On Difficulty Curves

On a short, moderate, and long term, the ideal progression system will be encouraging the player to play for the next ten minutes, the next hour, and the next week. My favorite progression reference is Satisfactory, their system leverages expanding resource demands, upgrades, clearly defined long-term goals, and flexible pathways through the content. Create a pool of crafted decisions for the player through reflection of the intended goals your players will have. Why is the player playing your game? What fantasy are you providing? How can you set up your game's fantasy and then expand on it? The way your game enables the player's fantasy and expands off those base expectations is the key to enticing your players back for more.

On UX Design

Beyond data gathering, user research entails a dynamic exploration of player demographics, behaviors, and desires through an array of methodologies such as surveys, interviews, and usability testing. Delving into player communities unveils not just what players want, but why they want it, offering nuanced insights that shape our game design strategies. Through research, we scrutinize player feedback and observing gameplay dynamics, we unearth hidden patterns and refine mechanics, ensuring our games resonate deeply with our target audiences. This iterative process enables us to validate assumptions, optimize development decisions, and continually elevate player satisfaction.

On Project Vision

It is essential for your game to be built around a singular vision. Your game should be clearly scoped to be realistic for your technical capabilities, your team’s design skills, and your artistic resources. To be clear, you cannot, by yourself, build Call of Duty. But you can gauge the skills of your developers, balanced by the timeframe you work within, and you will have an appropriate scope where goals can be accomplished and a project vision that's reasonable for your team. Capital plays a part, but so does the economics of your team's environment. Write a design document and define what your game is and what it isn't. Target a style, reference other games, but be sure to design with a distinction that marks your project as yours.