🤔Difficulty

Difficulty accessibility empowers players of all skill levels to enjoy your game. It's not about "dumbing things down" but rather providing options so everyone can find a challenge level that's engaging, not frustrating. Playtesting in this area helps you find the right balance and ensure satisfying progression for your entire potential audience.

Key Aspects of Difficulty to Consider:

• Difficulty Curves: Does the game's challenge increase at a reasonable and enjoyable pace? Are there difficulty spikes that might alienate less-skilled players?

• Adjustable Difficulty: Ideally, offer multiple difficulty settings with clearly explained differences (changes to enemy health, AI aggressiveness, resource scarcity, etc.).

• Dynamic Difficulty (If Applicable): If your game adjusts difficulty in real-time based on player performance, playtest heavily to avoid it feeling unfair or making progress impossible.

• Punishment vs. Encouragement: Does low difficulty trivialize the gameplay, or does it still provide a sense of accomplishment and skill mastery?

• Checkpoints & Save Systems: Are checkpoints/saves frequent enough to reduce frustration, but spaced in a way that maintains tension and stakes?

• Assist Features: Consider options like aim assist, simplified controls, or invulnerability toggles. Be clear that these are optional and don't diminish the core experience for those seeking a greater challenge.

How to Gather Targeted Feedback

• Diverse Playtesters: Recruit players with a wide range of gaming experience, from casual players to those seeking hardcore challenges.

• Frustration vs. Fun: Have players pinpoint the moments where they shifted from feeling enjoyably challenged to overly frustrated.

• "Just Right" Challenge: Ask players to describe their ideal difficulty level for your game type. What would make it feel tough but fair?

• Accessibility vs. Difficulty Choice: Emphasize that accessibility settings aren't always about making the game "easier," but rather customizable to suit different needs.

• Player Agency: Difficulty options are most effective when players can adjust them at any time, allowing them to tailor the experience to their liking as they improve or hit roadblocks.

Important Note: Don't conflate difficulty with complexity. A game can have complex mechanics that are challenging to master (like a fighting game) while still offering accessible pathways for less-skilled players to enjoy it.