Factori-Oh No

Click to buy factories

Resources auto-generate and time increases are automatically purchased. 

 Increase the bomb timer to 5 minutes to defuse it! You lose if the countdown reaches 00:00

Pattern 1: The Limit is Below the Sky

Design Problem:

Game designers want to provide players with a wide variety of unlocks/pickups. However, this can reduce the difficulty of a game by allowing the player to advance through the game without much critical thought. How can game designers push players to optimize play and make strategic decisions when unlocking a large variety of moves or items?

Pattern Description:

One solution is to limit the number of slots for items or moves of a particular type. This can be a static limit, a limit that changes over time, or an artificial limit created by negative feedback that grows with the number slots overfilled. By limiting the number of slots, the player can have access to an abundance of different possible pickups, and every pickup can be powerful. However, the player will still have to strategize amongst them and refine a build rather than pick everything up.

Pattern 2: Survive Against the Unkillable

Design Problem:

Game designers employ unbalanced mechanics to heighten gameplay loops and player emotions. One such imbalance is a permanent difference in power levels across players and/or enemies. However, this can easily lead to unenjoyable games. How can designers avoid such an issue?

Pattern Description:

Using permanently unbalanced power levels requires proper balancing to create engaging gameplay instead of an unplayable mess. Several different methods can be used to achieve this:

- In survival games, giving the player a non-combat tool to avoid the overpowered enemy, such as the ability to hide from or temporarily avoid the enemy

- In multiplayer PvP games, giving the weaker players a numbers advantage over the overpowered players

- In PvE horror survival games, giving the players grace periods without danger to act as save points and give the player space to relax

All three methods provide different strategies other than combat to manage the enemy, thus reducing the threat that it would be. This tips the game’s scales of balance to favor the overpowered enemy less while not removing the tension that using an unbalanced power difference is intended to achieve.