The talk will expose the value of randomness as a gameplay component from a high level point of view and then will present two ways to deal with it based on the experience of the speaker, who has worked on match-3 games and a hack'n slash, among others. Level design levers and tools for casual games will be discussed as well as content generation through Treasure Classes.

1. Dealing with chance: Good luck
Game Connection Europe 2014
marc.pestka@lifeisavidgame.com

2. Alea is part of the game
• Roger Caillois: Man, Play and Games
• Uncertainty is not boring
• Equality
• Playing with luck is so human
• From roulette to chess
• Can you learn chance? Is it fun?
• Enter the occurrence dimension: repetition
makes the fun and controls chance

3. Some maths are needed
• Permutations
• Mean / Expected value
• Standard deviation
• Gaussian distribution
• Random without replacement (deck structure)
• Non-uniformly distributed numbers –
cheating?

4. Chance in casual games
• Some casual games use chance because the
concept is accessible
• Random generation of elements means
endless replayability and ‘gameplay’ stories
• Balance between skill and chance: every one
can enter the game

5. Dealing with randomness
• Size of the board = field of possibilities
• Amount of colors = one key component.
Readibility, amount of possible matches
• On the LD side: build, play, repeat
• If you’re lucky: use metrics, optimize through
data analytics
• If you’re super lucky, use AI.

6. Chance in RPG
• Roll a dice = all actions have a chance element
• Reducing uncertainty is part of the essence
• Random generation = huge content
• Loot: reward and diversity
• Loot is a long-term motivation in itself, mixed
with collection appeal

7. Dealing with complex randomness
• Objective: Make the most out of a limited pool
• Only picking one in an array is not enough
• Organizing the possibilities
• Diablo: Treasure Classes

8. QUESTIONS?
THANKS