The Road Less Travelled

I am Currently reading the book “Predictably Irrational” by Dan Ariele. As described in chapter one, people’s decisions can be irrationally swayed by relative comparisons. For example, if you were given a choice between a brown or grey jacket of equivalent value (assuming you have no color preference) you are equally likely to pick either one. If a third jacket were introduced which is similar, but slightly inferior to one of the original two, your choice will be strongly influenced by this. If, for example, you introduce a second grey jacket which has a minor flaw or is the same, but without a belt, the great majority of us would pick the original grey jacket. This is because the grey jacket would seem like a better deal, simply because you have a basis of comparison, and the brown jacket will seem like a lesser value, because we have nothing relative to compare it against. This irrational bias in our decision making is exploited regularly by merchandisers and just about anybody else who wants us to buy their product or service.

This behavior shouldn’t be ignored when designing a game. You can, perhaps, reward players who explore alternative strategies by increasing the utility or value of unique and less obvious cards or other components in your game. This might enhance the replay value of a game and may even lead toward more varied strategies emerging in your game. You might instead decide to guide players in a certain direction  by using similar components and graphical cues to lead plyers to a more interesting and fun path of action. No matter how you plan to use it, it is a behavior that probably should be considered in your design.

I am not an expert, nor am I a successful in publishing games. (Yet!) I am just trying to figure things out and hope you enjoy my occasional rant. Feel free to comment if you agree or disagree, or even if you just want to say hi.

Roger Meloche