First, the change of business model brings about changes in the difficulty characteristics of the game
First of all, the factors that lead to the change in the difficulty of the game, the top layer is definitely the change in the business model. The previous mainstream sales channels for games were:Offline paid experiences and physical games, their characteristics are different, but they all lead to a high level of difficulty: 1. The offline paid experience emphasizes a short single play time and a low error tolerance rate, such as a game hall or arcade game. This in-person pay-to-play experience requires a short single play time and low error tolerance, so that players can quickly move on to the next round after a game is over, allowing them to invest more tokens to continue playing. The difficulty design of the game in this case tends to be harsher because:Challenges and failures are important motivators to keep players flipping coins. 
2. The choice of physical games is narrow and the sunk cost is high, and physical games are a more in-depth investment for players. First of all, becauseThere are a limited number of games that can be purchased due to regional restrictions. Secondly, you are spending not only time, but also money. Once purchased, you are:Buying all the experience that comes with the game, including its difficulty, is non-refundable. You may need to spend a lot of time exploring and solving the puzzles in the game because you have already paid a sunk cost for it. In this case, players tend to prefer more challenging games because it gives them a deeper gaming experience. Therefore, the designers will appropriately increase the upper and lower difficulty limits of the game in this mode, and at the same time, the control of the difficulty curve is more daring and rough. 
And now the mainstream sales model has become:Service-style free-to-play gameswithOnline buyout gameWith the emergence of online buyout games and the popularity of free games, players' game choices have become broader. This makes the game's difficulty gradient design more targeted. For example, in the past, the game difficulty design usually fluctuated between 0-10, but now the game difficulty design tends to be more explicit, such as 0-4, 3-8, 5-10. This design not only makes the classification of target users more accurate, but also the difficulty range is more detailed to meet the needs of various types of users. Even the game will design different levels of difficulty, breaking down the difficulty range of 0-10 into difficulty zones of 0-4, 3-8, and 5-10. to match user zones of different difficulty. 
2. The reduction of sunk cost leads to a more prudent setting of game card points, and the current game allows refunds, and it is also very convenient to replace the game, which greatly reduces the sunk cost of players. As a result, most players are less tolerant of difficulty, which makes game designers more cautious when designing difficulty points. When the difficulty is too high, game designers often choose to lower the difficulty or provide a way to skip levels. The following is the reverse textbook (dog head).
3. The reduction of customer acquisition costs and the sinking of the market lead to a reduction in the overall difficulty of the game, and the difficulty curve is set more smoothly: The decline in the cost of customer acquisition and the sinking of the market make game designers have to rethink the difficulty setting of the game. It may be a newcomer to the game, and their proficiency and understanding of the game may be limited. As a result, the initial difficulty of the game is usually set to be very simple, and it is accompanied by a detailed tutorial that acts like a caring babysitter to teach the player how to play. This shift makes the game's difficulty curve smoother and more focused on the player's gaming experience. From the simple introduction at the beginning, to the gradual increase in difficulty, players can gradually improve their gaming skills while enjoying the fun of the game. The physical difficulty is also reduced. 2. The reduction of technical limitations brings about changes in the difficulty characteristics of the gameThe development of technology is not only driving a shift in business models. It also allows some functions that were once difficult to achieve due to technical limitations are now at your fingertips. These changes not only enrich the content and form of the game, but also have an impact on the difficulty setting of the game: first, the privatization of game devices, the widespread use of cloud storage, the increase of game storage space, and the improvement of storage technology have made game storage no longer a technical problem. This means:Players no longer need to start over after a failure, but can start from a failure point or save point and try again. This change greatly reduces the difficulty of the game and gives more players the opportunity to experience and enjoy the game. 
Secondly,Advances in technology have also made the gaming experience more diverse. In many games, the upper limit test of strategy and operation is no longer the mainstream, but more emphasis is placed on the communication of the overall game tone and the fun of gameplay. Therefore, we can see the emergence of a large number of CG and cutscenes in the game, which not only provides players with a richer audio-visual experience, but also reduces the difficulty of the game to some extent. 3. The difficulty has been reduced due to the change in the game design conceptAfter talking about some objective factors, let's continue to talk about the difficulty reduction caused by some changes in design concepts: 1. The improvement of the juiciness of the game and the strengthening of the definition and function of juiciness: "juice" refers to continuous and diverse user feedback. Designs that trigger, swing, eject, or make sounds are all "juicy" elements. A "juicy" game is dynamic and gives feedback on everything. This makes the player feel powerful, feel like they are in control of the world, and learn the rules of the game by constantly interacting with them to familiarize them with the controls. First of all, we can see that the "juiciness" of the game has been significantly improved. This means that for the same content, game designers will use richer representations to reduce the player's perceived difficulty. 
In addition, some gamers' mechanical hints have also been consciously strengthened by the designers: for example, in the design of monsters, the current game will pay more attention to the design of omens, rather than the monster's attack action often without warning, as in the past. 
2. The proportion of visual expression and world view transmission is increasingSecondly, the proportion of visual expression and world view communication is also increasing. With the improvement of technical capabilities, game designers can provide players with a rich game experience through more stylized, higher-quality art expression, and stronger narrative elements. These elements often do not increase the difficulty of the game, but rather make the difficulty curve of the game smoother by diluting the proportion of the experience change brought about by the difficulty change. 3. The gameplay mechanism is more mature, and some designs with poor experience have been screened out by users and the marketWith the development and maturity of the game industry, some gameplay mechanisms with poor experience have been eliminated by the market and players. 4. The design concept emphasizes positive feedback and weakens negative feedbackIn game design, both positive and negative feedback are important tools, which help shape player behavior and experience. By rewarding players for their successful behavior, positive feedback can encourage players to continue to participate in the game, enhancing the game's attractiveness and retention rate. Therefore, the common idea is to emphasize positive feedback and weaken negative feedback. 5. The compression of the difficulty interval leads to the change of experience design, which shifts from the difficulty change to the distortion of the existing mechanismFinally, the business model just now also talked about the compression of the difficulty interval of the game. In the past, in order to increase the gameplay time with the same game data, the designers adjusted the difficulty to expand the game content. The difficulty range is now compressed. Designers tend to distort the game mechanics with the same difficulty to make the experience less repetitive. Roougue is a prime example. 
Above, I talked about it from several angles"Why are the old games harder than the current ones?", without talking too much about this from the user's perspective. That's because all of the above points are actually the result of market optimization and user screening cycles, which together shape the trend of modern game difficulty. Fourth, game designers need to understand and adapt to these changes in difficulty designFinally, professionally, I think it's important as a game designer to understand and adapt to these changes in difficulty design. This will not only help improve the overall quality of the game, but also make the game better meet the needs of different types of players. Here are some questions designers can consider to help optimize the game's difficulty design:Who are your target users and what is their acceptable difficulty range?If you want to reach a wider audience, the game needs to be divided into several levels of difficulty. What kind of users does each difficulty serve?
How to improve the game by that"Juiciness"to reduce the difficulty of understanding and operating the gameIn other words, how can you make the game easier to understand and operate by enhancing the game's expressiveness and improving the sense of control?
How to design the beginner's guide and difficulty curve to make the experience smoother?But also avoid overprotectiveness, which can flatten the experience and make it difficult for players to get into flow.
How to enrich the game experience with more artistic expression, narrative, strategy alienation, etc., and avoid relying solely on adjusting the difficulty to enrich the game experience?
Can design points only be driven with negative feedback?Can it be adjusted to be driven with positive feedback?However, this does not mean that negative feedback is completely abandoned, and proper negative feedback is also important to provide the necessary challenge and balance. Designers need to find the right balance between the two to achieve the best gaming experience.
Expansion: What are some of the most difficult games in the gaming world?
There are a lot of difficult games in the gaming world, but most of them are because the difficulty is not reasonably designed, or the difficulty is deliberately raised.
I think to answer this question, we should talk about the games that are outrageously difficult, but they are so popular that some people can't stop.
These games are like the ones that make you yell"I'm never playing again!", while I can't help but want to challenge the hot sauce:
Soul series. This collection is like a chili sauce made with the spiciest ghost peppers. While each flavor is different, it will always make you cry, cough, and maybe even feel like your mouth is going to burn out again and again. But every time you feel like you're dying, you'll find out what you've learned, and you'll try the sauce again, and you'll be !! to itAfter all, everyone who can play this game is an old ass!It's a bit of a quirk. I'm also a spicy person!
Dig to Survive is a game that looks delicious, but is actually super spicy. You can make your tongue burn instantly because of a small mistake, and even if you frantically drink milk to try to relieve the heat, it won't stop you from trying again. Of course, what's even happier is watching those streamers suffer!
Super Carnivorous Boy
It's like a super spicy hot sauce that you need to eat bite by bite. Every time you try, you'll be beaten by its spiciness, but you'll also find yourself with a deeper understanding of it and try again. And then you realize, hey, it's even better!
Cuphead Adventure
This game is like a dessert that looks sweet, but is actually super spicy. You may be seduced by its sweetness and then unsuspectingly defeated by its spiciness that runs through the soul. It's like you might be broken by a seemingly innocuous chocolate chip that suddenly becomes spicy. Let me not only ask myself, why is it so good in a game that seems so simple and casual?
i wanna be the guy》
It's like a hot sauce that you need to eat with your chopsticks. You need to control your every movement and try to eat only a little bit each time, and as a result, you always get pulled to the point where you break down, and then you explode and give up after a few attempts. Especially the strong philosophical atmosphere in the levels, eh. It's hard to put into words.
Author: Ying Xuan
The first Zhihu,