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I've been viewing games through the prism of how many "almosts" they have lately. Canabalt is fun because you almost fall off dozens of times before you actual
by matthew-wegner 17y ago
I've been viewing games through the prism of how many "almosts" they have lately. Canabalt is fun because you almost fall off dozens of times before you actually do (and when it happens you usually almost made it). Because you think your death was avoidable, and only barely occurred, you immediately want to try again.
Something almost happening is surprisingly compelling. Slot machines are a very pure implementation of this idea; if they just showed you all three symbols immediately you would never have that sense of something almost happening...
- BigZaphod 17y agoI find this comment remarkably insightful. It's such a simple concept and yet that idea never occurred to me - but yet it just feels right! The slot machine example is dead on. Awesome.
- matthew-wegner 17y agoThanks! It first occurred to me when we were trying to figure out why our most popular game, Off-Road Velociraptor Safari, was our most popular game. I realized that it's essentially an "almost" generator; the game is always teasing you with cool possibilities (you'll jump your vehicle off a cliff and almost hit a raptor, and then later realize you can actually do this and the game will reward you for it). "Almost" is a pretty common trait in fun/addictive designs if you start looking for it...