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Level Design • Art • Narrative
Deep Dive: What Creates "Memorable" singleplayer level design?
One of my favourite aspects of game design has got to be the creation of levels and environments within a game. At any given time, there are thousands of games all vying for the player’s time and money. While many decisions a player makes comes down to preference and a bit of luck, I believe one of the most important factors determining whether or not a person sticks with a game are it’s environments.
I enjoy level design so much, in fact, that I ran my very own deep dive dedicated entirely to analyzing what makes a memorable level within singleplayer games. In my research, I have identified six core design philosophies repeatedly used in the level design of many single player experiences. I have detailed my findings below...
Note: It's important to also understand that a level can use any combination of these pillars into it's design, but typically levels tend to prioritize one over the other.
Variety
Designing for variety simply refers to the diversity of content a game's levels offer a player. This most often means that a game constantly introduces new mechanics, aesthetics or iterations between levels. Things like unique powerups, objectives, enemies, level gimmicks, or even entirely new ways to play.
Strengths
Create a large quantity of unique moments
One of the main strengths of this pillar are that designers are able to provide players with constant twists and turns. The player will never know what to expect next, and this can lead to some truly memorable moments. This is especially seen in games where writing is a core focus. Keeping a player stuck on a moment for too long can be boring and so keeping the game moving onto the next things really helps keep player retention.
Allow for creative recycling of content
It allows designers to intelligently recycle and create less demanding content. It’s far easier to create a new mechanic or iterate on an existing design then it is to create completely unique environments and systems.
Weaknesses
Moment-to-moment gameplay can be inconsistent
It is important to consider consistency when designing for variety, as it’s easy to diverge too much from what draws players in to begin with because of a cool idea. This is a common criticism in games that feature extensive vehicle segments or mandatory minigames. Players love when things are switched up, but it's important not to deviate too far from the core game loop.
Additionally, while it's great to move on from ideas before they become stale, it's also good to explore an idea fully before moving on. Players may really like one section of a game, only for that section to be a fraction of the overall experience.
Example
An example of a game that designs primarily for variety is the 3D platformer A Hat in Time. The goal of the game sees players seeking out and collecting time pieces in a mission like structure. What exactly the player does within each level to earn a time piece differs between all 56 levels however.
Each of the six worlds of the game follows their own unique level structure and relevant set pieces on the map are swapped out on a mission-to-mission basis. In one moment the player may need to complete a linear platforming section, while the next has them sneaking around a haunted mansion undetected.
Every level, however, has an vague overall structure of showing the player the general location of the mission objective at the start, and ending with them tangibly grabbing the time piece to end the mission. Each of the six worlds also follow a general theme for their types of missions:
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Mafia town sees players generally being told exactly where the goal is, tasking them with completing obstacle courses using hat kid's parkour abilities
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Battle of the Birds is largely narrative focused, having the player go along with the shenanigans characters around them.
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Subcon Forest has the player actively seeking out contracts to unlock new missions
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Alpine Skyline allows players to tackle any mission in the order of their choosing through interconnecting ziplines
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Ship Shape has players acting as a member of cruise ship staff
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Nyakuza Metro is an metroidvania-esque open world, where players need to find and buy keys in order to unlock gates containing chunks of the map
Subversion
The second pillar is subversion, which is when a game provides the player with a fresh perspective on a system or structure that they’ve become accustomed to. Subversion can also happen on a much smaller scale within levels often referred to as a “mutation” within a level’s design.
Strengths
Provide unique gameplay late into a game
Subversions are a fantastic tool to ensure that a game or series remains fresh and interesting. Players will remember the moment your game flipped itself on its head, whether that be through gameplay or narratively. They can also help to provide a much needed second wind to a game before the end.
Create clear standout moments within a series
Player's will remember the time when a game suddenly swapped the character they were playing as for someone else or when an objective changes mid mission to account for a new and immediate threat. Even something as simple as having to play a level backwards can be just enough to keep a player pushing forward.
Weaknesses
Almost rely on the game getting stale
Subversions do, however, rely on players becoming familiar with a repeating formula in order to work. This can end up feeling like a game is sacrificing some of it’s quality for the sake of this subversive moment. This is also why subversions almost only ever happen past the halfway point of a game, to give players time to get into a state of repetition.
On the flip side, if every level of a game becomes subversive in some way, then the impact doesn’t hold up as effectively. Furthermore, because subversive levels appear later into a game out of necessity, there is a much higher chance that player’s won’t even get to that point if the game hasn’t sold them up until that point.
Example
A great example of a subversive level is Hitman 3’s Berlin level. In this level, the role of the cat and the mouse in the traditional hitman formula are flipped around, and the player is now the one being hunted by group of enemies posted meticulously across the map to take advantage of the player’s reliance on their familiar tricks. The busy crowds, dark alleyways, and high up rooftops used to gather info and hunt targets are now being used against them and they must cleverly find yet another new way to be efficient and creative in this game of elimination.
In Mark Brown’s Game Marker’s Toolkit video “Creating Hitman 3’s Best Level,” he reached out to the designers behind the level to ask about their creative process. In the video, they list a few of the different
approaches they took when designing how the AI should react. Should they actively hunt the player down, should they play smart and group up, should the communicate with each other to corner the player. In designing for this level, they realized their various approaches diverged to heavily from the sandbox/stealth gameplay that the series practices, settling for what we see in the final product with individual targets acting as more alert versions of the standard ones.
Credit: GMTK
Familiarity
Familiarity involves the development of a relationship between the level and player. Familiar levels are ones the player’s visit again and again throughout the course of a game. Familiar levels are often, but not always used for hub worlds. Many older games (NES, Genesis) also use familiarity within their levels to keep players playing.
Strengths
Levels evolve with the player
The best part about familiar levels is how they grow alongside the player, opening up new areas as the player gains new abilities, reaches key story events, or simply applies what they are taught within other levels in a broader sense. Familiar levels often call for fewer overall levels within a game, however, these levels must be much more complex to compensate.
Can be extremely rewarding to master
Familiar levels are no stranger to hiding shortcuts and secrets all around. It's not uncommon for a skilled player to be rewarded with an extra life or shortcut to a later level. Familiar levels are also a great way for a player to test their skill with a games core mechanics as players will naturally find more efficient and fun ways to clear them.
Weaknesses
Easy to feel tedious or too punishing
Some players will find familiar levels to be frustrating, however, feeling a sense of tedium or even punishment in having to retread old ground. Furthermore some familiar levels don’t utilize their familiarity in substantial ways and can end up feeling like padding.
Example
Some good examples of familiar levels are found in both Peach’s castle in Super Mario 64 and the levels from the Sonic the Hedgehog trilogy on the Sega Genesis.
In the case of Mario 64, the castle provides players with a diegetic tutorial through its layout, requiring the player to first become familiar with Mario’s abilities and having them explore the castle for the levels themselves, providing more than just space between levels. Furthermore, the castle
holds a number of secrets that test the player on their application of knowledge from within the main levels themselves such as the hidden cap powerups or secret slide. The castle also expands with the player as they collect power stars, starting off small and manageable before gradually opening up in its entirety.
The 2D Sonic game’s utilize familiarity in a different context, though. The levels within Sonic the Hedgehog are massive, sprawling not only horizontally, but vertically. The image above showcases the multiple routes a player can take within the first act of Angel Island zone in Sonic 3. The genesis Sonic games reward skill by providing not only faster, but also more rewarding routes with rings and powerups on the higher paths (circled in cyan). Meanwhile the bottom paths often slow the player down in some way. In this example, the bottom paths have the player trudge through underwater segments which bring Sonic to a crawl. Sonic games encourage players to master them and play through their games multiple times, so familiarity is a fantastic tool in this context.
Knowledge
This is similar to familiarity, however, knowledge-based level design is more often used to solve puzzles and navigate new, confusing environments, rather than test mastery over established ones. Knowledge levels aim to test the users understanding and mechanical knowledge in order to progress, as opposed to their muscle memory.
Strengths
Allow for intricate, complex design
This approach works wonders in very detailed and complex environments, allowing the player to take in large amounts of information and test them on it critically through its design. Knowledge based design is a very natural way of teaching mechanics and systems to a player, providing them a dedicated space where the primary challenge is to prove their mastery over a mechanic.
Builds memorability through natural memorization
A well designed game that uses knowledge-based level design will seemlessly establish a hierarchy in a player's head of tasks needed to be done. These can give players big "Aha!" moments when they realize what an item they found earlier is for or how they can use an old ability in a new way.
Weaknesses
Easy to get lost and confused
When designing for knowledge, it’s important not to let player fall off the critical path too easily. It's one thing to provide a fair challenge to the player that really tests their critical thinking, but it's another to punish a player too harshly for not immediately understanding what to do. This can lead to them becoming overwhelmed and confused, resulting in frustration, for what feels like something outside of their control.
Example
Some great examples of this design are the various dungeons across the Legend of Zelda series. Zelda dungeons are often referred to as “Puzzle Boxes,” a term that Game Maker’s Toolkit uses when describing Ocarina of Time’s infamous water temple.
The Water Temple, like many Zelda dungeons, plays around with the idea that the dungeon itself has a core mechanic that changes its state. The primary challenge requires the player identifying and changing the dungeon into the state it needs to be in, in order to progress. In
this case, the core mechanic of the dungeon are the rising and lowering water levels, which require players to identify whether or not a room needs to be submerged in water. The challenge comes from changing the water level itself, which is done at three specific spots on the map.
The player needs to plot a route in order to reach the correct switch that changes the water to the level it needs to be at and then navigate back to the correct room. Zelda dungeons also
use the subtle act of having the player plot key flags in their head throughout the dungeons of things they need to remember and return to later, in order to build this knowledge within the player. See a crack in the wall while underwater? The player needs to lower the water level, and return to that room to blow it up with a bomb which can’t be used when wet.
The water temple, however, is also a tad infamous for how easy it is to fall off the critical path and have the player stumbling around, trying to get back on track. If the player uses the wrong switch, it's then an additional task to try and get to the correct one which may be tricky with the dungeon in its current state.
Spectacle
Spectacle refers to any big "Wow!" moments in a game. Explosions, chase sequences, etc. Simple, and to the point.
Strengths
Easy to market and show off
These are easy to market and explain, often-frontloading game experiences and being the focus of trailers. Humans love big epic set pieces. A large draw of video games entirely are their escapist qualities, so good spectacle within levels easily claims a spot in a player’s memory. You might never jump out of a runaway train (nor should you want to) but doing so within the comfort of your own home can be really exillerating.
Often front-load an experience
It typically doesn't take very long for spectacle to wow a player. Even if the player doesn't end up finishing the experience, which unfortunately most do not, they're left with the feelings that moment provided them.
Weaknesses
Set pieces are expensive and time consuming
Unfortunately, spectacle is extremely costly to produce and is often reserved for big AAA games. The more stunning set pieces a game has, the less unique content it tends to have. Any time spent crafting big moments isn’t spent on the rest of the experience. It's really difficult to balance how much of a game should aim for spectacle, while still providing a worthwhile experience elsewhere
Example
A great example of spectacle are in EA’s Dead Space and Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us. In Dead Space, the core of the game lies within the spectacle of its very genre, that being horror.
Being chased by scary monsters is thrilling to players, and dead space uses this in it’s opening moments, having the player immediately thrust into the danger of the USG Ishimura as they learn the hard way just what a necromorph is and what it does to the human body. By the end of the intro, the player is smack dab in the middle of an alien parastye-infested space station. Dead space also has its famous tentacle monster which, as ArsTechnica put it, was so costly to develop that it almost got the game cancelled.
the Last of Us on the other hand aims to focus its levels around the narrative beats of its plot and characters within its setpieces. A great example of this would be the famous Giraffe scene. This is done to build a bond between its two protagonists (and the player by extension). The goal of the game was to replicate a movie-like experience on a
home console and so levels are designed around cinematography and visuals
Stress
Finally, the last pillar of level design is stress. Referred to as the “Squeeze and Release of gameplay” by Smash Bros creator Masahiro Sakurai, stress involves providing the player with fair but difficult challenges to overcome through level design.
Strengths
Arguably the most rewarding to solve/beat
Stress-based challenges are some of the most rewarding to beat for player’s, providing them with an extremely strong sense of accomplishment over seemingly impossible odds. while also allowing the level designers to really get creative and “go nuts” with their levels.
Allow for the creation of more difficult levels
Level designers are essentially let loose when designing difficult challenges. They're really allowed to apply mechanics and systems in weird unique ways or crank up just how much they can put their players through while still being fair.
Weaknesses
It's both really hard to create and quite niche
Stress-based levels tend to have a bit of a niche appeal. Since every individual has a different reason for playing games and a unique tolerance for the type of experience they can handle, this will inevitable lead to large portions of a player base becoming frustrated and backing off of a game for being too difficult. It's also really hard for a designer to create a difficult challenge without dipping too far into being unfair
Example
Celeste is what I believe to be the best way to use stress in level design. Levels in Celeste always start out mechanically simple, beginning with the introduction of a new level mechanic, and ending with the combination of two or three mechanics all thrown at the player simultaneously. Celeste, is effective in this design, as it handles failure exceptionally well. Dying in Celeste is both normal and expected, and the game cushions failure to ensure player’s won’t become frustrated.
To look at an example of elevating stress, take chapter 3. The level starts by introducing a ground that forms hazard where the player walks, then introduces moving hazards separately, before merging them. In the level’s climax, a persistent threat is thrown into the mix, and now the player is tasked with thinking critically under the pressure of a constant threat. This gradual design of difficulty within celeste does wonders for it’s methodology of design for stress in mind.
Hazard-creating surfaces
Moving Hazards
Chasing Enemy
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