Goal
Ensure every player can enjoy and complete your game, regardless of skill level, by providing multiple difficulty options.Overview
Difficulty is subjective — what’s easy for one player is impossible for another. “Difficult” often just means “a set of specific game mechanics that don’t work for me.” Younger players, new gamers, and story-first players also want lower difficulty. And difficulty is rarely one dial — a player may want puzzles harder and combat easier. Multiple presets + granular per-mechanic controls let players enjoy every part of the game.Scoping questions
Identify the core mechanics your game requires (aiming, meter management, close combat, memory, puzzles, timers, spatial memory) and, for each, list grading options — the variables you can move up or down to change difficulty (enemy count, target size, meter depletion rate, resource availability, notification frequency, auto-target assists).Implementation guidelines
Multiple presets
- Include multiple difficulty presets — ideally 4+ — covering a wide value range from very easy (story-first) to very hard.
A separate “Creative” mode isn’t a difficulty preset if it changes the fundamental gameplay experience (unlimited resources, no threats, no achievements). Still provide 4+ presets within the primary game mode.
Change difficulty any time
- Players can change difficulty at any point without losing progress, whether or not they’ve started the game.
Regular saves
- Provide both manual and auto-save so players can retry without significant loss of progress.
Granular per-mechanic difficulty
- Allow players to adjust the difficulty of individual mechanics — explicit sliders (Puzzle Difficulty, Combat Difficulty) or discrete assists (Brake Assist, Auto-Aim, Steering Assist, Traction Control).
Ultra-low difficulty mode
- Provide an ultra-low mode so a wide range of players can experience the narrative.
- Consider a reduced control scheme mode so players with especially severe disabilities can complete the game.
Non-denigrating language
- Describe difficulty presets descriptively and respectfully. No
Wimp Modeor similar. Include a description of what to expect at each level.
Pause
- Single-player, local multiplayer, and local split-screen games are pausable at any time except save / load screens.
- Both active gameplay and cinematics (intros, video cutscenes, scripted cutscenes) are pausable.
Potential player impact
Resources
- Offer a wide choice of difficulty levels
- Allow difficulty level to be altered during gameplay
- Offer a means to bypass gameplay elements that aren’t part of the core mechanic
- Include assist modes such as auto-aim and assisted steering
- Provide a manual save feature
- Provide an autosave feature
- Expose as many variables as possible
- Accessibility isn’t easy: what “easy mode” debates miss (IGN)
- Difficulty vs accessibility — Ian Hamilton, GAConf 2022