say, I would like some sort of challenge, and I wanna have a structured way for me to sort of meet that challenge.

游戏的挑战形式多种多样，但大多数还是偏向脑力的。

And that games have there's many different kinds of challenges, and but games tend to be mental.

一旦游戏开始强调体力，那就跨入了体育的范畴了。

When games start getting physical, that's when we made the crossover to sports.

当然，中间还有很多模糊地带。

Now clearly, there's a lot of middle ground.

有些游戏确实很注重体力。

There are games that are physical.

也有一些体育项目其实更考验脑力。

There are sports that are mental.

所以这中间的界限其实挺模糊的。

So it's it's a fuzzy area.

但一般来说，游戏更偏向脑力，而运动则更偏向体力。

But pretty much the games tend tend to be more on the mental end and sports tend to be more on the physical end.

我们平时说的游戏，大多都是偏重脑力的。

And most games, we think about games are more mental mentally inclined.

游戏里确实有脑力上的挑战。

There are mental challenges.

那为什么目标这么重要呢？

So why is a goal so important?

首先，想做成一件事，总得有个明确的目标吧。

Well, for starters, in order to sort of accomplish something, you have to have something you're trying to accomplish.

证明自己脑力上行不行，关键就在于你有没有一个具体要完成的任务。

You need you know, a big part of sort of proving yourself mentally is going, I have a task.

我说的是这个任务。

I meant the task.

你明白吧？

You know?

我的意思是，悠悠球你当然可以练得熟练，但你怎么知道算练好了？根本没法界定。

I mean, a yo yo, you can try to get good with the yo yo, but there's no how do you know when you're good enough with the yo There's no way.

你知道的，这事儿就是随性而为，没什么标准。

You know, there's no it's just kind of something you do.

但游戏不一样，它会明确告诉你：这是你的任务，这是你的目标，你必须达成。

But a game says, okay, here's your task, here's your goal, you need to meet this goal.

只要达成目标，我就赢了。

When I meet the goal, I've won the game.

不过我要澄清一下，我不是说所有游戏都这样，让我解释清楚。

And games, to be clear, I'm not saying there are once again, let me explain that.

我这只是在讲游戏的基本原理。

I'm giving you the basics of games.

我跟你说的每一条，都会有例外打破它。

Anything I give you, there is an exception that breaks the rule.

但正如我在文章里说的，如果我要教你一门绘画入门课，我不会一上来就讲立体主义。

But as I explained in my article, if I was gonna teach you an intro or painting class, I don't jump into cubism right away.

对吧？

Right?

我会说，来，这儿有一盘水果。

Like I say, here's a bowl of fruit.

咱们先来画这盘水果。

Let's paint the bowl of fruit.

你明白吧？

You know?

等你往后学得深了，才会知道，嗯，透视其实可以灵活处理，诸如此类。

And later on, you learn that, well, maybe that, you know, perspective can be played with and such.

但我现在谈的是游戏设计，所以只讲最基础的东西。

But I'm talking game design, so I'm giving the basics.

在基础里，游戏必须有目标、有任务，你完成了才算赢。

And in the basics, games need a goal, they need a task, and you win a game.

大多数情况下，玩一场游戏就是要赢。

Most often you win a game.

当然，有些游戏可能不止一个人赢，也有些游戏的目标不是赢，而是达成某个条件。

I guess there's I mean, there's some games in which more than one person wins, and there's some games in which the obstacle, I guess, is not winning, but there is meeting the goal.

在我看来，只要完成了目标，就算赢了。

In my mind, if you meet the goal, you win.

所以我认为，大多数游戏都是通过达成目标来取胜的。

So I I will claim that most games you there there's a you win, that you by meeting the goal.

也许所有人一起赢，也许团队赢，但总归有个要达成的目标。

Maybe everybody wins, maybe a group wins, but there is a goal to meet.

这个目标很重要，因为它提供了衡量玩家行为的基准。

And the goal is important because that is the benchmark that people are gonna use to figure out what they're doing.

明白了。

Okay.

那说到目标，游戏到底需要什么样的目标呢？

So when talking about a goal, what what does a game need?

什么样的目标？

What kind of goal?

首先，目标必须非常明确。

Well, for number one, your goal needs to be really clear.

你知道的。

You know?

游戏不该是模模糊糊的。

This is not games are not supposed to be fuzzy.

你不该心里没底，不确定自己算不算赢。

You're not supposed to be like, I'm not sure if I'm winning.

不行。

No.

不行。

No.

不行。

No.

游戏的目标就是这么回事。

The goal of the game is blah.

目标必须简单直接。

A goal needs to be very simple and very direct.

你知道的。

You know.

目标之所以这么重要，是因为当有人想学玩游戏时，他们真正想问的是：这个游戏的目标是什么？有哪些障碍？这个我们待会儿再说。

And the reason a goal is so important is when someone wants to learn how to play a game, the funny thing is really what they're saying is they wanna know what the goal of the game is and they wanna know the obstacles, which we'll get to in a second.

所以你的目标一定要清晰。

So you want your your your goal to be clear.

你只需要一个目标。

You want one goal.

而且要简单明了。

You want it to be simple.

我知道有些游戏有多个目标，当然，这么做也有它的道理，尤其是在比较复杂的游戏里。

I know there are some games that have multiple goals, and obviously, there's some reasons for doing that, especially in more complex games.

但我觉得，最纯粹、最好的游戏，一开始都只有一条清晰明确的规则。

But I think, at a very first time out, the the cleanest best games, there's one clear crystal rule.

你明白吧？

You know?

拿万智牌来说吧。

Now take Magic as an example.

万智牌的目标非常清楚。

Magic has a very clear goal.

目标是什么？

What's the goal?

把对手的生命值打到零。

Get your opponent to zero.

那有没有其他赢法呢？

Now, are there also no ways to win?

有。

Yes.

你知道吗，你也可以通过抽空对手的牌库、毒 counters 或其他一些卡牌来获胜。

You know, you can deck somebody as as being the biggest one and there's poison counters and different cards that can win.

但总的来说，如果我教别人怎么玩，该怎么赢呢？

But as a general rule thumb, if I'm teaching somebody how to play, how do I win?

把对手的生命值降到零。

Get your opponent to zero.

而且好处是，你的目标不仅规则上清晰，概念上也很清楚。

And the other thing that's nice is if your goal is very clear, not just in the rules clear, but also clear in the concept.

那我在打魔法时到底在做什么？

Well, what do I what am I doing in magic?

我在和另一个法师对决。

Well, I am dueling against another wizard.

当我把对方的生命值从二十降到零，就逼得他们逃离位面，我就是赢家。

Well, when I get their life from 20 to zero, I force them to flee the plane and I have won.

你知道，我赢了，因为我是在打仗，我在战斗。

You know, that I win the I'm fighting a I'm fighting a fight.

只要把对方生命值降到零，我就赢了。

When I get them to zero, I've won the fight.

我赢得了这场决斗。

I've won the duel.

规则本身很清楚，游戏的设定也很清晰。

And so it's very clear and it is I mean, it's very clear in like what the rules are and it's very clear in sort of the flavor of what it is.

这两点都非常明确。

Both of those are very clear.

零是一个精确的数字，赢下决斗这个目标也极具画面感。

Zero is a a very exact amount, I win the duel, it's a very strong flavorful thing.

明白了。

Okay.

有了明确的目标之后，下一步就是制定规则。

So once you have a clear goal, the next step is you need rules.

那为什么规则这么重要呢？

So why are rules so important?

其实，游戏的设计理念恰恰相反，我经常提到这一点，但这里再重申一下：和其他设计不同，大多数设计的目标是让东西越简单越好。

Well, the idea is that a game says so I talk about this a lot, but I I'll restate this here, which is the goal of a game, unlike the design of most things, you know, most design, the idea is to make things as easy as possible.

比如我做一台烤面包机，我希望你一眼就知道怎么烤面包。

If I'm trying to make a toaster, I want you to know how to toast your toast.

我希望面包放哪儿、按哪个按钮才能启动，全都一目了然。

I want it clear where the toast goes and what I have to push to make the toaster go on.

但游戏设计完全不一样。

But game design is very different.

游戏设计就是要给你设置障碍，因为游戏的核心就是挑战玩家。

Game design, I'm trying to throw obstacles in your way because the goal of a game is to challenge the person.

你明白吧？

You know?

所以我会说，这是你的目标。

And to do that, I have to say, you know, here's your goal.

当然，你本来可以直接轻松搞定，但我偏不让你这么容易得手。

Now, clearly, you could just do blah blah blah, but no, I'm not gonna let you do that.

我会制定一套规则，告诉你怎么达成目标。

I'm gonna make a set of rules that define how you can meet your goal.

再说一遍，规则越少越好。

Now, once again, the fewer rules you have, the better.

就像我以前讲写作时说的，能删的段落就直接删掉。

Rules are like I mean, I talked about in writing how if you can cut a scene, cut the scene.

规则也是一样。

Rules are the same way.

如果没了这条规则，游戏照样能玩，那就干脆删了。

If the game can exist without the rule, cut the rule.

最近研发团队就在做一件事，重新审视《万智牌》里的规则，看看有没有哪些其实根本没必要存在。

I mean, one of the things R and D has been doing recently is sort of going through magic and saying, oh, are there any rules in magic that don't really need to be there?

当然，《万智牌》本身是个很复杂的游戏。

And now now, given, magic is a complex game.

我们的规则手册厚得跟电话簿一样。

I mean, our our rule book is a phone book.

所以呢，魔法这个游戏规则确实挺多的。

So, I mean, magic is has a lot of rules.

但我们的目标是尽量少设规则。

But as a goal, you wanna set out to make as few rules as possible.

你懂的。

You know?

我觉得理查德当初设计这个游戏时，就尽量把规则写在卡牌上，让卡牌自己说明能做什么。

And a lot of what Richard did, I think when he first made the game was, he tried to put as much of the rules as he could on the cards, that the cards told you what they could do.

对。

Yeah.

规则虽然多，但都明明白白写在卡牌上，我不用非得把所有规则都记在脑子里。

There's a lot of rules, but the rules were kind of there in front of you, so I didn't have to necessarily know all the rules.

卡牌自己会告诉我规则。

The cards would tell me the rules.

我觉得这就是早期魔法能这么成功的关键——我不用懂太多，因为卡牌已经告诉我该做什么了。

And I think that was a big part of why Magic early on was so successful was, well, I didn't need to know a lot because, well, the cards kinda told me what I needed to know.

我得先掌握基础规则。

I need to know the base game.

顺便说一句，教别人玩万智牌的时候，这点特别重要。

And one of things about Magic, by the way, and when you're teaching people, this is important.

万智牌的基础玩法其实没那么复杂。

The base game of Magic is actually not that complex.

让万智牌变得复杂的是meta环境——你可以自由搭配卡牌，选择太多，组合也太多，牌组构建的时候，可能性多到吓人。

What makes Magic complex is the metagame, the fact that you can choose whatever you want, the fact that there's so many choices and the combinations, you know, there's, you know, a crazy number of combinations when you build decks.

但游戏本身的核心规则并不难。

But the actual core of the game itself is not that complex.

我教新手的时候，总要反复强调这一点，因为很多人一看万智牌就觉得太吓人了。

When I teach new people, I try to reinform that that, you know, it's very easy to get scared by magic because it seems like it's too daunting.

理查德设计的这套基础规则其实很清晰，大部分内容都挺直观的。

But the base game of magic that Richard came up with is actually pretty straightforward and most of it is pretty intuitive.

那些不够直观的部分，这些年我们已经删减得差不多了。

And the stuff that wasn't, we weeded a lot of that out over the years.

好的。

Okay.

第三点，互动。

So number three, interaction.

那为什么需要互动呢？

So why do you need interaction?

因为游戏不只是脑力挑战，另一个很重要的部分是社交——当然，并不是所有游戏都这样，有些是单人玩的。

Because, not only are games about mental challenge, but another big thing of games is games are about socialization and that I mean, they're solitaire games, so not every game.

但让游戏成为游戏的一个关键，就是需要和真人互动。我在设计游戏时经常提到一点：要善用已有的东西。

But a big part of what makes games games is that it requires interacting with other humans and that there is one of the things I talk about when designing games in general is you want to make use of existing material.

我之前写过一篇文章讲‘借力’，意思就是：能不能利用观众已经知道的信息？这样他们学起来会更快，因为内容本来就是他们熟悉的，这非常有用。

I talked about piggybacking one of my articles, and what piggybacking was all about was saying, can I use information my my audience already has so that I'm they'll learn it quickly because it's stuff they already And that's very valuable?

‘借力’是设计游戏的一种非常有效的方式。

Piggybacking is a very valuable way to to make a game.

但其中一部分原因是，有些东西就是天生对人类有吸引力。

But part of that is there are certain there are certain things that are just appealing to humans.

首先是人与人之间的互动。

One is one is human interaction.

人类天生喜欢和其他人交流。

Humans like interacting with other humans.

所以你要在游戏里充分利用这一点。

And so you want to take advantage of that in your game.

其中一种方法就是确保玩你游戏的玩家能彼此互动。

And one of the ways to do that is you wanna make sure the people playing your game are interacting with each other.

新手常犯的错误是设计出一种每个人各自玩自己的、彼此互动很少的游戏。

A common novice mistake is they make a game in which each person is kind of playing their own game and they're not interacting enough with the other people.

当然，现在也有一些著名游戏互动不多，但我相信互动越多，就越能促进游戏中的社交润滑作用。

Now once again, there are games and there's some famous ones right now that don't have tons of interaction, but I do believe the more interaction you have, the more you you help along the the social the, you know, the the social grease of the game, if you will.

这一点很重要。

And that is important.

很多人玩游戏，正是因为这是与他人互动的方式，你要善于利用这一点。

A big part of why people play games is it's it's a means by which to interact with other people, and you wanna play into that.

所以你在设计游戏时，一定要加入这些互动机制，让玩家自然而然地去做他们想做的事。

And so make sure when you're building your game that you build in those interactions so that people essentially, they're forced to do what they wanna do.

记住，我一会儿会讲到惯性，但你在做游戏的时候，其实是在精心设计玩家将要体验的一切。

Remember, when I talk I mean, I'll get I'll get to inertia in a second, but you kind of when you build a game, what you are doing is you are crafting the experience that they're going to have.

明白吗？

Okay?

设定目标是为了引导玩家往正确的方向走。

The goal is there because you wanna point them in the right direction.

规则是为了帮他们理解自己该做什么，而互动则是逼他们去和其他人打交道。

The rules are to help explain to them what they're trying to do, and the interaction is to force them to have to deal with other people.

如果游戏不逼他们和别人互动，他们根本就不会去互动。

That if the game doesn't make them deal with other people, they won't.

这一点我怎么强调都不为过。

And I know I can't stress this enough.

作为游戏设计师，你对游戏的玩法有着极大的掌控力。

You, the game designer, have huge amount of control over how the game is played.

你得让玩家去做他们自己想做的事。

And what you have to do is you have to make the players do the things they want to do.

明白吗？

Okay?

你可以引导他们做任何事。

You can make them do whatever.

你可以把他们引向任何一条路。

You can guide them to whatever path.

但如果你逼他们做不喜欢或觉得无聊的事，他们可能会因为想赢而去做，可根本不会觉得开心。

But if you force them to do things they don't wanna do or that aren't fun to them, they'll do them because people are very motivated to win in the game, but they won't have fun.

所以记住，作为游戏设计师，你的任务是让他们想去做那些有趣的事。

So remember, your job as a game designer is to motivate them to do the things that are fun.

接下来，聊聊追赶机制。

So next, a catch up feature.

好的。

Okay.

另一个常见的错误是，别让玩家觉得自己根本没机会赢。

So one of the another big mistake that gets made is that you don't wanna have a game where one player realizes they don't have a chance.

有个术语，据我所知是理查德发明的，也可能他从别处看到的，叫‘造王’。

So there's something Richard to the best of my knowledge coin this term, maybe maybe Richard read it from somewhere else, but it's called king making.

在游戏里，‘造王’就是指：我自己赢不了，但我能决定谁最后赢。

So in a game, king making means I can't win, but I decide who does win.

奇怪的是，一个根本赢不了的人，居然能左右谁胜出，一旦变成政治博弈，就特别让人沮丧。

And the weird thing about it is it says it takes out now somebody who can't win, you know, has control over who does win, and it's frustrating when it becomes a game of politics then.

就像，唉，这个人说了算，我得去说服他做点什么。

It's like, oh, well, this person decides I need to convince them to do this.

我不是反对政治元素。

And I'm not anti politics.

我觉得在多人游戏中，政治确实有它的位置，尤其是玩家超过两个的时候。

I think politics have a place in games, especially in multiplayer games where there's more than two people.

但你得确保玩家觉得自己有参与感，觉得自己能掌控局面。

And the but you wanna make sure that the people playing feel invested and feel that they have some control.

总的来说，不管是生活中还是游戏中，人都希望觉得自己能掌控局面。

In general, in life, as in games, or I should say games as in life, people wanna feel that they have some control.

玩的时候，你希望自己的选择能影响结果，尤其是决定自己的命运。

You wanna feel when you're playing your game like you have some input on the output of the game, especially your own fate.

所以，补救机制的好处就在于，随着游戏进行，领先的玩家会面临更多限制，落后的玩家则机会更多——这样游戏才更有动态感，让人觉得随时都有翻盘的可能。

And so the nice thing about a catch up feature is it says, oh, well, as the game progresses, the people in front have more handicaps and people in back have less because the game is more dynamic if you feel at any moment that there's a chance for people to come back.

不过我要说明一下，我并不是说要取消任何进度感。

Now, note, I'm not saying that you want to make it so there's no progression.

我希望表现最好的玩家，赢面也最大。

I wanna feel like the guys that doing the best has the best chance of winning.

我不是说补救机制要完全取代进度或技术，但你必须让人觉得还有希望，这才是关键。

So I'm not saying a catch up feature is supposed to override any sense of progression or skill, but you do have to feel like there is some chance, and that's the important thing.

补救机制的核心是希望。

A catch up feature is about hope.

它不一定要追求真实感。

It isn't about necessarily realism.

关键是让他们觉得还有翻盘的可能。

You know, it's about the chance that they feel like they could come back.

他们确实得有那么一点希望才行。

And, you know, they realistically need to have some chance.

不一定非得是大机会，但至少得让他们觉得有目标可以争取。

It doesn't need to be a great chance, but they have to go they have to be able to aim for something.

他们必须保有这份希望。

They have to have that hope.

希望在游戏里特别重要，你得让玩家觉得：我还有一线机会。

And hope is really important that in games, you want your players to feel like, okay, I'm not out of this.

我得做这些事才行。

I need to do the following things.

就算他们落后了，机会不大，也没关系。

And it's okay if their chances, if they're behind aren't great.

瞧，他们确实落后了，但总得给点希望吧。

Hey, look, they are behind, but they have to have some chance.

完全没有机会，这会让玩家觉得特别挫败，根本提不起劲玩，心里就想：我赢不了了。

Zero chance just it makes kid making and also just makes for very people feel detached from the game because they're like, I can't win.

我这到底在干嘛？

What am I doing?

我被困在这儿了。

I'm stuck here.

另外，如果你真的希望玩家一旦没机会赢了就离开游戏，那也行。

The other thing, by the way, is if you if you want to like, once somebody can no longer win in your game, kick them out of the game.

如果你的目标就是彻底剥夺他们获胜的可能，又不想设追赶机制，那就干脆让他们退出游戏。

If that's your goal, if you want them not to have any chance of winning and you don't wanna have a catch up feature, then you gotta kick them out of the game.

你得让他们明白，游戏到此为止了，别再浪费时间了。

You gotta you gotta free them from the game and say, you are done.

你已经没有任何胜算了。

You you you have no more expectation.

不过话说回来，我还是挺喜欢设置追赶机制的。

Now that said, I like catching features.

我更倾向于让他们继续玩下去，给他们一点希望。

I prefer you keep them in the game and give them hope.

但如果你不想这么做，那就等他们真的赢不了的时候，干脆让他们退出游戏。

But if if you don't wanna do that, then like free them once they can't win anymore.

接下来是惯性问题。

Next, inertia.

正如我之前说的，作为游戏设计师，你的任务是推动游戏进程。

So as I said before, your job as the game designer is to move along the game.

你要确保游戏能自然结束，这一点非常重要：你得设计游戏，让它最终会自己停下来。

That you are to make sure that the game so one of the things I always say, and this is important, is that you need to design the game so it ends.

游戏的自然状态就应该是会走向结束的。

That the natural state of the game will make it end.

我看到新手设计的游戏，最常见的错误就是时间太长。

Probably the number one mistake I see of new games is they take too long.

但我在拉切尔的课堂上跟孩子们说的时候，其实建议他们：尽量把游戏时长控制在二十分钟内。

But when I was talking to kids in Rachel's class, I actually said to them, look, aim to make your game twenty minutes.

我说二十分钟，其实心里明白大概得三十分钟。

And then I knew by telling twenty minutes, it'd probably be thirty minutes.

不过话说回来，你的玩家在游戏结束时，最好还想着继续玩。

But anyway, your game your audience wants to still be playing when the game ends.

如果他们在游戏结束前就玩腻了，以后就再也不碰你的游戏了。

If they're done playing before the game ends, they will never play your game again.

我的意思是，不能光靠硬逼着他们玩。

I mean, without some forcing, you know.

你该做的，是让游戏结束的时候，大家忍不住说：真过瘾。

What you wanna do is have the game end and then go, that was fun.

我还想再玩一次。

I wanna play again.

因为只要玩家在游戏结束时还意犹未尽，他们就会想再来一局。

Because if they're still excited when the game ends, then they wanna play.

但如果他们早就玩累了，就会想：开头还行，后来就没意思了。

If they've sort of reached their end, then they go, oh, well, I enjoyed this game at first, but, oh, then I didn't enjoy it.

所以，就像任何创意工作一样，进去，出来，别拖着。

And so, like like any creative endeavor, get in, get out.

你要尽量把它做得最短。

You wanna you wanna make it the shortest you can make it.

好处在于，你得确保把我说的这些要素都包含进去。

That's a good good thing is I mean, you wanna make sure you have all the pieces I'm talking about here.

你的游戏得足够长，能装下这些部分，但也要尽可能缩短它的时长。

So your game has to be long enough to have these components, but you wanna make your game as short as you can make the game.

当然，有些游戏能玩好几个小时，但你刚开始做游戏，尤其是第一款，最好做一款让人能玩完、能回味、还想再玩一次的作品。

You know, and, yes, there are games that go on for hours and hours, but that is not you shouldn't when you set out to make a game, especially your first game, you wanna make something that people can play and finish and and savor wanting to play again.

记住，如果玩家喜欢这个游戏，而且它很短，他们就能反复玩。

And remember, if people enjoy the game and it's short, they can play it many times.

如果他们想花三个小时玩，而游戏只要二十分钟，那没问题。

But if it's long, you know, if they wanna spend three hours, the game takes twenty minutes, they can do that.

但如果他们只想玩二十分钟，游戏却要三个小时，那就不行了。

If they wanna spend twenty minutes, takes three hours, they can't.

接下来是惊喜。

Next is surprise.

我之前提到过，要顺应人性。

So I talk about playing into human nature.

我觉得惊喜之所以有趣，是因为人们既喜欢安稳，又喜欢意外。

I think the reason surprise is interesting is that people like comfort and they like surprise.

我在谈媒体的时候也说过，游戏中有很多方法可以营造舒适感。

I talk about this in a I talked about media and that there's a lot of things you wanna do to create comfort in the game.

我马上会说到氛围，这是引发共鸣的重要部分。

I'll get to flavor in a second, which is a big part of resonance.

但另一点是，人类尤其喜欢未知，尤其是在游戏中，因为这里有个关键问题。

But another thing is humans like the unknown especially in a game because here's the big problem.

如果游戏里没有任何隐藏信息，你就逼着玩家必须提前想得很远。

If the game has no hidden information, then you are forcing people to have to think out far ahead.

如果我什么都知道了，我就没法放松，总觉得必须把所有可能性都摸透。

And if I know everything, then I I kinda can't relax because I feel like I I'm now obligated to know everything I can.

你知道的，我得承认。

You know, I have to okay.

我什么都知道。

I know everything.

比如，如果我出错了，那只是因为我没花足够的时间和精力。

Like, if I make a mistake, it's because I didn't spend the time and energy.

给游戏加入一些惊喜和未知信息，其实能让玩家放松一点，因为他们会想：哦，反正也不可能什么都知道。

And by adding some surprise to the game and some unknown information, you're actually allowing your your players to relax a little bit because they go, oh, well, can't know everything.

所以我不想考虑得太远。

So I I don't wanna think too far ahead.

这一点很重要，因为你希望玩家不会觉得非得去做那些他们不想做的事。

And that's important because you want your players to not feel obligated once again to do things they don't wanna do.

想得太远真的让人很累。

And having to think too far ahead is just it hurts.

做起来太难了。

It is hard to do.

有些玩家喜欢这样，但毕竟是少数。

And some players like it, but they're a minority.

通过隐藏信息和制造惊喜，你会收获很多精彩的瞬间。

And then by giving hidden information, you know, and surprise, a, you get great moments.

那些出乎意料的时刻特别重要，根本想不到。

Get moments that you didn't see coming and that's a huge part.

人的心理本来就喜欢惊喜，而且这样也能避免玩家被琐事拖累，不用费劲地苦想太久。

The human psyche loves surprises, you know, and also you make sure that players aren't bogged down and forced to kind of slog through things and have to take too long thinking.

再说，你得让游戏节奏保持快一点。

I mean, another thing is you wanna keep your game fast going.

信息越多，人就越觉得非得好好琢磨不可。

The more information people have, the more they feel they have to think.

这样一来，游戏自然就拖得更久了。

And by doing that, the game takes longer.

你明白吧？

You know?

玩家不需要在每一步前都苦思冥想，游戏节奏自然就快了。

The less you make your players forced like they have to think so long before every move, the more brisk the game will go.

再说一遍，游戏的节奏很重要。

And once again, the pace of the game is important.

你不希望玩家觉得游戏太慢，想快点推进。

You don't want your players wanting the game to go faster.

你希望游戏的速度刚好符合他们的期待，甚至偶尔再快那么一点点。

You want the game to go at the speed that they want or even sometimes just a little tiny bit faster.

只要他们觉得有追赶机制，不用一下子掌握所有信息，这就没问题。

And that's okay as long as they feel that there's some catch up features and that they don't need to know everything at the time.

接下来是策略。

Next, strategy.

如果你想让玩家反复玩你的游戏，就得让他们有这种感觉。

So if you want your people to play your game more than once, it's important that the following feeling comes through.

第一次玩的时候体验不错，第二次玩的时候会更好。

If I play the game once, I will have a better time the second time I play than the first.

第三次玩的时候，我的表现会比第二次更好。

I will better chance the third time I play than the second.

而且这也不一定非得是真的。

And that's not even necessarily that it's true.

重要的是让他们有这种感觉。

It's important that they feel that way.

策略的关键在于，游戏中有东西值得你去学习，它的深度足够让你在游玩过程中不断发现新东西，并把这些经验用到下一局里。

And what strategy says is there's things to learn in the game, that the game is deep enough that as I play, I will learn things about it, and I can apply those things to future games.

这一点对核心玩家尤其重要，因为他们特别依赖策略性玩法。

This is really important on games for gamers, by the way, because gamers thrive on strategy.

玩家反复玩一款游戏，根本原因就是想挑战自己、提升水平。

The reason gamers play games again and again and again is they want to test themselves and get better.

所以，在游戏中加入策略元素非常关键。

And so it's very important to add the strategy to your game.

一个很有效的方法是，玩游戏的时候，仔细观察你的测试玩家。

A big way to do that, by the way, is when you're playing, monitor your play test.

另外，一定要找那些不常玩游戏、跟你没什么情感牵扯的人一起玩。

And make sure, by the way, you play with people that don't always play and people that aren't emotionally connected to you.

理想情况是找那些你只有一点交情，或者根本不认识的人，因为他们不会像你朋友那样，非得说好听的。

Ideally, by the way, are people that you know either tangentially or don't know at all because they don't feel obligated to say nice things to you or your friends will.

如果你的朋友知道你正在认真做这个游戏，他们就不大愿意给你直截了当的反馈，但做游戏的时候，你最需要的就是这种真话。

If your friends know you're working on this really hard, they're less inclined to give you blunt feedback, which is what you need when you're making a game.

不过话说回来，你得观察玩家试玩的过程，而且让同一个人玩多次其实挺好的。

But anyways, you watch playtests, see and and it's good by the way to have some people play more than once.

留意他们的进步。

Watch progression.

他们有没有学会游戏里的东西？

Are people picking things up?

甚至在一场游戏里，他们到最后是不是跟刚开始时的做法不一样了？

Or even within the context of a single game, are they doing things differently by the end of the game they did at the beginning?

这就是为什么策略这么重要——你要让玩家觉得，投入这个游戏是值得的，因为游戏会回馈他们东西。

And that's why strategy is so important is you want people to feel like that they should get invested in the game because the game will give something back to them.

所以策略特别重要，因为它让游戏有连贯性，也让玩家逐步成长。

And that's why strategy is really important because it it it gives continuity to the game, and it gives a building of leveling.

我们在游戏里经常提到这一点，不管是电子游戏还是《龙与地下城》这类游戏都一样。

We talk about this a lot in gaming and that, you'll see this in video gaming and D and D and such.

升级这个概念非常关键，随着时间推移，你会发现自己越来越熟练。

That the idea of leveling is really important where over time, I I progressively get better.

其实生活中和游戏中都会自然出现这种升级——你积累了经验，水平也就上去了。

And and leveling naturally happens in life and it happens in games where it's like, I have experience, well, I kinda go up levels.

你学到了新东西。

I've learned things.

因为你学会了，所以变得更强了。

I'm better because I've learned them.

就算有些游戏没有明设升级系统，玩家也会自然地成长，这一点很关键，因为它正是让人想继续玩下去的核心动力。

And that even games that don't actually have leveling built into them do have this natural leveling, and that's important to reinforce because it's a big thing that drives people to play.

接下来是乐趣。

Next is fun.