Optimal Sequencing in Single-Player Games

Yifu Li (), Christopher Thomas Ryan () and Lifei Sheng ()
Additional contact information
Yifu Li: International Institute of Finance, School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, PR China
Christopher Thomas Ryan: UBC Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z2, Canada
Lifei Sheng: College of Business, University of Houston-Clear Lake, Houston, Texas 77058

Management Science, 2023, vol. 69, issue 10, 6057-6075

Abstract: An important problem in single-player video game design is how to sequence game elements within a level (or “chunk”) of the game. Each element has two critical features: a reward (e.g., earning an item or being able to watch a cinematic) and a degree of difficulty (e.g., how much energy or focus is needed to interact with the game element). The latter property is a distinctive feature in video games. Unlike passive services (like a trip to the spa) or passive entertainment (like watching sports or movies), video games often require concerted effort to consume. We study how to sequence game elements to maximize overall experienced utility subject to the dynamics of adaptation to rewards and difficulty and memory decay. We find that the optimal design depends on the relationship between rewards and difficulty, leading to qualitatively different designs. For example, when the proportion of reward-to-difficulty is high, the optimal design mimics that of more passive experiences. By contrast, the optimal design of games with low reward-to-difficulty ratios resembles work-out routines with “warm-ups” and “cool-downs.” Intermediate cases may follow the classical “mini-boss, end-boss” design where difficulty has two peaks. Numerical results reveal optimal designs with “waves” of reward and difficulty with multiple peaks. Level designs with multiple peaks of difficulty are ubiquitous in video games. In summary, this paper provides practical guidance to game designers on how to match the design of single-player games to the relationship between reward and difficulty inherent in their game’s mechanics. Our model also has implications for other interactive services that share similarities with games, such as summer camps for children.

Keywords: video games; level design; memory decay; adaptation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4665 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:69:y:2023:i:10:p:6057-6075

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Management Science from INFORMS Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Asher ().