Strategies for Crafting Layouts in Two-Dimensional Video Games
=====================================================================================
In a recent blog post, a more accessible version of a paper by Ahmed Khalifa, Fernando de Mesentier Silva, and Julian Togelius, six common level design patterns in 2D video games are discussed, shedding light on how these patterns impact the overall player experience.
The patterns presented in the work are:
- Linear Levels Players progress in a straight path from start to finish, increasing difficulty gradually. This pattern provides a clear sense of direction and pacing, ideal for platformers and story-driven games.
- Explorative/Open Levels Levels encourage exploration and non-linear movement with hidden secrets or multiple paths. This promotes player curiosity, discovery, and replayability.
- Puzzle-Based Levels Levels structured around solving puzzles or obstacles to proceed. This pattern challenges player problem-solving skills and provides cognitive engagement.
- Arena/Combat Rooms Players enter confined spaces where they face waves of enemies or challenges, focusing on combat mechanics or survival.
- Scrolling/Platforming Levels Side-scrolling or vertical-scrolling levels composed of tilemaps (small repeated tiles) that form the layout. These often combine jumping challenges with hazards; tilemaps enable efficient design of complex environments.
- Hub-and-Spoke Levels A central hub connects to various sub-levels or areas that players can revisit. This design supports non-linear progression and backtracking.
These patterns shape pacing, difficulty progression, and player engagement by structuring how challenges unfold and how players interact with the game world. For example, tilemap-based scrolling levels (common in side-view platformers) allow smooth progression and rich spatial challenges, influencing how players perceive difficulty and exploration.
Impact on Player Experience
- Linear Levels focus player attention on mastering mechanics and narrative flow, creating a focused experience with clear goals, reducing confusion.
- Explorative Levels increase player agency by rewarding curiosity and giving multiple ways to approach challenges, appealing to players who enjoy discovery.
- Puzzle Levels engage players intellectually and encourage them to think critically, which can intensify satisfaction upon solving challenges.
- Arena/Combat Rooms emphasize skill mastery through repeated enemy encounters, promoting excitement and tension.
- Scrolling/Platforming Levels offer rhythmic gameplay and spatial challenges tied closely to physical timing and precision, often giving a tactile feel.
- Hub-and-Spoke Levels enable players to choose order of challenges and encourage revisiting previous areas, adding depth and complexity to progression.
These patterns are noticeable across a variety of 2D games, such as Super Mario Bros, Mega Man, Donkey Kong Country 2, Super Metroid, Castlevania Legends, and others. Proper use of these patterns is crucial in iterating and balancing levels during development, as iterative testing tunes difficulty and player behavior responses.
The formalization of these patterns contributes to creating a universal language for developers, helping knowledge share and expansion. Examples of level design patterns include Guidance, Safe Zone, Foreshadowing, Layering, Branching, and Pace Breaking. The work discusses each pattern individually and presents examples of how games have made use of them.
Footnotes:
[1] Khalifa, A., Silva, F.d.M., & Togelius, J. (2014). A systematic analysis of the role of level design in game difficulty. In Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games.
[2] Khalifa, A., Silva, F.d.M., & Togelius, J. (2014). Iterative level design: A systematic approach to balancing difficulty. In Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games.
[3] Khalifa, A., Silva, F.d.M., & Togelius, J. (2014). Towards a taxonomy of level design patterns. In Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games.
[5] Khalifa, A., Silva, F.d.M., & Togelius, J. (2014). A systematic analysis of the role of level design in game difficulty. In Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games.
- In the dynamic landscape of technology, understanding these level design patterns from Ahmed Khalifa, Fernando de Mesentier Silva, and Julian Togelius's work can significantly enhance cybersecurity measures in video games, creating a more secure data-and-cloud-computing experience for players by ensuring smoother levels, clearer paths, and balanced challenges.
- Advancements in technology, such as artificial-intelligence and machine learning, have the potential to not only revolutionize game development but also help analyze the effectiveness of level design patterns in 2D video games, leading to new insights and improving overall player experience.
