Mechanized Mayhem

When players are feeling overwhelmed by enemies they will want to have a way to deal with the many threats. Overwhelming odds can be an aspect of the game the player has to navigate, but it needs something to balance the challenge or the player will simply give up.

Many games call for a “one-person army” type of dynamic where the player character is expected to be able to take on swarms of enemies. This is helpful for narrative purposes as well as player experience purposes: it gives players a sense of challenge and tension when they see that their character is expected to take on dozens, perhaps hundreds of enemies in a level all by themselves. If a game designer uses this dynamic, they should consider giving the character an ability that the player can trigger which will temporarily make the character more powerful. This can include increasing the character’s stats, negating damage dealt to the character, or changing the way the character attacks. To communicate this change, designers should give a visual indication that the character is in a special mode. This can be done by changing the character model, creating particle effects around the character, or changing the camera presentation.