Fun fact: The enemies getting faster the more of them die in the original Space Invaders is literally the program running faster due to processing fewer enemies. Difficulty curves in video games was invented by serendipity.
As were many of the systems and mechanics we love today. Combos in SF2 were an accident at first, but they quickly realized how much depth and skill curve it added to the game back then. And here we are in 2022 with combos being arguably one of the core mechanics of all fighting games
@@actuallynotsteve Combos weren't an accident. I think they even tried a mechanic where your attack would automatically miss against an opponent that was in hitstun and purposefully disabled it because it wasn't fun. What was an accident was special cancelling. Something about how inputs were read.
Interesting thing: The Nagoya Attack isn't even the most well-known "bug as a feature" in Space Invaders. What's more famous is how the game speeds up as you defeat enemies - yes, it started as an accident. The speed of the game's processor was dependent on how many sprites were on-screen; this meant the less ships there were, the faster the game draws frames. The designer kept the bug as is and promoted it to a feature after realizing it added incentive to master the game. It is one of the earliest known examples of a "difficulty curve".
As I understand it, the speedup of the aliens was also a happy accident - as less sprites needed to be drawn, the game moved faster - not because it was coded that way, just because less sprites was less demanding. The devs liked the behavior so much, they left it in.
Pac-Man is another deceptively simple game that has a lot of depth as well. Each ghost has their own unique AI pattern and changing behaviors. Empty pathways without pellets are slightly faster to go through than those with them. Tunnels slow down ghosts, etc. Just a lot of things to strategize while you're playing which is what makes it so engaging.
Yeah, that reminds me of the time I was at an arcade at Disney with my mom, so there was this Wreck it Ralph machine. It's similar, but far from exactly like Donkey Kong. Anyway, you pick up the hammer to gain invincibility, so I go to the top of the screen to collect the required materials and my mom asked why I did that. I explained that it's harder to dodge the objects that Ralph is throwing up there, so I spend the invincibility on that area rather than on the bottom floors where it's easier to dodge. The point is, there can be alot of strategy in these simplistic games.
It's not that they are complicated, but rather the opposite. The fact that they are simple but well thought out is his point. (and a bit of luck sometimes like the space invader example.)
@@captainblue5096 Not everything needs to be high risk high reward. Like the case of watching sakurai's content. Low risk, because you could have stuff you need to do, but you're still learning.
The risk of watching his video was being on the internet and for such I found a comment of a dude saying he hates risk and reward systems in games and cheats so he can get all rewards without effort. But the reward was a Sakurai video anyways, so I think it's a win.
Never heard of "The Wall Of Death", what a cool piece of trivia and so well integrated into the video. These are the advantages of having a veteran game designer talk about this stuff.
"You can't be a chef If you can't discern taste" Sakurai roasting 98% of the internet Edit: I'm still wondering from relevant this comment got considering that it's not even something funny at all
"As you increase 'game essence', you reduce a game's broad appeal." This is its own kind of risk and reward, on the developer's side. A game that places broad appeal as the highest priority at the cost of essence can be played anyone but will be loved by few, whereas a game willing to sacrifice broad appeal for the sake of its essence can carve out a very dedicated niche. There was an era of game development where broad appeal was being held as the most important factor and many games attempting to present a more esoteric experience were forced to dilute their vision so as not to risk alienating any potential audience, but this created a growing sentiment of dissatisfaction among players who felt like it was robbing games of their identity. There were likely many games that couldn't be made to fit this trend that never even got a chance, but luckily we've moved past it into an ecosystem where it's been proven that uncompromising games with a strong identity still have a place, even if they're not for everyone.
But then you have the kirby games which are loved by many people and still have broad appeal. Most Nintendo games do. Then again Nintendo also tends to go more in a "easy to learn difficult to master" route which gives games the potential to be the best of both worlds.
@@milliondollarmistake Exactly. A great example are the advanced cappy movements in Mario Odyssey, they have very high "game essence" but are not required to complete the game so people who can't master them can finish the game.
Perfectly said. See: Super Smash Bros. Brawl from that Wii era. You can also replace “game essence” with “depth,” and apply it to not just games but almost anything.
This is why I've always loved parry mechanics in games. You wait until the risk of getting hit is at it's highest before you retaliate and gain the ultimate reward. I enjoy that more than simply attacking outright sometimes
Royal Guard in Devil May Cry 3/4/5 is a great parry example, since it combines a low risk/low reward block and a high risk/high reward parry. You can take the lower risk by blocking early, but it doesn't block ALL damage, gives no Style, and won't fill the Revenge attack meter. However, do the riskier parry right as an enemy hits, and you take zero damage, greatly raises your Style, and fills your Revenge meter. Something between the block and parry is the mid risk/mid reward dodge roll. It's fairly easy to pull off, lets you negate all damage and give some Style, but it can only be done on the ground and has no offense capabilities. Deciding between different risks can be quite engaging.
@@iveli_alpaca It's also a great way to accommodat lower skill levels while not excluding the higher ones. Some people might be satisfied using the block (tho maybe using a different style for DmC's specific example might be a better idea), some will choose an option depending on the situation and some will go wild with the parry.
Guardian beams in Zelda Breath of the Wild exemplify this. It is quite risky but deals tremendous damage to a guardian without expending any resource when done well.
@@Remour Sakurai said in his intro video that Nintendo is not involved, this is his own project. All Nintendo did was give him legal permission to use their game assets and design documents. :)
Space Invaders is such a deceptively simple game, that it fills me with joy to see Sakurai of all people giving it the well thought out analysis it deserves. This channel is a gift that keeps on giving!
Damn, just when i was thinking "I want the next Sakurai video to come out" even If they are short, i feel like the times were i used to wake up early to watch a cartoon
From what I could notice, the upload frequency seems to be scheduled to every weekday morning (Japanese timezone). In my case, I get comfort from these being potentially the last thing I watch before going to sleep.
@@sebc255 On Twitter, he said that he plans to do new videos 2-3 times a week (he did it daily last week since he launched in the middle of the week), so I'd be perfectly happy with a M-W-F release schedule if he can maintain it.
I like how this explains why a lot of Sakurai's games allow you to increase the game's difficulty for a higher reward (like the Fiend's Cauldron in Kid Icarus: Uprising
They actually turned the Nagoya Attack into an intentional mechanic in Space Invaders: Infinity Gene. Enemy shots won't hurt you for a short time immediately after they're fired, and you get a huge point bonus for passing through them in that state. For the record, I didn't realize the term "Nagoya Attack" existed in the very original Space Invaders, so I learned something new on top of what Sakurai-san was explaining!
I was surprised to see the name "Nagoya" in the English version of the video as well! Nagoya is actually where I live now, and it's a city I really like. The food is just so good! But watch out for traffic accidents!
Honestly, in my opinion... One of the best things to happen to TH-cam in general. It's legitimately one of my favorite channels already, and I've not been this excited for new uploads from anyone in a while.
Wario land 4 is honestly insane when it comes to this topic: Ball form: fast but you can run into damaging spikes or end up in places you don’t want to be, which can lead to death. You are invincible to enemies though. Risk reward. Zombie form: you can fall through platforms! What was once a one way hinderance, like; “I can’t get down their a one way platform is blocking me!”. Turning into zombie form allows you to melt through platforms and find out the key you needed to progress and ultimately finish the game. Watch out though, if you let your wits down and get zombified on a platform you don’t want to fall though, you’ll end up all the way back to where you started or more often end up in a place worse than you started, like a pool full of enemies! Look out and check and learn your surroundings. Know when you do or do not want to be zombified. Fat Wario or fat form: you can bust through thick ground blocks that you couldn’t before, but you fall faster and jump slower and shorter, so your platform game is diminished tremendously. You are also forcibly moved off of ladders in this form. Know when you need it. Fire wario or fire form: this one is honestly stupid fun, but it’s great to learn the map and count perfectly how many wall bumps you need to take before entering burning wario form, while platforming to get to the destination. Risk is wasted time and difficulty, reward is the satisfaction of finally achieving the goal of burning fire blocks after 3 wall bounces. Frog switch: I could make a 7 page essay on the risk and reward of frog switch, so I’ll make it simple: You land on the frog switch in any means, you just have to hit the top of it. You might not want to because you haven’t found all the pieces yet to compete the game, or maybe the key to the next level. Hitting it puts you in this position of “oh crap!” And you have to make a mad dash to the beginning of the level with the knowledge of the levels mechanics or map or both, since frog switches can block or create paths you knew or didn’t know. A timer is used above you in order for you to hurry up, and the risk is loosing *all* of your progress in a level, and the reward is finishing it and being able to progress to the boss and or to the next level. The insanity of the frog switch, putting a death date over your head as the only way to progress the game at all, might sound like it might get repetitive, but the only thing the timer does is it changes the game to be against you, not with you. No longer are you exploring a level at your own pace absorbing the information, instead you have to find your way through with the information gathered, rather it be the map layout or it’s gimmicks and mechanics. The frog switch makes *the game itself* the risk reward system. The whole game, everything. The forms wario can be in will or will not help you in your struggle to the end. So will your enemies, since they can hurt you, put you in a form you don’t want, or they can give you some extra jump hight by jumping on top of their heads, or they can give you a form you need or want for wario to get to the end. This goes for treasure. Do I want it? It will cost me time… This goes for everything wario land four, the insanity of risk and reward of that game. Frog switches are the highlight, but don’t ignore the smaller things that build up to creat a full on platforming masterpiece. Seriously though if you have never played that game, or haven’t played in a while and your memory is fuzzy, pull it up or em*late it to experience a seriously one of a kind 2d platformer it is amazing holy crap.
I will definitely play it. Wario land three used some of the same mechanics but I never actually played that one. Thanks for the recommendation, here's hoping we see a new Wario Land someday
I love WL4. It showed up and there hasn't really been anything like it since. As a child, I liked it for just being wacky and a platformer, but I'd come to realize later just how well-executed the concept was and how much personality the game had in just 18 levels and some boss fights. Really puzzled as to why it hasn't been brought to the Switch's eshop. H-H-H-HURRY UP!
Super Mario Bros. I feel is the perfect game to explain anything in game development. Its amazing how that game still holds up to this day due to genius design.
SMB is pretty much the baseline of all modern gaming and the ultimate divider between modern games and pre-modern games like Pong, Brick Breaker, or Space Invaders.
I recall somewhere that there is actually a manga about the development of the original Super Mario Bros. featuring a young Shigeru Miyamoto discussing the game design with other Nintendo employees.
Not only that, but anyone who knows gaming knows Super Mario Bros. (and even some who don't do), so you don't have to spend a lot of time explaining the basics to use it as an example.
One of my favorite risk-reward mechanics is F-Zero's boost meter. In the N64 and Gamecube entries, your boost meter is also your life bar, so you must spend some health to go faster. But if you spend too much, you will be one bump away from crashing out. Hit too many walls, and you'll lose energy that could have been better spent going faster. It's such a simple mechanic but it brings lot of tension!
These videos are going to be used soooo much in classrooms. No cursing, short and well-explained topics, no ads, AND visually and aurally interesting? Absolutely perfect for that sort of setting.
The TWEWY games have a really cool risk-vs-reward system. In those games, you can unlock customizable psychic attacks tied to pins and you primarily get these by fighting enemies known as Noise. Each Noise will have a different pin drop depending on which difficulty you’re on (you can change the difficulty at anytime) and you can get higher drop rates and more powerful pins on higher difficulties by chaining together multiple rounds at once. At first, you can only chain up to 4-5 rounds at a time but eventually, you can chain up to 16-20, with the enemies getting stronger throughout each round and dropping more loot as a result. And if that wasn’t all, you can also DECREASE your level (which only affects your HP) in order to increase the drop rate even further, which constantly encourages you to understand more of the games’ mechanics in order to get the best rewards possible.
@gaming123456 I feel like those sorts of things are unavoidable, especially as time goes on. There will be glitches found, tier lists formed, and strategies on how to best get through the game. I think it’s up to the individual player to determine on how they want to play and enjoy the game. And besides, most games these days have decent enough game balance.
@@awogbob it kind of is though, when you are trying to achieve something rewarding, there should be a risk attached to it, otherwise the game is out of balance and not engaging
@@somebodythatnobodylikes Even if different characters are objectively better; with good enough balance, the answer to that question can be different from person to person. In fighting games if people are picking a variety of characters even if they know which ones are better, then the game is balanced. When no one can come to an agreement as to the best way to play, you made everyone's experience more personal.
Mario & Luigi: The longer you hold out the hammer, the higher the chance is that you'll do the minimum damage. However, if you swing the hammer at the last moment, you'll get an Excellent hit, maximizing the damage.
that's similar to the greatsword overhead slash, if you time the third charge just right, it deals massive damage (note that you'll be standing in place for several seconds while the enemy might move out of the way, so you also risk missing), but if you release the button too late, it deals less damage, iirc it was around the same as the second charge, but with more time wasted Edit: I forgot to mention I was talking about monster hunter
I'm so sad that Alphadream is no more, I still hold the M&L games in the highest regard, especially the original, Dream Team, and Bowser's Inside Story. Those mechanics are such perfect risk vs reward as you described. Same for countering too, one can do. safe jump dodge, orrrrrrrrr you could try to time it just right and hit the enemy for a counterattack but risk getting hit yourself.
I'll again be speaking about Touhou Project: this time about the GRAZE mechanic. Touhou Project is a score based bullet hell game series. One way of gaining points is by grazing past enemy bullets. This means getting REALLY close to the bullets, but not touching them. However, if you touch the bullets you die instantly. If you want to score big, you HAVE to make huge risks to be as close to bullets as possible at all times. This is particularly stressful on Lunatic Spell Cards, where bullets can be fast or hard to read. But grazing is so satisfying. The tick sound, the numbers going up, and the points cashed in at the level end. Its simple but genius Risk/Reward.
To add to this for those unfamiliar with Touhou, grazing is even incorporated in Luna Nights, the metroidvania. Basically all of your offensive options use MP in that game, even you basic knife throw, & grazing is THE best way to refill both MP & your time gauge (the player character is Sakuya who basically has time slow as her main power at least in Luna Nights. Only in the Touhou verse is having time powers NOT busted). You can also graze while having the time slow activated but you get much less returns since time being slowed heavily lessons the risk. Edit: corrected character name because brain decided to autofill
There's a ton of risk vs reward elements in Touhou, graze is absolutely the most iconic, haha. When I think about risk vs reward at its craziest, I think of the UFOs in UFO and shotgunning for spirits in TD. Both of these involve positioning yourself in scary places, but one rewards you with an insane amount of resources, and the other is a game that features a bunch of shots that give you extra damage up close, even when it doesn't look like it. Try Marisa in that game and you'll see what I mean, she has the most pronounced effect
I really appreciate that Sakurai is teaching us the Fundamentals of Game Design here. It's easy to find information on youtube about a lot of mid-tier design principles, so it's wonderful to see the basics so masterfully depicted.
Reminds me of your Master Orders in Smash 4. As well as Master Core... Your risk vs reward was often fair. I rarely take risks if something isn't worth it. Thanks Sakurai!
I dunno. You could set yourself up with equipment that made even the 'higher reward' Metal/Giant tickets take only a few seconds, and once you decided to fight the Hand(s) to cash out, you got infinite time.
6:26 "Even if it is a bug, it's fascinating that a game from this era can contain such a neat mechanic." I love this line. I experienced so much unintended risk/reward speedrunning Ocarina of Time. Glitches and tricks vary wildly in their level of difficulty and payoff, and gradually implementing more difficult tricks and saving time as a reward becomes OoT's game essence, instead of how its game essence was intended in a normal, casual playthrough. Or it gives many of the intended rewards in the game (e.g. equipment items) an entirely different meaning if they open up the possibility to do glitches with them somewhere else. This also rings true for many other classic games, of course. It's nice to see Mr. Sakurai casually acknowledge how bugs can contribute to bring cool mechanics to the table.
One of my favorite risk and reward features is in the Shovel Knight games. You have the ability to destroy the checkpoints to get additional money. However, if you die, you go back to the start of the stage, or to the last checkpoint you didn’t destroy.
@@waytoobiased oh yea shit like god of war and uncharted is just "check out this movie where you press buttons sometimes" instead of "check out this fun gameplay"
the fact that these videos are so dense with info while still being short shows the amount of work that went into them. AND THEYRE FREE! THIS MAN IS A SAINT
I think the first time the concept of risk/reward really hit me is when I played an arcade racing game, there was one track where there's a super difficult turn that requires a very specific maneuver to pass without slowing down. It made that track stand out from all tracks in the game and I had great fun every single time playing it, just because pulling off that risk & reward maneuver is simply too satisfying.
I always thought smash brothers had an interesting Rock Paper Scissors element to it’s risk reward mechanics. Like you can shield but you risk being grabbed, or attacking has the risk of your opponent shielding, and grabbing has the risk of your opponent not shielding so you end up missing the chance to use more powerful attacks. Of course, this is all happening extremely fast with loads of other elements as well, but I just thought it was interesting
That's a key dynamic of fighting games in general. Although more often than not it's not "attack beats grab" but grabs simply having bad frame data in comparison.
I'm not sure if you play other fighting games, but true! This is one of the aspects that make fighting games engaging. Hit, block, throw, but a lot of then have even more mechanics like is he going for an overhead or low attack, so should I block high or low? or he's been throwing me a lot, so I just probably tech that throw. The guessing game, reading your opponent. Simple, but very engaging.
@Diego Palacios paiva Or just throw that all out the window by giving the start-up Super Armor, and the ability to hold a Smash's charge longer than it takes to be at full power...
This channel is a treasure of the highest order, and discovering that Sakurai had this many videos ready to go before the channel even launched is an even bigger delight.
I actually learned a lot about this game! I thought it was particularly interesting about the strategy of intercepting the enemy vs pursuing. Such a simple concept that my younger self was doing but didn't really know I was doing. It wasn't something I could have explained to someone, it was just like a reflex that my brain learned to do to not get shot and shoot more of the enemies. Risk vs reward, then, can feel so natural, so instinctive. Tapping into that is such a cool thing, and it's amazing to see the thought that goes into these simple games. Designing it in such a way that it just "makes sense" is fascinating to me, I'm blown away by it. Sakurai is a gift, I love this series!
i wouldn't mind Sakurai getting really technical with development ideas. even as someone who doesn't make games, i love game design and would listen to him talk about it for hours! no matter how technical it got :')
It's so much fun seeing so many different video game youtubers in Mr. Sakurai's comment section, it just goes to show how much influence he's had on so many people!
Guys can we give some credit to the amazing Editor(s) making these, these must have all been done before the channel was even created due to the speed these are releasing, so thank you editors for bringing this man’s Channel to life
This actually helps a lot with my understanding of game development, a risk and reward system is something not many people mention when talking about game development, thank you sakurai!
I would like to hear Sakurai talk about some modern games that he feels are doing interesting things with game design, maybe some indie games? I’m curious how what an industry veteran with a portfolio as decorated as Sakurai’s, thinks about the current gaming landscape.
One of my favorite abilities in a video game is the Bash ability from the Ori games. By getting close to an enemy or an enemy’s projectile, you risk getting hit, but in return you get an exciting opportunity; you have a short period of time-maybe about two seconds at most-to decide which direction you want to propel yourself off of the enemy/projectile, but you also can think about redirecting the projectile someplace in order to solve a puzzle or deal damage. Since you propel yourself opposite the direction the projectile/enemy goes, though, you have to be careful about your positioning and the angle you choose-you could throw yourself at spikes or into something that’ll hurt you if you’re not careful. It requires quick thinking, but doesn’t feel overwhelming to the player as they juggle the risks and rewards of how to utilize the Bash. One of the best abilities in any game imo!
Sakurai is honestly such a smart man! This channel honestly feels both fun, and educational, which is what most learning programs strive to do, but not too many pull off. Sakurai however knows just how to do it.
this is a fantastic channel, and thank you for creating and running this. i really hope to see a lot from this channel existing creators sometimes spend too much time and don't deliver the content in such a way, or spend way too much time with specific examples i love how you tackle specifically the very basic concept in a way you can apply it to a lot of different types of games and encourage trying to seek specific things on your own i like how you specifically focus on education, there's no opinions, distractions, cynicism, it's purely a very educational experience and that is greatly appreciated in this space. thank you again and as i said, i can't wait for more content on this channel.
If I recall correctly, not only the cannon was bugged in Space Invaders. The fact that the Invaders move faster every time you destroy one is also something unintended. That's because every time a sprite disappears on screen, the memory of the game is emptier and processes everything faster. But the creators left it that way so the game is more exciting and challenging the better you play. Kinda like a Dynamic Difficulty. It's amazing how things like these sometimes come from accidents, lol Anyways, amazing video as always!
I guess some of the future videos will be about the different types of fun, and I will list some examples I expect to see: - Already started with Risk and Reward. - Discovery. - Puzzle solving. - Organization. - Power fantasy. - Story development. - Environment reactions. - Mechanics interactions. - Knowledge test. - Allowed creativity. - Comedy. - Multiplayer interaction.
When I was 11 years old, I played Super Smash Bros Brawl for the first time, and, seeing it was a celebration of video games, fell in love. From there, I found what I wanted to do in life and now as a junior in college, I am very close to my degree in Game Design. Thank You, Sakurai.
I'm still completely blown away that we are able to get tons of really high quality game theory info from one of the several legends who basically created the entire industry from the ground up. Thank you, Sakurai.
This was such an interesting concept to dive deeper on. I feel like as someone who plays games (especially fighting games) this is very much apparent, but it was interesting looking at Space Invaders and Super Mario Bros. through this lens. Because it got the ball rolling and I started thinking about the risk/reward properties about a vast array of games I play, from Dark Souls to Minecraft. Even board games like Monopoly have this present and it's what makes them fun. So it was really interesting to open this box and really start thinking about the way different games all universally implement this concept differently.
This is what makes beating said risk so rewarding, it’s one of the most important aspects of making a game, it’s so awesome getting info and advice from such a legend in the gaming industry
Risk and Reward is like the spice of games. You add a little bit and most people will like the added flavor. You add too much and only those who like spicy food will stay.
@@HondoJarrus Some games have risk implemented through simoultaneous moves (e.g. smash bros or rock paper scissors). Imaging RPS, except rock gives you 2 points for winning - the Nash equilibrium for optimal play here is to use paper 50%, scissors and rock 25% each. Paper is a low risk low reward, rock is mid risk high reward and scisossrs is high risk low reward. (In smash bros, "rock" would be equivalent to a combo started and paper would be equivalent to walling against that option) That's different from "execution difficulty" - the "risk managedment" required in this scenario is determining the equilibrium, while the "execution difficulty" would be spacing correctly (in smash bros) or following up on your combo starters correctly.
His theory at the end makes a lot of sense. I play an MMO that has a ton of crazy difficult raids for special gear. A fraction of the player base will do those raids, and yet those players are the most dedicated players of us all. That totally fits right?
I was replaying Cave Story the other day and thought of this video. I never noticed how compelling the game's EXP system was from this standpoint- getting close to a boss lets you deal ludicrous damage, but you run the risk of the weapon you're using levelling down and becoming deadweight for the rest of the fight.
I’ve been telling people some version of your “theory” at the end for years, but was never able to describe it so concisely. You even used your own game as an example of sacrificing game essence for broad appeal! I’m really glad I can point to this video now as an example of what I’m talking about. Even considering myself an expert game designer, I’ve been learning a lot from this channel. Thank you for making it!
Absolutely a legend in the gaming community! He took the time to teach us about the philosophies in regards in making games like Super Smash Bros. and somehow make it educational! If only Nintendo and every game companies out there get to learn more from the CHAD right here...
A good risk-reward system I can think of is Crash’s double jump, in which you trade momentum for extra air time, it’s simple, but makes what many call a useless Addition into a viable move that has a drawback
The perspective of risk vs reward is such a simple idea, but it has a huge range of applications when you really think about it. Thank you for the lesson Sakurai-sensei 🙏
This was very well explained with Space Invader and Super Mario Bros., I think this is my favorite of this channel’s videos so far. Risk and reward strategy is such a core part of any game that you can almost forget it's there, as it becomes second nature to consider it while playing.
Too many games today, especially on the mobile market, rely too heavily on "immediate gratification", rather than allowing a player to earn their "dopamine kick" in fair tandem to the challenges given. Then, there's the games that make a challenge more risk than reward, on purpose, as to try and lowkey "bully" a player into buying better "alternatives" to winning against a clearly intentional design, made to be unfair to you, the player. It's a toxic relationship, but one that's fueled by the player base giving in to it every time, not too-too much unlike an unhealthy addiction. Games of old were as hard as they were because you were given the time/arsenal/experience to overcome it as you got better and better at the game. Games like Elden Ring are so stupidly popular, not because it's unique in its approach to the design it has, but because it's actually one of the only games out there still holding true to these tried-and-true traditions of game design! Granted; Elden Ring does put a few more things into the game to make it less fair (i.e. constant beginner traps, no pause features, no maps, etc.), but as you stated here, in this video, everyone's tastes will vary. Nothing is truly objective, and it always comes down to a subjective view... Sales Numbers =/= Success Rate If this were the case, Majora's Mask wouldn't be the timeless classic it is today. It's a very complex situation. One, I feel, really depends on the player base you're looking for, as a game designer. Some of us WANT to make a hard-as-nails game, meant only for the most skilled, and talented among us. Others want to make games that are geared more towards a broader audience, not only allowing them an entry point to gaming, but also serving as a basis of learning for any other games they might wanna try that may be a bit harder than the first one they played. As long as your game has an identity, and keeps that identity, I feel that's the most important first step!
Risk and reward I think are an essential part of game design, considering what I've been taught what makes a game, a game is: "A system that challenges the player with obstacles to overcome, with two different outcomes. Usually either you win or you lose." Overcoming any obstacle usually involves some degree of risk, and how the player handles these obstacles are what I find the most fascinating.
The claim at the end that increasing a games "essence" reduces a games mass appeal is interesting, but i dont know if that is necessarily the case. The interplay of risk and reward, and the fun it generates overlaps with concepts like depth and balance, but there are extremely deep games that are very popular for their genres, (chess, starcraft, tekken etc) , just as there are very shallow games that dont really catch on. Simpler games do appeal to a larger audience sure, thinking of casual games, mobile games etc, but what makes games persist in my uneducated humble opinion, is a more well defined "essence" . A game like Tetris is both simple to play, but also has a practically infinite skill ceiling and depth..what sakurai referred to as strategies that emerge from a games essence. Essence and mass appeal can coexist. Tetris also happens to be one of the best selling games of all time. In principle i agree with Sakurai, but i think its ease of learning, accessibility and aesthetic appeal that makes games have mass appeal, but this does not necessarily conflict with a deeper essence for games. In fact , essence is what keeps people playing for years after a game is released. Just look at a game like smash melee with such a well defined essence, and how it is still played competitively, let alone chess which has been played for centuries. I Could be wrong, so im curious what other people think on this topic.
But often essence is "filtered" a bit for release, amidst game difficulty selection, different game modes, and mixing with other components of the games themselves (story progression, for example) For example, you won't have as many Tekken fans if the game was pure competitive fighting, but the other components make it up for that. A robust single-player, story, attractive characters, etc. is needed for the mainstream appeal to remain. Or take Mortal Kombat on the other side of the spectrum, it has little essence, I'd dare to say it plays weird, but the other elements take a strong seat to attract audiences. MK oozes in its particular style (violence, overdramatic lore for US audiences, hi-tech 3D modelling for cutscenes) and makes it a best selling fighting game.
I think he mostly meant it as a general idea; there's other factors at play that also contribute to the appeal of those games like being an early adopter of a genre, or being modular. Something like Tetris for example isn't "essentially" difficult, so anyone can pick it up and play it for a while, but the ability to grow and become truly astonishing at the game is there. Thinking about it, I suppose he's mostly referring to something like having a low "skill floor" of a game, where the risk is low for high reward and can have broader appeal than something with a much harder beginning learning curve. I've seen lifelong gamers drop FromSoft titles almost immediately because they asked too much too quickly.
Tetris is also a great example, it maybe has depth (As Kirby does), but most of us aren't looking to become professional Tetris players, just waste some minutes and a dash of dopamine making some block disappear. Imagine if Tetris began in the fastest speed from the get-go. It wouldn't be as appealing to lose that soon. Same reason Gears of War gives a person playing their first multiplayer match a big advantage bonus, so they don't drop the title because of losing.
I don’t think he would necessarily disagree with you. He’s just keeping it simple here. These are introductory videos going over the basics of game making. He acknowledges that there are many more aspects to a game that can complicate whether it is good or bad or has mass appeal or not. It’s like how you have to learn addition and subtraction before you learn multiplication and division. And you have to learn multiplication and division in order to learn algebra. I imagine that there’s more to his theory than what he’s saying here, but he’s saving that for a more advanced lesson. You gotta remember that, just like how there are young kids playing his games, there are also young kids watching his videos. So he’s gotta keep it simple. These videos are meant for a very broad audience, which is to say that they have more mass appeal but as a result don’t have a ton of essence. And that is exactly what is necessary for beginners or kids. You gotta crawl before you can walk. I realize I kinda repeated myself a lot but I’m too lazy to edit it down.
If there's a finer example of this concept than deflecting Guardian lasershots back at them with your shield in Breath of the Wild then I'd like to hear of it! Also, it's really awesome that these are translated, that greatly adds to the already considerable generosity of providing these mini lessons.
Sakurai: "will only be doing short 5 minute videos" Also Sakurai: ^Uploads double the video length he stated^ These vids are great, if they were 1,000 minutes I'd still watch them all multiple times over, thank you so much Sakurai
@@Libops Actually I added that after your comment, so you didn't miss it. But it's what I meant and it's true that he didn't say they literally would be.
The part that I loved the most was "you need to be able to sniff out what makes them Fun". Even if you personally dislike the game, we need to know why it's fun for some people, that's part of the job!
This reminds me of kirby games where they give you a congratulations screen or a cutscene showing that it was worth getting that 100%, my favorite is Kirby Return to DreamLand
Sakurai is one of earths most precious people. He is so nice and humble which makes his videos the biggest treat anyone can get, especially if their into game design.
I would love to hear Sakurai more in-depth thoughts about the genres he listed in the end (Fighting Games, Racing Games, Puzzle Games, RPGs, Strategy Games and Card Games)
Mr. Sakurai, where can we get access to your additional lectures that you mentioned regarding each genre of game? Excellent work on this channel, I’m really enjoying this series.
I think that Sakurai making this kind of content is amazing. Getting more insight about the "basics" of game development is nice. Sakurai explanations are extremely easy to understand, he really has a way to make things beginner-friendly. Simple is better, and having the content given to us in small bites makes it more digestable. And that all this is coming from a legend in game development like Sakurai FOR FREE is insane. I hope this channel has a long run. You have great stuff here, I'm always looking forward to what's next
One game i think does this very well is A Hat in Time, the movement system often makes it so you feel like you are barely making those big jumps. Now give me a useless gold star Mr Sakurai
I'd actually disagree here, these things are subjective but I personally believe aHiT is way to generous with it's platform mechanics. Jump > double jump > dive > dive jump You have about 3 mid air jumps by default on top of the different hat abilities, I found the lack of challenge to be boring and that made me drop the game.
@@Wippipippi I shouldve put emphasis on FEEL. And yeah, not a super challenging game (though thats not why people play these throwback platformers) if you want challenge, just play Death Wish, and Ill see you in a month.
When I played Space Invaders Extreme way back on the DS, I was pretty quick to pick up the "Don't pursue, intercept" strategy, so it was interesting seeing it explained here.
Sakurai-San, I think your theory at the last minute is also being used on the video itself, since you made it so damn entertaining to everyone without getting too technical, just like you said on the first video :D
![Down with Lag! [Grab Bag]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/gjoKKyskco4/mqdefault.jpg)
![Down with Lag! [Grab Bag]](/img/tr.png)
![Meteos [Game Concepts]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/snHecpmPeJs/mqdefault.jpg)
![Game Development Isn't a Game [Work Ethic]](/img/n.gif)
It's actually incredible getting so much information like this from a legend of a developer
Right! It'll help so many people who want to become game developers
hi daniel!
Risk: presenting a wrong argument.
Reward: Roasting Von Karma
Like thats ever gonna happen.
Couldn't have said it better myself Dan!
Yes, I couldn't believe it when I saw the Tweet!
Fun fact: The enemies getting faster the more of them die in the original Space Invaders is literally the program running faster due to processing fewer enemies. Difficulty curves in video games was invented by serendipity.
As were many of the systems and mechanics we love today. Combos in SF2 were an accident at first, but they quickly realized how much depth and skill curve it added to the game back then. And here we are in 2022 with combos being arguably one of the core mechanics of all fighting games
@@actuallynotsteve Combos weren't an accident. I think they even tried a mechanic where your attack would automatically miss against an opponent that was in hitstun and purposefully disabled it because it wasn't fun.
What was an accident was special cancelling. Something about how inputs were read.
Limitation creates creativity, just look at game jams if you want a modern example!
Trial and error more like
Wow this is probably the first time I read the word "serendipity" outside sociology class haha
Interesting thing: The Nagoya Attack isn't even the most well-known "bug as a feature" in Space Invaders. What's more famous is how the game speeds up as you defeat enemies - yes, it started as an accident. The speed of the game's processor was dependent on how many sprites were on-screen; this meant the less ships there were, the faster the game draws frames. The designer kept the bug as is and promoted it to a feature after realizing it added incentive to master the game. It is one of the earliest known examples of a "difficulty curve".
Megaman slows down when too many enemy sprites come at once, disorienting and eventually killing me.
@@milly-sy4bc mechanic
@@bubblemage riiiiight.
maybe Nagoya Attack is more well-known in Japan?
@@milly-sy4bc skill issue
What I learned: The Wall of Death is one of the first times we can say "It's a feature!" In gaming.
As I understand it, the speedup of the aliens was also a happy accident - as less sprites needed to be drawn, the game moved faster - not because it was coded that way, just because less sprites was less demanding. The devs liked the behavior so much, they left it in.
@@logicalfundy They would've needed a yielding method otherwise which I don't think would've achieved the same effect
It's actually called "Nagoya Attack" This same feature was also in Space Invaders Infinity Gene. Its a technique used too dodge incoming laser shots
this reads like a scott the woz bit
It's crazy how complicated even the simplest games can be
Yeah never expected it tobe this complicated. Ohnestly hecould probaly make 2 hour video about how pong works
Pac-Man is another deceptively simple game that has a lot of depth as well. Each ghost has their own unique AI pattern and changing behaviors. Empty pathways without pellets are slightly faster to go through than those with them. Tunnels slow down ghosts, etc.
Just a lot of things to strategize while you're playing which is what makes it so engaging.
Hi
Yeah, that reminds me of the time I was at an arcade at Disney with my mom, so there was this Wreck it Ralph machine. It's similar, but far from exactly like Donkey Kong. Anyway, you pick up the hammer to gain invincibility, so I go to the top of the screen to collect the required materials and my mom asked why I did that. I explained that it's harder to dodge the objects that Ralph is throwing up there, so I spend the invincibility on that area rather than on the bottom floors where it's easier to dodge. The point is, there can be alot of strategy in these simplistic games.
It's not that they are complicated, but rather the opposite. The fact that they are simple but well thought out is his point. (and a bit of luck sometimes like the space invader example.)
there is no risk, only reward, when watching sakurai’s videos
the risk is the time loss, as small as it is.
@@stanzacosmi That’s a contradiction.
Sakurai said “with high risk comes high reward”
This risk is real small for such a reward
@@captainblue5096 Not everything needs to be high risk high reward. Like the case of watching sakurai's content. Low risk, because you could have stuff you need to do, but you're still learning.
The risk of watching his video was being on the internet and for such I found a comment of a dude saying he hates risk and reward systems in games and cheats so he can get all rewards without effort. But the reward was a Sakurai video anyways, so I think it's a win.
well said
Never heard of "The Wall Of Death", what a cool piece of trivia and so well integrated into the video. These are the advantages of having a veteran game designer talk about this stuff.
"You can't be a chef
If you can't discern taste"
Sakurai roasting 98% of the internet
Edit: I'm still wondering from relevant this comment got considering that it's not even something funny at all
Suddenly all edgy fangames in history mysteriously disappeared
Sakurai, the real GOAT
Its like anyone can cook but more raw
Holy shit he put it into words.
Sakurai is to gaming what Gordon Ramsay is to cooking
"As you increase 'game essence', you reduce a game's broad appeal."
This is its own kind of risk and reward, on the developer's side. A game that places broad appeal as the highest priority at the cost of essence can be played anyone but will be loved by few, whereas a game willing to sacrifice broad appeal for the sake of its essence can carve out a very dedicated niche. There was an era of game development where broad appeal was being held as the most important factor and many games attempting to present a more esoteric experience were forced to dilute their vision so as not to risk alienating any potential audience, but this created a growing sentiment of dissatisfaction among players who felt like it was robbing games of their identity. There were likely many games that couldn't be made to fit this trend that never even got a chance, but luckily we've moved past it into an ecosystem where it's been proven that uncompromising games with a strong identity still have a place, even if they're not for everyone.
From Software dropped a "game essence" bomb on the industry somewhere between 2009 and 2011
But then you have the kirby games which are loved by many people and still have broad appeal. Most Nintendo games do. Then again Nintendo also tends to go more in a "easy to learn difficult to master" route which gives games the potential to be the best of both worlds.
@@milliondollarmistake Exactly. A great example are the advanced cappy movements in Mario Odyssey, they have very high "game essence" but are not required to complete the game so people who can't master them can finish the game.
I knew a Fromsoftware fan was going to talk about this quote, rightfully so xD
Perfectly said. See: Super Smash Bros. Brawl from that Wii era.
You can also replace “game essence” with “depth,” and apply it to not just games but almost anything.
This is why I've always loved parry mechanics in games. You wait until the risk of getting hit is at it's highest before you retaliate and gain the ultimate reward. I enjoy that more than simply attacking outright sometimes
@SNES Nes Nah I haven't, I meant more 3rd person fighting games, like Ghost of Tsushima. I played FighterZ a lot tho
Royal Guard in Devil May Cry 3/4/5 is a great parry example, since it combines a low risk/low reward block and a high risk/high reward parry.
You can take the lower risk by blocking early, but it doesn't block ALL damage, gives no Style, and won't fill the Revenge attack meter. However, do the riskier parry right as an enemy hits, and you take zero damage, greatly raises your Style, and fills your Revenge meter.
Something between the block and parry is the mid risk/mid reward dodge roll. It's fairly easy to pull off, lets you negate all damage and give some Style, but it can only be done on the ground and has no offense capabilities.
Deciding between different risks can be quite engaging.
@@iveli_alpaca It's also a great way to accommodat lower skill levels while not excluding the higher ones.
Some people might be satisfied using the block (tho maybe using a different style for DmC's specific example might be a better idea), some will choose an option depending on the situation and some will go wild with the parry.
Guardian beams in Zelda Breath of the Wild exemplify this. It is quite risky but deals tremendous damage to a guardian without expending any resource when done well.
Basically all souls games, especially sekiro.
Constantly blown away by the quality of these, so happy this channel is actually REAL & happening! Very inspiring to see
It's wild how simple and concise they are + how good the editing is, yet how I feel like I completely understand the subject after just 5-10min
Oh well, well, I wonder how many more familiar faces will I see in these videos…
I wonder if Nintendo is funding this channel
@@Remour Sakurai said in his intro video that Nintendo is not involved, this is his own project. All Nintendo did was give him legal permission to use their game assets and design documents. :)
Space Invaders is such a deceptively simple game, that it fills me with joy to see Sakurai of all people giving it the well thought out analysis it deserves.
This channel is a gift that keeps on giving!
Yep!
Pretty sure you meant givt that keeps on gifing, but you do you.
You *are* wrong, though.
Damn, just when i was thinking
"I want the next Sakurai video to come out" even If they are short, i feel like the times were i used to wake up early to watch a cartoon
What's better is that this is a long video, taking up 10 minutes rsther than the 2-5 minutes he takes with his past videos.
From what I could notice, the upload frequency seems to be scheduled to every weekday morning (Japanese timezone).
In my case, I get comfort from these being potentially the last thing I watch before going to sleep.
@@sebc255 On Twitter, he said that he plans to do new videos 2-3 times a week (he did it daily last week since he launched in the middle of the week), so I'd be perfectly happy with a M-W-F release schedule if he can maintain it.
@@OtakuMan26 Thanks, Stephen.
I like how this explains why a lot of Sakurai's games allow you to increase the game's difficulty for a higher reward (like the Fiend's Cauldron in Kid Icarus: Uprising
I actually learned about the "push & pull" effect in my college courses on game design! So, it's nice to see it acknowledged here too!
They actually turned the Nagoya Attack into an intentional mechanic in Space Invaders: Infinity Gene. Enemy shots won't hurt you for a short time immediately after they're fired, and you get a huge point bonus for passing through them in that state.
For the record, I didn't realize the term "Nagoya Attack" existed in the very original Space Invaders, so I learned something new on top of what Sakurai-san was explaining!
I was surprised to see the name "Nagoya" in the English version of the video as well!
Nagoya is actually where I live now, and it's a city I really like.
The food is just so good! But watch out for traffic accidents!
This channel is the best thing to happen this month lol
Honestly, in my opinion... One of the best things to happen to TH-cam in general. It's legitimately one of my favorite channels already, and I've not been this excited for new uploads from anyone in a while.
@@tylerlaunius7396 True and I really like how well behaved and gentleman sakurai is. I like his style of videos.
Wario land 4 is honestly insane when it comes to this topic:
Ball form: fast but you can run into damaging spikes or end up in places you don’t want to be, which can lead to death. You are invincible to enemies though. Risk reward.
Zombie form: you can fall through platforms! What was once a one way hinderance, like; “I can’t get down their a one way platform is blocking me!”. Turning into zombie form allows you to melt through platforms and find out the key you needed to progress and ultimately finish the game. Watch out though, if you let your wits down and get zombified on a platform you don’t want to fall though, you’ll end up all the way back to where you started or more often end up in a place worse than you started, like a pool full of enemies! Look out and check and learn your surroundings. Know when you do or do not want to be zombified.
Fat Wario or fat form: you can bust through thick ground blocks that you couldn’t before, but you fall faster and jump slower and shorter, so your platform game is diminished tremendously. You are also forcibly moved off of ladders in this form. Know when you need it.
Fire wario or fire form: this one is honestly stupid fun, but it’s great to learn the map and count perfectly how many wall bumps you need to take before entering burning wario form, while platforming to get to the destination. Risk is wasted time and difficulty, reward is the satisfaction of finally achieving the goal of burning fire blocks after 3 wall bounces.
Frog switch: I could make a 7 page essay on the risk and reward of frog switch, so I’ll make it simple:
You land on the frog switch in any means, you just have to hit the top of it. You might not want to because you haven’t found all the pieces yet to compete the game, or maybe the key to the next level. Hitting it puts you in this position of “oh crap!” And you have to make a mad dash to the beginning of the level with the knowledge of the levels mechanics or map or both, since frog switches can block or create paths you knew or didn’t know. A timer is used above you in order for you to hurry up, and the risk is loosing *all* of your progress in a level, and the reward is finishing it and being able to progress to the boss and or to the next level.
The insanity of the frog switch, putting a death date over your head as the only way to progress the game at all, might sound like it might get repetitive, but the only thing the timer does is it changes the game to be against you, not with you. No longer are you exploring a level at your own pace absorbing the information, instead you have to find your way through with the information gathered, rather it be the map layout or it’s gimmicks and mechanics. The frog switch makes *the game itself* the risk reward system. The whole game, everything. The forms wario can be in will or will not help you in your struggle to the end. So will your enemies, since they can hurt you, put you in a form you don’t want, or they can give you some extra jump hight by jumping on top of their heads, or they can give you a form you need or want for wario to get to the end. This goes for treasure. Do I want it? It will cost me time…
This goes for everything wario land four, the insanity of risk and reward of that game. Frog switches are the highlight, but don’t ignore the smaller things that build up to creat a full on platforming masterpiece. Seriously though if you have never played that game, or haven’t played in a while and your memory is fuzzy, pull it up or em*late it to experience a seriously one of a kind 2d platformer it is amazing holy crap.
Thanks for sharing!!!! Awesome
bravo
I will definitely play it. Wario land three used some of the same mechanics but I never actually played that one. Thanks for the recommendation, here's hoping we see a new Wario Land someday
I love WL4. It showed up and there hasn't really been anything like it since. As a child, I liked it for just being wacky and a platformer, but I'd come to realize later just how well-executed the concept was and how much personality the game had in just 18 levels and some boss fights. Really puzzled as to why it hasn't been brought to the Switch's eshop. H-H-H-HURRY UP!
Good post; but now I'm sad that Wario Land has been forgotten by Nintendo.
Super Mario Bros. I feel is the perfect game to explain anything in game development. Its amazing how that game still holds up to this day due to genius design.
SMB is pretty much the baseline of all modern gaming and the ultimate divider between modern games and pre-modern games like Pong, Brick Breaker, or Space Invaders.
Yeah, it has every part of a modern game, with no extra fluff. It's just a perfectly designed platformer with a handful of enemies and worlds.
I recall somewhere that there is actually a manga about the development of the original Super Mario Bros. featuring a young Shigeru Miyamoto discussing the game design with other Nintendo employees.
Not only that, but anyone who knows gaming knows Super Mario Bros. (and even some who don't do), so you don't have to spend a lot of time explaining the basics to use it as an example.
It's just amazing how much you can teach with the simplest but clearest words and examples.
One of my favorite risk-reward mechanics is F-Zero's boost meter. In the N64 and Gamecube entries, your boost meter is also your life bar, so you must spend some health to go faster. But if you spend too much, you will be one bump away from crashing out. Hit too many walls, and you'll lose energy that could have been better spent going faster. It's such a simple mechanic but it brings lot of tension!
These videos are going to be used soooo much in classrooms. No cursing, short and well-explained topics, no ads, AND visually and aurally interesting? Absolutely perfect for that sort of setting.
The TWEWY games have a really cool risk-vs-reward system. In those games, you can unlock customizable psychic attacks tied to pins and you primarily get these by fighting enemies known as Noise. Each Noise will have a different pin drop depending on which difficulty you’re on (you can change the difficulty at anytime) and you can get higher drop rates and more powerful pins on higher difficulties by chaining together multiple rounds at once. At first, you can only chain up to 4-5 rounds at a time but eventually, you can chain up to 16-20, with the enemies getting stronger throughout each round and dropping more loot as a result. And if that wasn’t all, you can also DECREASE your level (which only affects your HP) in order to increase the drop rate even further, which constantly encourages you to understand more of the games’ mechanics in order to get the best rewards possible.
Risk reward is basically Game balance. And game balancing is extremely important!
@gaming123456 I feel like those sorts of things are unavoidable, especially as time goes on. There will be glitches found, tier lists formed, and strategies on how to best get through the game. I think it’s up to the individual player to determine on how they want to play and enjoy the game. And besides, most games these days have decent enough game balance.
No. That's not how sakurai defined it at all really. You missed the point of the videk
@@awogbob it kind of is though, when you are trying to achieve something rewarding, there should be a risk attached to it, otherwise the game is out of balance and not engaging
@@somebodythatnobodylikes Even if different characters are objectively better; with good enough balance, the answer to that question can be different from person to person. In fighting games if people are picking a variety of characters even if they know which ones are better, then the game is balanced. When no one can come to an agreement as to the best way to play, you made everyone's experience more personal.
@@awogbob It was Sakurai's whole point in the video. Balancing risk and reward.
Mario & Luigi: The longer you hold out the hammer, the higher the chance is that you'll do the minimum damage. However, if you swing the hammer at the last moment, you'll get an Excellent hit, maximizing the damage.
that's similar to the greatsword overhead slash, if you time the third charge just right, it deals massive damage (note that you'll be standing in place for several seconds while the enemy might move out of the way, so you also risk missing), but if you release the button too late, it deals less damage, iirc it was around the same as the second charge, but with more time wasted
Edit: I forgot to mention I was talking about monster hunter
I'm so sad that Alphadream is no more, I still hold the M&L games in the highest regard, especially the original, Dream Team, and Bowser's Inside Story. Those mechanics are such perfect risk vs reward as you described. Same for countering too, one can do. safe jump dodge, orrrrrrrrr you could try to time it just right and hit the enemy for a counterattack but risk getting hit yourself.
Another lesson from the legend himself! Loving the production value and variety of examples. Thank you Mr. Sakurai.
I'll again be speaking about Touhou Project: this time about the GRAZE mechanic.
Touhou Project is a score based bullet hell game series. One way of gaining points is by grazing past enemy bullets. This means getting REALLY close to the bullets, but not touching them. However, if you touch the bullets you die instantly.
If you want to score big, you HAVE to make huge risks to be as close to bullets as possible at all times. This is particularly stressful on Lunatic Spell Cards, where bullets can be fast or hard to read.
But grazing is so satisfying. The tick sound, the numbers going up, and the points cashed in at the level end. Its simple but genius Risk/Reward.
To add to this for those unfamiliar with Touhou, grazing is even incorporated in Luna Nights, the metroidvania. Basically all of your offensive options use MP in that game, even you basic knife throw, & grazing is THE best way to refill both MP & your time gauge (the player character is Sakuya who basically has time slow as her main power at least in Luna Nights. Only in the Touhou verse is having time powers NOT busted). You can also graze while having the time slow activated but you get much less returns since time being slowed heavily lessons the risk.
Edit: corrected character name because brain decided to autofill
@@Triforce_of_Doom
You mean Sakuya, not Sayaka.
@@SomeGuy712x that I do. Been bringing friend through Danganronpa so brain autofilled.
Personaly i don't care about score, so i graze just to hear that satisfying tick sound, totaly worth it
There's a ton of risk vs reward elements in Touhou, graze is absolutely the most iconic, haha. When I think about risk vs reward at its craziest, I think of the UFOs in UFO and shotgunning for spirits in TD. Both of these involve positioning yourself in scary places, but one rewards you with an insane amount of resources, and the other is a game that features a bunch of shots that give you extra damage up close, even when it doesn't look like it. Try Marisa in that game and you'll see what I mean, she has the most pronounced effect
I really appreciate that Sakurai is teaching us the Fundamentals of Game Design here. It's easy to find information on youtube about a lot of mid-tier design principles, so it's wonderful to see the basics so masterfully depicted.
Reminds me of your Master Orders in Smash 4. As well as Master Core...
Your risk vs reward was often fair.
I rarely take risks if something isn't worth it.
Thanks Sakurai!
I dunno. You could set yourself up with equipment that made even the 'higher reward' Metal/Giant tickets take only a few seconds, and once you decided to fight the Hand(s) to cash out, you got infinite time.
6:26 "Even if it is a bug, it's fascinating that a game from this era can contain such a neat mechanic."
I love this line. I experienced so much unintended risk/reward speedrunning Ocarina of Time. Glitches and tricks vary wildly in their level of difficulty and payoff, and gradually implementing more difficult tricks and saving time as a reward becomes OoT's game essence, instead of how its game essence was intended in a normal, casual playthrough. Or it gives many of the intended rewards in the game (e.g. equipment items) an entirely different meaning if they open up the possibility to do glitches with them somewhere else. This also rings true for many other classic games, of course. It's nice to see Mr. Sakurai casually acknowledge how bugs can contribute to bring cool mechanics to the table.
"Strategy is all about using ingenuity to reduce risks and get rewards" The man casually explained one of the fundamentals of war but for video games.
One of my favorite risk and reward features is in the Shovel Knight games. You have the ability to destroy the checkpoints to get additional money. However, if you die, you go back to the start of the stage, or to the last checkpoint you didn’t destroy.
I love how he basically just embraced the "Its a feature, not a bug" mindset
It's pretty insane that we're getting useful advice from one of the game devs that defined our childhoods with smash and kirby, wow
"It might look cool, but it probably wouldn't be the best game design" is basically the motto of every triple A cinematic game
those trailers never show the appeal of the gameplay. I can never tell the core hook
Ditch the "triple A" and "cinematic" and you have an accurate description of 99% of *all* games released these days.
@@waytoobiased oh yea shit like god of war and uncharted is just "check out this movie where you press buttons sometimes" instead of "check out this fun gameplay"
the fact that these videos are so dense with info while still being short shows the amount of work that went into them. AND THEYRE FREE! THIS MAN IS A SAINT
I think the first time the concept of risk/reward really hit me is when I played an arcade racing game, there was one track where there's a super difficult turn that requires a very specific maneuver to pass without slowing down. It made that track stand out from all tracks in the game and I had great fun every single time playing it, just because pulling off that risk & reward maneuver is simply too satisfying.
I love that your videos go straight to the point, without a need for introduction.
I always thought smash brothers had an interesting Rock Paper Scissors element to it’s risk reward mechanics. Like you can shield but you risk being grabbed, or attacking has the risk of your opponent shielding, and grabbing has the risk of your opponent not shielding so you end up missing the chance to use more powerful attacks. Of course, this is all happening extremely fast with loads of other elements as well, but I just thought it was interesting
That's a key dynamic of fighting games in general. Although more often than not it's not "attack beats grab" but grabs simply having bad frame data in comparison.
desperately resisting the urge to not rant abt ult's balancing
I'm not sure if you play other fighting games, but true! This is one of the aspects that make fighting games engaging. Hit, block, throw, but a lot of then have even more mechanics like is he going for an overhead or low attack, so should I block high or low? or he's been throwing me a lot, so I just probably tech that throw.
The guessing game, reading your opponent. Simple, but very engaging.
It's like RNG decided to you, in this case, your opponent
@Diego Palacios paiva Or just throw that all out the window by giving the start-up Super Armor, and the ability to hold a Smash's charge longer than it takes to be at full power...
This channel has given me so much joy, thank you Sakurai for taking the time to break down these topics into bite sized videos that anyone can enjoy!
This channel is a treasure of the highest order, and discovering that Sakurai had this many videos ready to go before the channel even launched is an even bigger delight.
The Space Invaders analysis of risk-reward was perfect. Simple but utterly perfect
“You can’t be a chef if you can’t discern taste” that analogy goes hard
I actually learned a lot about this game! I thought it was particularly interesting about the strategy of intercepting the enemy vs pursuing. Such a simple concept that my younger self was doing but didn't really know I was doing. It wasn't something I could have explained to someone, it was just like a reflex that my brain learned to do to not get shot and shoot more of the enemies. Risk vs reward, then, can feel so natural, so instinctive. Tapping into that is such a cool thing, and it's amazing to see the thought that goes into these simple games. Designing it in such a way that it just "makes sense" is fascinating to me, I'm blown away by it. Sakurai is a gift, I love this series!
i wouldn't mind Sakurai getting really technical with development ideas. even as someone who doesn't make games, i love game design and would listen to him talk about it for hours! no matter how technical it got :')
Like with even the programming? 🤔
@@greatwavefan397 I wouldn't mind some here and there
I love how we are not only learning from the videos themselves, but also the space he has created for all these nuggets in the comments too. Awesome!
It's so much fun seeing so many different video game youtubers in Mr. Sakurai's comment section, it just goes to show how much influence he's had on so many people!
Guys can we give some credit to the amazing Editor(s) making these, these must have all been done before the channel was even created due to the speed these are releasing, so thank you editors for bringing this man’s Channel to life
This actually helps a lot with my understanding of game development, a risk and reward system is something not many people mention when talking about game development, thank you sakurai!
I would like to hear Sakurai talk about some modern games that he feels are doing interesting things with game design, maybe some indie games? I’m curious how what an industry veteran with a portfolio as decorated as Sakurai’s, thinks about the current gaming landscape.
In the channel's introduction he explained he will mostly stick to the clasics due to copyright
I’m going to keep watching and study these videos. I recently graduated with game design as my major and I’m trying to get into the industry.
One of my favorite abilities in a video game is the Bash ability from the Ori games. By getting close to an enemy or an enemy’s projectile, you risk getting hit, but in return you get an exciting opportunity; you have a short period of time-maybe about two seconds at most-to decide which direction you want to propel yourself off of the enemy/projectile, but you also can think about redirecting the projectile someplace in order to solve a puzzle or deal damage. Since you propel yourself opposite the direction the projectile/enemy goes, though, you have to be careful about your positioning and the angle you choose-you could throw yourself at spikes or into something that’ll hurt you if you’re not careful. It requires quick thinking, but doesn’t feel overwhelming to the player as they juggle the risks and rewards of how to utilize the Bash. One of the best abilities in any game imo!
This man is legendary, I would give 10 years of my life to talk with him like in Harada's Bar. Im a (trying to be) game dev. Ty Mr Sakurai.
Sakurai is honestly such a smart man! This channel honestly feels both fun, and educational, which is what most learning programs strive to do, but not too many pull off. Sakurai however knows just how to do it.
this is a fantastic channel, and thank you for creating and running this. i really hope to see a lot from this channel
existing creators sometimes spend too much time and don't deliver the content in such a way, or spend way too much time with specific examples
i love how you tackle specifically the very basic concept in a way you can apply it to a lot of different types of games and encourage trying to seek specific things on your own
i like how you specifically focus on education, there's no opinions, distractions, cynicism, it's purely a very educational experience and that is greatly appreciated in this space.
thank you again and as i said, i can't wait for more content on this channel.
The amount of thought put into the most simplist of actions in games is crazy
If I recall correctly, not only the cannon was bugged in Space Invaders. The fact that the Invaders move faster every time you destroy one is also something unintended. That's because every time a sprite disappears on screen, the memory of the game is emptier and processes everything faster.
But the creators left it that way so the game is more exciting and challenging the better you play. Kinda like a Dynamic Difficulty.
It's amazing how things like these sometimes come from accidents, lol
Anyways, amazing video as always!
the ultimate "it's not a bug, it's a feature"
I guess some of the future videos will be about the different types of fun, and I will list some examples I expect to see:
- Already started with Risk and Reward.
- Discovery.
- Puzzle solving.
- Organization.
- Power fantasy.
- Story development.
- Environment reactions.
- Mechanics interactions.
- Knowledge test.
- Allowed creativity.
- Comedy.
- Multiplayer interaction.
When I was 11 years old, I played Super Smash Bros Brawl for the first time, and, seeing it was a celebration of video games, fell in love. From there, I found what I wanted to do in life and now as a junior in college, I am very close to my degree in Game Design. Thank You, Sakurai.
I'm still completely blown away that we are able to get tons of really high quality game theory info from one of the several legends who basically created the entire industry from the ground up. Thank you, Sakurai.
This was such an interesting concept to dive deeper on. I feel like as someone who plays games (especially fighting games) this is very much apparent, but it was interesting looking at Space Invaders and Super Mario Bros. through this lens. Because it got the ball rolling and I started thinking about the risk/reward properties about a vast array of games I play, from Dark Souls to Minecraft. Even board games like Monopoly have this present and it's what makes them fun. So it was really interesting to open this box and really start thinking about the way different games all universally implement this concept differently.
As an aspiring game designer, this is an invaluable resource. This is like taking a university course with Sakurai-san as a professor!
This is what makes beating said risk so rewarding, it’s one of the most important aspects of making a game, it’s so awesome getting info and advice from such a legend in the gaming industry
This was genuinely mind blowing. I didn't expect there was so much at play behind such a simple game! Thanks a lot!
Risk and Reward is like the spice of games. You add a little bit and most people will like the added flavor. You add too much and only those who like spicy food will stay.
I like very spicy food and very difficult games... I wonder if there's a connection.
I get the feeling that he uses "risk" and "execution difficulty" interchangeably, but keeping that in mind, this is a great video.
They are so related in these simple examples that might be considered the same thing - though obviously "risk" can be a lot more expansive.
@@HondoJarrus Some games have risk implemented through simoultaneous moves (e.g. smash bros or rock paper scissors). Imaging RPS, except rock gives you 2 points for winning - the Nash equilibrium for optimal play here is to use paper 50%, scissors and rock 25% each. Paper is a low risk low reward, rock is mid risk high reward and scisossrs is high risk low reward. (In smash bros, "rock" would be equivalent to a combo started and paper would be equivalent to walling against that option)
That's different from "execution difficulty" - the "risk managedment" required in this scenario is determining the equilibrium, while the "execution difficulty" would be spacing correctly (in smash bros) or following up on your combo starters correctly.
@@KazeN64 Well summarized but that seems outside the scope of this particular 10 minute video. Good explanation, though. 👍
His theory at the end makes a lot of sense. I play an MMO that has a ton of crazy difficult raids for special gear. A fraction of the player base will do those raids, and yet those players are the most dedicated players of us all. That totally fits right?
I would really love a video on what makes videogames immersive. Thank you for the consideration.
I was replaying Cave Story the other day and thought of this video. I never noticed how compelling the game's EXP system was from this standpoint- getting close to a boss lets you deal ludicrous damage, but you run the risk of the weapon you're using levelling down and becoming deadweight for the rest of the fight.
5 videos in and sakurai's already doing the 10 minute timestamp meta
He doesn't put ads anywhere on the videos though, so greater video lenght is something that just benefits us in this case!
I’ve been telling people some version of your “theory” at the end for years, but was never able to describe it so concisely. You even used your own game as an example of sacrificing game essence for broad appeal! I’m really glad I can point to this video now as an example of what I’m talking about.
Even considering myself an expert game designer, I’ve been learning a lot from this channel. Thank you for making it!
Absolutely a legend in the gaming community!
He took the time to teach us about the philosophies in regards in making games like Super Smash Bros. and somehow make it educational!
If only Nintendo and every game companies out there get to learn more from the CHAD right here...
actually, nintendo did with their "iwata ask" program, it's super interesting to read.
This is the greatest educational series on TH-cam
A good risk-reward system I can think of is Crash’s double jump, in which you trade momentum for extra air time, it’s simple, but makes what many call a useless Addition into a viable move that has a drawback
I'm so interested in game design, this channel is a blessing.
I've learn more in this channel than I did the 2 years in college.
I really like how all the thumbnails are color coded depending on the category
The perspective of risk vs reward is such a simple idea, but it has a huge range of applications when you really think about it. Thank you for the lesson Sakurai-sensei 🙏
Wow, this series is actually great. I was expecting something like super basic but this stuff is awesome
From the bottom of my heart Sakurai, thank you for all your hard work and for shaping my childhood.
“So long, Koopa Troopa”
Love how he knows of that classic Mario 64 line.
7:39 for reference xD
Ah yes, the classic. How could we forget gay bowser?
This was very well explained with Space Invader and Super Mario Bros., I think this is my favorite of this channel’s videos so far. Risk and reward strategy is such a core part of any game that you can almost forget it's there, as it becomes second nature to consider it while playing.
It feels like a dream with all this high quality content being pushed out by our gaming saviour Masahiro Sakurai.
Your animation team is doing incredible, it makes your lessons all the easier to digest!
Too many games today, especially on the mobile market, rely too heavily on "immediate gratification", rather than allowing a player to earn their "dopamine kick" in fair tandem to the challenges given. Then, there's the games that make a challenge more risk than reward, on purpose, as to try and lowkey "bully" a player into buying better "alternatives" to winning against a clearly intentional design, made to be unfair to you, the player. It's a toxic relationship, but one that's fueled by the player base giving in to it every time, not too-too much unlike an unhealthy addiction.
Games of old were as hard as they were because you were given the time/arsenal/experience to overcome it as you got better and better at the game. Games like Elden Ring are so stupidly popular, not because it's unique in its approach to the design it has, but because it's actually one of the only games out there still holding true to these tried-and-true traditions of game design! Granted; Elden Ring does put a few more things into the game to make it less fair (i.e. constant beginner traps, no pause features, no maps, etc.), but as you stated here, in this video, everyone's tastes will vary. Nothing is truly objective, and it always comes down to a subjective view...
Sales Numbers =/= Success Rate
If this were the case, Majora's Mask wouldn't be the timeless classic it is today.
It's a very complex situation. One, I feel, really depends on the player base you're looking for, as a game designer. Some of us WANT to make a hard-as-nails game, meant only for the most skilled, and talented among us. Others want to make games that are geared more towards a broader audience, not only allowing them an entry point to gaming, but also serving as a basis of learning for any other games they might wanna try that may be a bit harder than the first one they played. As long as your game has an identity, and keeps that identity, I feel that's the most important first step!
Risk and reward I think are an essential part of game design, considering what I've been taught what makes a game, a game is: "A system that challenges the player with obstacles to overcome, with two different outcomes. Usually either you win or you lose." Overcoming any obstacle usually involves some degree of risk, and how the player handles these obstacles are what I find the most fascinating.
Pov: you're a legend and want to share you knowledge with all the people who loved your works
That doesn't make sense... we don't have his POV...
I’m so glad that Sakurai is doing this and also reaching a massive audience as he planned.
The claim at the end that increasing a games "essence" reduces a games mass appeal is interesting, but i dont know if that is necessarily the case. The interplay of risk and reward, and the fun it generates overlaps with concepts like depth and balance, but there are extremely deep games that are very popular for their genres, (chess, starcraft, tekken etc) , just as there are very shallow games that dont really catch on.
Simpler games do appeal to a larger audience sure, thinking of casual games, mobile games etc, but what makes games persist in my uneducated humble opinion, is a more well defined "essence" . A game like Tetris is both simple to play, but also has a practically infinite skill ceiling and depth..what sakurai referred to as strategies that emerge from a games essence. Essence and mass appeal can coexist. Tetris also happens to be one of the best selling games of all time.
In principle i agree with Sakurai, but i think its ease of learning, accessibility and aesthetic appeal that makes games have mass appeal, but this does not necessarily conflict with a deeper essence for games. In fact , essence is what keeps people playing for years after a game is released. Just look at a game like smash melee with such a well defined essence, and how it is still played competitively, let alone chess which has been played for centuries.
I Could be wrong, so im curious what other people think on this topic.
But often essence is "filtered" a bit for release, amidst game difficulty selection, different game modes, and mixing with other components of the games themselves (story progression, for example)
For example, you won't have as many Tekken fans if the game was pure competitive fighting, but the other components make it up for that. A robust single-player, story, attractive characters, etc. is needed for the mainstream appeal to remain.
Or take Mortal Kombat on the other side of the spectrum, it has little essence, I'd dare to say it plays weird, but the other elements take a strong seat to attract audiences. MK oozes in its particular style (violence, overdramatic lore for US audiences, hi-tech 3D modelling for cutscenes) and makes it a best selling fighting game.
I think he mostly meant it as a general idea; there's other factors at play that also contribute to the appeal of those games like being an early adopter of a genre, or being modular. Something like Tetris for example isn't "essentially" difficult, so anyone can pick it up and play it for a while, but the ability to grow and become truly astonishing at the game is there.
Thinking about it, I suppose he's mostly referring to something like having a low "skill floor" of a game, where the risk is low for high reward and can have broader appeal than something with a much harder beginning learning curve. I've seen lifelong gamers drop FromSoft titles almost immediately because they asked too much too quickly.
Tetris is also a great example, it maybe has depth (As Kirby does), but most of us aren't looking to become professional Tetris players, just waste some minutes and a dash of dopamine making some block disappear.
Imagine if Tetris began in the fastest speed from the get-go. It wouldn't be as appealing to lose that soon.
Same reason Gears of War gives a person playing their first multiplayer match a big advantage bonus, so they don't drop the title because of losing.
To be perfectly fair, the theory didn’t seem to be meant as an end all be all, more of a trend than anything else.
I don’t think he would necessarily disagree with you. He’s just keeping it simple here. These are introductory videos going over the basics of game making. He acknowledges that there are many more aspects to a game that can complicate whether it is good or bad or has mass appeal or not.
It’s like how you have to learn addition and subtraction before you learn multiplication and division. And you have to learn multiplication and division in order to learn algebra. I imagine that there’s more to his theory than what he’s saying here, but he’s saving that for a more advanced lesson. You gotta remember that, just like how there are young kids playing his games, there are also young kids watching his videos. So he’s gotta keep it simple.
These videos are meant for a very broad audience, which is to say that they have more mass appeal but as a result don’t have a ton of essence. And that is exactly what is necessary for beginners or kids. You gotta crawl before you can walk.
I realize I kinda repeated myself a lot but I’m too lazy to edit it down.
If there's a finer example of this concept than deflecting Guardian lasershots back at them with your shield in Breath of the Wild then I'd like to hear of it!
Also, it's really awesome that these are translated, that greatly adds to the already considerable generosity of providing these mini lessons.
Sakurai: "will only be doing short 5 minute videos"
Also Sakurai: ^Uploads double the video length he stated^
These vids are great, if they were 1,000 minutes I'd still watch them all multiple times over, thank you so much Sakurai
He never said they would all be 5 min.
@@Nekotaku_TV Watch his very first video
@@Libops He said he'll try, not that they will only be.
@@Nekotaku_TVAh ok. I actually misread your comment. I didn't see the "all" in your comment.
@@Libops Actually I added that after your comment, so you didn't miss it. But it's what I meant and it's true that he didn't say they literally would be.
The part that I loved the most was "you need to be able to sniff out what makes them Fun". Even if you personally dislike the game, we need to know why it's fun for some people, that's part of the job!
This reminds me of kirby games where they give you a congratulations screen or a cutscene showing that it was worth getting that 100%, my favorite is Kirby Return to DreamLand
Sakurai is one of earths most precious people. He is so nice and humble which makes his videos the biggest treat anyone can get, especially if their into game design.
I would love to hear Sakurai more in-depth thoughts about the genres he listed in the end (Fighting Games, Racing Games, Puzzle Games, RPGs, Strategy Games and Card Games)
It sounds like he’s already made videos on them and they just haven’t released yet.
@@JohnDoe-sy5dt He mentioned before that he had lectures done before he made this youtube channel so I assume hes talking about these.
I literally feel like I'm sitting in a classroom and getting taught by a famous master. My gosh I love it!
Mr. Sakurai, where can we get access to your additional lectures that you mentioned regarding each genre of game? Excellent work on this channel, I’m really enjoying this series.
Yes, I wonder about that too
I'm assuming it's already prerecorded and getting uploaded out of order
@@DiamondAppendixVODs ah good point, I wasn’t sure if he was talking about future videos or if he was referring to lectures he’d done at universities
@@Jashmaful Think he mentioned both, actually. The former will get uploaded.
Probably for articles or game design lectures and gatherings, so you'd have to go diving into the history of his appearances
I think that Sakurai making this kind of content is amazing. Getting more insight about the "basics" of game development is nice. Sakurai explanations are extremely easy to understand, he really has a way to make things beginner-friendly. Simple is better, and having the content given to us in small bites makes it more digestable.
And that all this is coming from a legend in game development like Sakurai FOR FREE is insane. I hope this channel has a long run. You have great stuff here, I'm always looking forward to what's next
One game i think does this very well is A Hat in Time, the movement system often makes it so you feel like you are barely making those big jumps.
Now give me a useless gold star Mr Sakurai
I literally heard your comment like this when I read the first two words
"One game and I don't know why
it doesn't even matter how hard you try" 😆
I'd actually disagree here, these things are subjective but I personally believe aHiT is way to generous with it's platform mechanics.
Jump > double jump > dive > dive jump
You have about 3 mid air jumps by default on top of the different hat abilities, I found the lack of challenge to be boring and that made me drop the game.
@@Wippipippi I think Demon Turf does the risk-reward platforming movement better in my opinion.
@@ConcavePgons yes, I haven't played myself but I heard great things regarding its game design
@@Wippipippi I shouldve put emphasis on FEEL. And yeah, not a super challenging game (though thats not why people play these throwback platformers) if you want challenge, just play Death Wish, and Ill see you in a month.
When I played Space Invaders Extreme way back on the DS, I was pretty quick to pick up the "Don't pursue, intercept" strategy, so it was interesting seeing it explained here.
Sakurai-San, I think your theory at the last minute is also being used on the video itself, since you made it so damn entertaining to everyone without getting too technical, just like you said on the first video :D