#who is basically a tiny red race car. and also can upgrade someone to have a REALLY powerful gun

[keferon]

I don't know if you know this but, Blurr not being able to find Swindle in Armada because there are so many 'fake' ones is so funny to me cuz-

This is the actual Swindle in Armada (the minicon on Star's shoulder) Oh my god so Starscream really just stole Blurr's man like that, adopted him any everything just so Blurr has to call him dad-*gets shot*

OH MY GOD I FORGOT THAT ARMADA SWINDLE IS STARSCREAM’S MINICON OH THIS HAS SO MUCH POTENTIAL JSKSJCNFJMFNV

And that potential completely different depending on the timeline. Imagine if Blurr gets in the Armada universe after IDW? He is not only depressed because all his life was left in another universe but also like. There’s this bot who LOOKS like weird Swindle and absolutely adores Blurr but it’s actually Sideswipe??

And then Starscream joins the Autobots and brings all his minicons with him and like

Blurr: oh I see you brought those three little guys with you. How cute

Starscream: Oh no. Four actually. Those three are Sonar, Jetstorm and Runway. (Takes a tiny red guy out of nowhere) And Swindle.

Blurr: Ah……..hi

Mini Swindle: beep boop boop beb pebpub

Blurr: Smoking isn’t enough I need to fall down the stairs

OR! If we take this to the time when Swindle already found his way into the isekai???? Imagine IDW Swindle pressing “the travel button” or smth and thinking it can’t be too weird right? WRONG. GET SHRUNK LOSER. You are now palm sized and cant properly talk. The comedy possibilities are fucking ENDLESS

[equalproj]

Different types of Arcade Games

Classic High Score games:

Pac-Man

Pan-Man is a high score game where you play as a large ball with a pie cut mouth that eats tiny pellets while trying to avoid ghosts named Inky(cyan), Pinky(self-explanatory), Blinky(red) and Clyde(orange). You collect fruit as well which gives you more points upon collection. Power pellets are larger regular pellets which allow you to eat the ghosts and send them back to their starting point for a short period of time.

Space Invaders

Space Invaders is a high score game where your goal is to shoot waves of aliens which trying not to get killed by their projectiles. Quite a simple concept, you go until you die.

Qbert

Q*bert is a high score puzzle game where you play as a cute little orange guy. In order to progress levels, you need to navigate the pyramid to complete levels by changing the colours of the cubes to make them all the same. The levels progress in difficulty by adding enemies you need to expertly avoid.

Shooters:

Terminator 2: Judgment day (the arcade game, not the movie)

You play as a T-800 trying to save John Connor and his mother Sarah from a T-1000. The game takes you through John's childhood and further along in the past they launch an attack on Cyberdyne Systems to stop the creation of Skynet. The game has two endings, one saying you have prevented Judgement day (This only occurs if you destroy all of the equipment during the Cyberdyne Systems thing), or that Judgment Day is still possible (if you didn't achieve that.)

Area 51

Area 51 is an arcade game set in the military base with the same name. You play as a character who works in a team called the Special Tactical Advanced Alien Response (STAAR, I feel like Resident Evil took some inspiration from this because they have S.T.A.R.S which is Special Tactics and Rescue Service.) In this game, you fight aliens and genetically modified zombie soldiers. The game features an upgrade system to your gun where if you get hit by the enemy, your gun will return to the basic pistol.

Time Crisis

Time Crisis is a 3 dimensional arcade game where there is a unique feature of ducking behind cover to reload and avoid enemy fire. For this, they made a pedal on the arcade machine itself that toggles the hide function. The game has three stages, each stage has three areas and a boss battle. You need to complete battles in order to progress through the game.

Racing Games:

Daytona USA

Daytona is a racing game in which the player drives a stock car called the hornet and can pick from three different tracks which will give a different amount of opponents depending on the maps difficulty level. Three Seven Speedway is beginner, Dinosaur Canyon is advanced and Seaside Street Galaxy is expert. Adaptive difficulty is used, during your first lap it sees how good you are at the game and then the AI opponents will reflect it, if you have a hard time they will leave lanes open for you whereas if you are good the opponents will try to block you.

Crazy Taxi

In this game you race against time to take your customers to their destinations. You earn money if you get to the destination under a time limit and can do stunts to earn more money.

OutRun

In this game you have a set time limit to reach the finish line. The camera position limits your view of the road ahead and prevents you from seeing obstacles until they get close, meaning you have to act quickly to avoid losing the game.

Fighting Games:

Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat is a game for 1-2 players where you select a character and then fight to see who can defeat the other twice. The game is now heavily story driven but the old arcade ones had much less story and was more like the tower modes in the more recent games. This game was the reason they had to add age ratings to games because of how violent it is.

Street Fighter

Much like Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter is a game for 1-2 players where you fight until someone wins twice. This game also has a story.

Marvel vs Capcom

Marvel Vs Capcom is again like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter, however this one does not contain a story mode. You fight this game like the towers in newer Mortal Kombats (I think, I've not seen much gameplay).

Interactive Games:

Air Hockey

In this interactive game you play against a friend to get the puck into a small slit on their side. You use two special controllers of sorts that you knock the puck with to push it. Whoever gets more goals wins.

Basketball

Basketball machines require you to get as many points as you can in a limited amount of time, the more hoops you score the more points you get.

2p Machines

These ones are my favorite. You get 2ps and put them in two slits to try and push out prizes. There isn't really any strategy, but it's very enticing and makes you spend a lot of money for what you want to win.

[briefbouquetcreatorlove-blog]

Insurance question, 20pts for the best answer?

"Insurance question, 20pts for the best answer?

Think about your life, home, automobiles and possessions. What type of risks/accidents can happen to each of these? What type of insurance would you recommend to protect against each of these risks.

BEST ANSWER:  Try this site where you can compare quotes: : http://freeinsurancequotes.xyz/index.html?src=tumblr 

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Is it true that red cars cost more to insure?

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What site can i visit that will help me find the right health insurance plan for me and my son?

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Do insurance companies had out new phones?

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Can I be added to a auto insurance policy?

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Will Car Insurance Fees Go Up?

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Can i drive my car with an international licence and provisional insurance?

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Mazda miata insurance?

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How much do you pay for insurance?

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Car Insurance Question?

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About car insurance and drive?

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600cc sports bike good for a beginner? gsxr600 or zx6r?

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Do insurance companies consider a 1985 Monte Carlo SS a sports car. Wondering what insurance would cost.?

Do insurance companies consider a 1985 Monte Carlo SS a sports car. Wondering what insurance would cost.

Young driver insurance in the UK?

how much would I need to pay for insurance if i'm 17,18,19,20 years old? and which cars are the cheapest for that age? When does it get cheaper? should I wait, when im 21? or it depends on driving experience? Thx""

Insurance question, 20pts for the best answer?

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How much does the average 19 year-old pay for car insurance?

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Car insurance question ?

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I would like to buy a car.How much is the price of the car insurance about? I am going to buy a 1300cc car.?

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Does auto insurance cover theft of vehicle if you leave keys in car?

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What is the cheapest car insurance in PA?

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Re Insurance?

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Cheap car insurance? and cars that are cheap to insure?

Im 17 and had my licence about a month and really want a car but insurance is a killer. anyone knoe of any cheap cars in insure and companys that are cheap for people my age? thanks

""Should i get health insurance now, or wait for Obamacare?

Also about how much will insurance cost a healthy 19 year old male who exercises regularly and eats well.

""How many people out there would love a health care insurance exchange, where you can buy insurance on your own?""

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What do you buy first- the car or the insurance? In Oregon.?

Last year, I sold my car. Since I did not have a car, I stopped my insurance. Now, I am ready to buy a car again, via a dealership. Do I have to already have the insurance, or do I wait until I purchase the car to buy the insurance?""

Which is the best health insurance to take while in Delaware state?

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Is car insurance cheaper for older cars?

Is car insurance cheaper for older cars?

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Insurance question, 20pts for the best answer?

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Insurance Companies Help??????s?

If an insurance company needs to make money how can it help us? technically if we give them money and they give us back more money wouldn't they go out of business? so wouldn't saving money in a bank account be better in the long run than getting insurance?

Whats health insurance?? :O?

i need an MRI but we dont have health insurance so its going to be a while before we can get all the money. whats health insurance do? how much is it?

Can I drive my friend's car which without insurance?

I have car insurance,but my car broke , so I need to drive my friend's car, but car doesn't have insurance""

What kind of insurance do I need as a teen?

I am looking for quotes and anchor insurance asks which insurance I want I have the choices of Liability only, Comprehension and collision and Comprehensive only""

How can I get prenatal insurance?

I live in Iowa and I am pregant my bday is in four days il be 18. I don't have health insurance I live with my bf. I could marry him and have insurance but I want to explore all options but I need. Health insurance what all can I do?

""Oh crap, what am I going to do? Car insurance?""

This might be long but PLEASE READ EVERYTHING. When I was 15 my grandfather (Legally my father, always lived with him) had always promised me he would get me driver's ed but he never did. A few months before I was 18 I moved out and in an apartment with my fiance. My fiance went to college 5 hours away the day after my 18th. After I turned 18 (July 25) I wanted to get my license, and I know how to do it. My fiance came back from college last weekend and took me to buy a used car for 400. Its a beater, but it drives. It has no insurance and no license plates. Im caught in a super circle. I cant get to SOS or DMV to even apply for my permit without 1) a ride and 2) insurance. I cant get plates to even drive it illegally without a license. I cant get insurance because, from what Im figuring out, just about no body will insure someone without a license. My grandfather will -not- put me on his insurance to save our lives and I need a car to get back and forth to work. (Walking 5 miles? Nah...) What am I supposed to do???? I cant pay a whole lot for insurance as Im now living alone in an apartment on a crappy salary. I had a decent salary until my work decided to super hire and how we are severely over staffed... What to do!?""

""Where can I find affordable health insurance in Tucson, AZ?""

Anyone have any suggestions on inexpensive healthcare. I am disabled and we survive on my wife's income. Our current health insurance premiums are $1150.00 per month (it goes up about $150 per year). We are at our breaking point because we are soon going to have to decide what to cut from our budget (the house, food or health insurance). Because I am disabled no one will insure me. The insurance we have now we had before I became disabled so they can't kick me out. I'm afraid that if we don't have insurance something could happen to me, my wife or kids that would require a hospital visit and could run in the thousands or tens of thousands. I don't want to have to go bankrupt because I couldn't afford to have coverage. I had a stay in the hospital two years ago and the total bill was $60,000.00. the insurance covered all but $3000.00. If anyone has any suggestions I would appreciate it.""

How much would it cost to insure a harley Davidson sportster iron 883 if I'm 17 ? ?

Rough answers

Is insurerance cheaper if the engine is slow even though it is realativly big?

basically a vw beetle or a bay will the insurance be cheaper because there top speed is like 70mph!! new driver

What is the best way to use technology in comparing insurance premiums for MEDICARE costing?

Many of the baby boomer generation will shortly be reviewing insurance costs for our retirement years - health, medical, prescription and the like. We will need to make decisions based upon retirement income and expenses. I have done some preliminary research and it appears I need to do a lot more. The data for health and medical costs is easily available however there is a ton of it. For this reason, I intend to use spreadsheets to crunch through this and any other tech tool I can locate. One of the problems with this approach is that just about every quote is proprietary, that is each quote has its own bells and whistles which make it more or less expensive than the next company. Although I have spreadsheet skills, I can visualize that any template I make must provide for more assumptions than I want to make. From the above it's clear to me that I need some kind of generic (FREE) spreadsheet template that is not proprietary, combines monthly income and expense (insurance premiums counted as expenses), is not locked in terms of making formula adjustments, and has the ability to forecast. If this is as clear as mud to you, welcome to the crowd. Surely, there are fill in the blanks templates dealing with MEDICARE comparative cost determination. If there are and you are aware of them, please let me know. I would be in your debt. Regards, Rich F. Florida""

CA Borders books pregnancy insurance?

I'm working at a Borders in CA and i'm part time. I'm trying to figure out what's the best way to go about getting insurance. My training manager said to look online for borders insurance but I'm not finding it. Is the part time insurance worth it for pregnancy costs? I'm having a midwife and want to figure out how to get that covered.

Need health insurance?

I need to get my own health insurance. Does anybody know of any insurance that just covers if stuff goes really wrong?

Motorcycle insurance in MA ?

Hi i have called several insurance companies about insurance for a motorcyle in MA. i havent found one that offered it. Geico, even nationwide and allstate dont offer it. i dont understand how Allstate doesnt offer motorycle insurance in all states but any suggestions or cheap insurances for a single 18 y.o in MA would help. thanx""

What would be the most inexpensive insurance for me?

Im looking to buy a car. I don't know what kind yet because I don't want to get a car that's going to have me with really high insurance. I'm 19. I don't really know much about all this . Any and All advice would help . Thanks :)

""Ok, car insurance questions..?""

we have car insurance through a really CHEAP company, not a big name one. When we signed up, the do the multi car thing, but they add all the cars under one name and the others as drivers. We had a relative come stay with us, and they added their car and name to our policy, than they moved and registerd the car else where, the policy is under our name, with them as a driver, is this legal? what should we be doing, the policy is good for like 6 months .""

What's the average price of car insurance?

I'm 23 and thinking about buying a car but am weighing out the pros and cons. I've had a licence for almost 5 years, drove for the first 2 and haven't driven since. I haven't made any claims that were my fault. I'd like to buy a car in group one so can anyone tell me on average how much it will cost per year? Thanks""

What is the product of an insurance company?

every company has a product, what is the product of an insurance company""

How much would car insurance on a nissan GT R cost?

How much would car insurance on a nissan GT R cost?

Should I pay insurance on a car that I can't drive?

I'm very frustrated with this car & I won't be able to pay to get it fixed until September. Some people are telling me to still pay insurance on it, & others are telling me that it doesn't make sense to waste money, & that I should cancel the insurance. I don't know. I'm about to cry.""

Insurance for a 17 year old male for a Peugeot 205?

I'm turning 17 soon and was wondering if it would be any good to get insurance on a Peugeot 205 or would I be better off getting the classic mini rover.

What's the cheapest car insurance company?

what is the cheapest insurance company for full and liability coverage?

Insurance for 98 prelude?

i found a 98 prelude that is in my price range but before i could buy it i was told to find how much insurance would go up. i am 17 and have been driving for about a year now and not been in any accidents or had any tickets. i don'tt know much about how car insurance works so if anyone knows from experience or any other way how much it might go up that would be great thanks in advance :)

What auto insurance to get?

Im 17. Drive 1993 bmw 318is e36 black Car title is on my name Still live with parents Barely make 500 a month and still need to get new paint job and new tires. Ive calculated and turns out thats around 1k. So what auto insurance would be good for me? At least so it covers the damage done by me to other people.. not to expensive please. East Tennessee

What is the cheapest car & insurance combination a 17 year old girl can get in the uk?

basically, what is a cheap car that has really cheap insurance for people who have just passed? thanks""

Insurance question, 20pts for the best answer?

Think about your life, home, automobiles and possessions. What type of risks/accidents can happen to each of these? What type of insurance would you recommend to protect against each of these risks.

How much would car insurance be for a new driver and a crappy car?

I got my liscense 2 months ago and have been saving for a cheap car on Craigslist; around $1500. I need to know how much I would have to pay annually for car insurance for like a mid-90's, 150K miles Nissan/Volvo.""

Which insurance company will provide the most affordable health coverage?

I'm a 27 year old man in perfect health as far as I know. I'm average size. I'm about 5'10, 185 lbs. Since there are so many health insurance companies, which health insurance company will provide the most affordable health coverage for me?""

First car ... I need cheap car insurance.. what car offers cheap insurance?

Tell me how much the insurance costs if possible, bearing in mind I am a new driver.""

""Can you suggest a good,affordable health insurance plan?""

I am an adjunct instructor at two colleges in Michigan. Neither institution offers health insurance for adjunct instructors. For the last three years I have been getting health Insurance through a postdoctoral fellowship. Now this fellowship has come to an end, and I am in desperate straits. I have heart problems and I need specials medicationss for depression and attention deficit disorder.What do I do?""

Which motorcycle will cost me less on insurance? 2004-5 600/1000cc crotch rocket motorcylce or 2008 Ninja 250R

No motorcycle experience at all. No driving record. 21/M/Florida. Never held a driver's/motorcycle license in the US. Am about to take the MSF course though.

With a driving permit in California ? Insurance ?

Can I drive my dad's car but with somebody else teaching me to drive. Do I need to be in the insurance policy ? How does that work?

Will having motorcycle insurance for a few years help lower auto insurance in the long run?

Will having motorcycle insurance for a few years help lower auto insurance in the long run?

Looking for affordable medical insurance plan for my husband. he is 31. please suggest?

Looking for affordable medical insurance plan for my husband. he is 31. please suggest?

What are some cheap Auto Insurance Companies?

I pay 193 a month for basic liability with 21st century Insurance. Where can i get a cheap quote?

Insurance for scion tc 2008?

i wanted to get the scion tc 2008 but my dad said the insurance is too high for 2 doors car or something like that.. does anyone kno any good and cheap insurance place they can recommend? thankyou

Health Insurance- Test Result Privacy?

I am curious as to how much information my insurance company (through an employer) has access to. For example, can they view the results of my blood tests done via Labcorp/Quest if they payed for them? Also, what about a test such as an EMG and Nerve Conduction study. Do they receive a copy of the final report? I know a copy is sent to my physician and that I personally have the right to a copy. But are results also sent to my insurance company? For what it's worth I have BCBS. Any input would be greatly appreciated.""

Insurance for teenagers?

So i'm gonna get my car/license in a month and i was wondering how much insurance was on average for teens?? Also, how much would it be if i got a sports car? Like a mustang""

Insurance cost for the following car: 2007 Pontiac G6 GT?

I am a teenager and I am buying a car and would like to know an estimate on how much this insurance costs before I call them up. Car: 2007 Pontiac G6 GT, Convertible, 3.5 L, 6 Cylinders. Title: Va - Salvage I originally wanted to buy a 2006 mitsubishi eclipse, 2.4, 4 Cylinder. I know the eclipse is a better choice, But auctions for the eclipse will end for quite a while on the website we are purchasing the car. And I need a car now, because it will take us a while to fix up the vehicle (Buying proken, and repairing)""

Anyone know the cheapest car insurance around?

Anyone know the cheapest car insurance around?

Can I put my daughter's car insurance in my name after filing for bankruptcy?

My 18 year old daughter just got her license and is now getting her first car. Her car insurance rates would be crazy high if she gets it in her name because she's young and a new driver. I would like to put it in my name so it will be cheaper for her, but I'm going through a bankruptcy right now. Can I still put the insurance in my name? She has a full time job and would be paying for the insurance on her own.""

Can I visit the hospital or doctor without health insurance?

I have been off of by parents health insurance for two years, even though I am a full-time college student, it's just how it was written in their plan. Here is the scoop: Two years ago I injured my knee and got treated for puncture wounds, and had some minor problems with a popping sound here and there over the years. Now, recently, the same knee is in so much pain, I almost cry. It feels like someone is sticking a flat-head screw driver into my knee and hitting it. I checked my symtoms (swollen, severe pain, weakness, loud popping and clicking, instability, pain when walking) on web md and every symptom points to a tore ALC ligament. The charts for pain match 100%. I don't have any form of health insurance, can I still go somewhere to get treated? My knee is severely swollen, and I can feel a shooting pain up and down my leg. It also feels like my knee is pulsating... Help please, I need to go get this taken care of ASAP, I was advised to for it can cause blood clots.""

Car insurance for 20 year old?

hey im 20 year old just passed my driving licence and the insurance quote i get on a 1.0 corsa breeze is ridiculous. i live in a high crime part of london but the insurance company's want about 1500 pound a MONTH from me. anyone know what it should actually be n what i can do about it? i heard people pay max 300 pound a month at the age of 17.

How can a 17yearold get insured on a classic car?

I'm a 17 year old driver in staffordshire, i'm looking to purchase either a triumph gt6 or a triumph spitfire, however the insurance quotes im getting (even with my dad as the main driver) are over the value of the car! (approx 3500). does anyone know any specialist companies i could contact? thank you in advance""

A question about car insurance?

I am 18 and i just got my G.E.D. and I'm looking for a job. I do not have a drivers license so i was wondering how much will it cost me for car insurance per month when i get it.

How much do you pay for car insurance?

and how old are you? not the insurance that pays for ur car if it gets damaged, the insurance that pays for the damage if you hit another car? i think what is that insurance called? no-fault insurance? idk new be""

How much is an SR22 insurance cost?

More or less...

Insurance Company Policy Number California?

I was rear ended and I obtain the person of interest's driver license, license plate, name, and policy number, but did not get the insurance company's name. I tried calling the suspect and came into her work (subway) to find out the number I was given was incorrect. I tried calling the new number and still no response. I remember seeing that the insurance company was from the Bay Area. The policy number is 1053121297. Could anyone help me connect this policy number format to a company?""

Insurance for young drivers?

Hey, i'm a young male who passed his test recently and the insurance quotes I have been getting have been eye popping. Just over 4,000 my quotes have been. I live in the city and dont have a garage or driveway etc and know that can effect the premium but I want a diesel which is insurance group 3, does that have major effect on the premium? I need a little advice on how to go about this""

Will my premiums go up on car insurance if I'm not At Fault?

I live in the state of Michigan. Someone rear ended me at a stoplight. My tail light is broken and my bumper is sagging along with other minor scratches etc. I have 2 main questions ...show more

Where can i buy motorcycle gap insurance?:?

i just refinanced my bike. but unfortunately the new bank does not provide gap insurance on motorcycles. but i want gap insurance. is there any where or any place where i can buy my own gap insurance? i have heard that u can get your own gap insurance and u dont have to get it from the bank. but where exactly do i go to get my own gap insurance? are there any compinies that sell it to individuals? please help. and please let me know where i can buy gap insurance?

Insurance question, 20pts for the best answer?

Think about your life, home, automobiles and possessions. What type of risks/accidents can happen to each of these? What type of insurance would you recommend to protect against each of these risks.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/car-insuance-sigrun-sharpe"

[symbianosgames]

The best games are a slow steady learning process.

They teach and guide while they entertain and challenge. They push players to improve steadily — to master a mechanic not by forcing you to scale a metaphorical wall, but by compelling you to climb a series of metaphorical steps. 

This does not necessarily mean they have great tutorials — indeed, many games with awesome learning curves throw you straight into the experience proper. Nor does it mean that they have to dumb down their design. It's simply a matter of crafting progression systems that allow the player to get a handle on the fundamentals early and then to grow and improve at every stage after that. 

It's not easy to pull this off. To give you some guidance as to how you can execute a brilliant learning curve, we asked several designers to tell us what games they think do it well.

None of the seven examples that follow are easy games, but all of them meter their difficulty with a well-considered learning curve. 

From the moment the player wakes up in protagonist Chell's minimalist living quarters, Portal gently prods her forward. As Global Game Jam co-founder and Rochester Institute of Technology assistant professor Ian Schreiber notes, "the entire game is basically a tutorial on how to beat it, except it expertly frames the learning as gameplay." Portal challenges by crafting puzzles around new mechanics and new applications of existing mechanics.  

It allows all the time players need to get comfortable with the controls or to think about how to solve the next puzzle, and it scales the difficulty by simply incrementing the complexity.

What you learn in completing one puzzle is needed to figure out the next one, and you have environmental cues that indicate what you need to learn or do (though not how to do it). Some cues are subtle such as the position of sentry turrets, while others are obviously instructional like the warning signs at the entrance to each test chamber. And thanks to these cues there's a clear progression from using portals to walk through a wall to using them for high-speed platforming. 

TAKEAWAY: You can simultaneously teach and challenge players at the same time if you weave the learning experience into the environment and level design.

All of the Burnout games do a fine job of introducing faster cars and tougher races and challenges at a comfortable pace. But one deserves special praise.

"I absolutely loved Burnout 3," says Corey Davis, design director at Rocket League developer Psyonix. "The pace of acquiring more powerful cars lined up really well with my mastery of the boost system, crashing opponents, and track knowledge." 

Each new car is just the right amount faster and stronger than the previous one to maintain an even challenge level and not pull the player out of their depth. The crafted tracks and frantic high-speed tussles with rival racers grow more intense as the player progresses, and there's a rewarding and fun experience for anyone to find — veteran racing junkies, casual fans, and newcomers alike.  

TAKEAWAY: You need to constantly test players and push them to execute tougher maneuvers as they improve their mastery of the core mechanics, but there's a fine line to straddle here if you want to keep both inexperienced and experienced players engaged from start to finish.

Much like a real instrument, Guitar Hero offers an intensely satisfying learning curve. It arguably even outdoes a real guitar in this respect, as it provides more useful feedback and gave the player ways to play along to their favorite songs regardless of skill level — the chosen difficulty level affects the number of notes to play and fret buttons to hit. It also adds an extra layer of progression by dividing songs into a "setlist" of increasing difficulty — so the challenge ramps up song by song as well as by difficulty level. 

Davis praises this design decision. "I never felt like it was cheap; it felt purely like I needed to get better," he says. And the feedback loops both on the screen during play and intrinsic to the challenge of mastering the twin difficulty systems combine beautifully with the simple joy of making music — of mastering hit rock songs. 

TAKEAWAY: Multi-tiered learning curves can let players control their own challenge level and rate of progress, and also provide a clearer indication of how much harder the next stage will be.

To someone who's heard about but not played the infamously-difficult Dark Souls, it may seem like a strange inclusion in this list. But extreme challenge and a good learning curve are not mutually exclusive. "The difficulty escalates very nicely," says Red Hook Studios creative director Chris Bourassa. 

"Just as you start feeling overwhelmed, you find yourself back in Firelink Shrine," he continues. "It's a clever use of the town hub as a thematic downbeat, and works like a chapter break in the game. As you catch your breath, you can look forward to a meaty jump in difficulty as you set off to the next area, followed by another smooth curve."

Cthulhu Saves the World designer Robert Boyd made a similar point in his 2012 analysis of Dark Souls' design

TAKEAWAY: High difficulty does not necessarily equate to a too-steep learning curve, as Dark Souls exemplifies.

Bourassa also praises the learning curve of real-time strategy/action-RPG hybrid Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II. Specifically, he was drawn in by its tension between threat and empowerment. It gives the player confidence to try things and to experiment with new combinations of strategies thanks to a steady trickle of loot and new units. "I always felt confident heading into the missions," says Bourassa, "even when that confidence was misplaced." 

The smaller-scale structure of Dawn of War II's campaign missions in comparison to traditional RTS games helps, too. Short missions with small groups of units battling other small groups (and little or no base building) reduce the need to master micro-management and instead allow the player to learn and adapt as the situation demands. The skirmish multiplayer mode doesn't share this well-balanced learning curve, though, as it's too different to the campaign for knowledge transfer and new players tend to get annihilated. 

TAKEAWAY: A good learning curve balances danger or challenge with player empowerment; it gives the player a taste of both failure and victory and makes either feel like a learning experience.

Ironcast is the rare genre-mashup game that gets the blended elements to fit together. It's a Puzzle Quest-inspired tile-matching puzzler with a touch of roguelite adventuring and steampunk-themed resource management and mech-bot warfare.

Bourassa notes that while it looks straightforward at first, it's actually a deeply layered experience. "They do a lot of interesting things with the mechanics at all levels," he says, "and I found the meta-game quite engaging." 

The player gathers resources from the tile-matching mode, which they soon learn how to use to engage in full-on turn-based mech combat that involves a range of abilities and strategic and tactical decisions. If they lose a battle, it's game over, but certain upgrades and unlocked mech pilots remain so that they can still feel a sense of progress. All the game's complexity is metered out in such a way that you have time to get comfortable with new mechanics before your skill with them is tested. And the upgrades enable new strategies rather than simply incrementing the power of your weapons and shields.  

TAKEAWAY: You can ease players into complexity and surprise them at the same time by starting simple then repeatedly upping the stakes and stripping back the layers underlying the gameplay systems.

The original Super Mario Bros remains a masterclass in game design, and a big part of that is the expert manner in which its difficulty ebbs and flows — a small spike at the beginning followed by a gentle upward curve that has additional spikes at the end of each of its eight worlds (as Mario nears and then battles the world boss). 

It's also a great example of how to teach a player without tutorials. "It introduced most of the core concepts in World 1-1," says Schreiber. It didn't explicitly explain anything, but rather left the player to explore and discover the mechanics simply by trying things.

You may not go into the game knowing that enemies die when you jump on their heads and that blocks with question marks on them give coins or items (or what those items do), but you can stumble on these concepts within seconds and extend your understanding of how they work over the duration of the game. 

TAKEAWAY: Classic games still hold great lessons in game design, and Super Mario Bros in particular is a shining example of how to quickly introduce the core concepts and then playfully explore their permutations over the rest of the game.

There's no point developing a great game mechanic if only a tiny percentage of players can figure out how to use it. If you're striving for challenge, be fair, and remember to allow players some time to acclimatize to their new-found skills. You need to both give your player the appropriate tools and teach them how to use these tools before you ask them to scale a cliff or make a seemingly-impossible leap. 

If you're not trying to make a difficult game, remember that great learning curves should have small spikes along the way to challenge players and test their mastery of the mechanics or to introduce new mechanics. 

Most importantly, consider that teaching people how to play your game is not just a matter of telling them what to do and then leaving them alone. Nor is it about micro-managing their experience. You need to let them play and experiment and to ensure that when they fail they can understand why. Mistakes and successes alike should improve their mental models of how your systems work. And they should drive your players to get better at your game, not to walk away. 

Thanks to Corey Davis, Chris Bourassa, and Ian Schreiber for their help with putting this article together.

[symbianosgames]

The best games are a slow steady learning process.

They teach and guide while they entertain and challenge. They push players to improve steadily — to master a mechanic not by forcing you to scale a metaphorical wall, but by compelling you to climb a series of metaphorical steps. 

This does not necessarily mean they have great tutorials — indeed, many games with awesome learning curves throw you straight into the experience proper. Nor does it mean that they have to dumb down their design. It's simply a matter of crafting progression systems that allow the player to get a handle on the fundamentals early and then to grow and improve at every stage after that. 

It's not easy to pull this off. To give you some guidance as to how you can execute a brilliant learning curve, we asked several designers to tell us what games they think do it well.

None of the seven examples that follow are easy games, but all of them meter their difficulty with a well-considered learning curve. 

From the moment the player wakes up in protagonist Chell's minimalist living quarters, Portal gently prods her forward. As Global Game Jam co-founder and Rochester Institute of Technology assistant professor Ian Schreiber notes, "the entire game is basically a tutorial on how to beat it, except it expertly frames the learning as gameplay." Portal challenges by crafting puzzles around new mechanics and new applications of existing mechanics.  

It allows all the time players need to get comfortable with the controls or to think about how to solve the next puzzle, and it scales the difficulty by simply incrementing the complexity.

What you learn in completing one puzzle is needed to figure out the next one, and you have environmental cues that indicate what you need to learn or do (though not how to do it). Some cues are subtle such as the position of sentry turrets, while others are obviously instructional like the warning signs at the entrance to each test chamber. And thanks to these cues there's a clear progression from using portals to walk through a wall to using them for high-speed platforming. 

TAKEAWAY: You can simultaneously teach and challenge players at the same time if you weave the learning experience into the environment and level design.

All of the Burnout games do a fine job of introducing faster cars and tougher races and challenges at a comfortable pace. But one deserves special praise.

"I absolutely loved Burnout 3," says Corey Davis, design director at Rocket League developer Psyonix. "The pace of acquiring more powerful cars lined up really well with my mastery of the boost system, crashing opponents, and track knowledge." 

Each new car is just the right amount faster and stronger than the previous one to maintain an even challenge level and not pull the player out of their depth. The crafted tracks and frantic high-speed tussles with rival racers grow more intense as the player progresses, and there's a rewarding and fun experience for anyone to find — veteran racing junkies, casual fans, and newcomers alike.  

TAKEAWAY: You need to constantly test players and push them to execute tougher maneuvers as they improve their mastery of the core mechanics, but there's a fine line to straddle here if you want to keep both inexperienced and experienced players engaged from start to finish.

Much like a real instrument, Guitar Hero offers an intensely satisfying learning curve. It arguably even outdoes a real guitar in this respect, as it provides more useful feedback and gave the player ways to play along to their favorite songs regardless of skill level — the chosen difficulty level affects the number of notes to play and fret buttons to hit. It also adds an extra layer of progression by dividing songs into a "setlist" of increasing difficulty — so the challenge ramps up song by song as well as by difficulty level. 

Davis praises this design decision. "I never felt like it was cheap; it felt purely like I needed to get better," he says. And the feedback loops both on the screen during play and intrinsic to the challenge of mastering the twin difficulty systems combine beautifully with the simple joy of making music — of mastering hit rock songs. 

TAKEAWAY: Multi-tiered learning curves can let players control their own challenge level and rate of progress, and also provide a clearer indication of how much harder the next stage will be.

To someone who's heard about but not played the infamously-difficult Dark Souls, it may seem like a strange inclusion in this list. But extreme challenge and a good learning curve are not mutually exclusive. "The difficulty escalates very nicely," says Red Hook Studios creative director Chris Bourassa. 

"Just as you start feeling overwhelmed, you find yourself back in Firelink Shrine," he continues. "It's a clever use of the town hub as a thematic downbeat, and works like a chapter break in the game. As you catch your breath, you can look forward to a meaty jump in difficulty as you set off to the next area, followed by another smooth curve."

Cthulhu Saves the World designer Robert Boyd made a similar point in his 2012 analysis of Dark Souls' design

TAKEAWAY: High difficulty does not necessarily equate to a too-steep learning curve, as Dark Souls exemplifies.

Bourassa also praises the learning curve of real-time strategy/action-RPG hybrid Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II. Specifically, he was drawn in by its tension between threat and empowerment. It gives the player confidence to try things and to experiment with new combinations of strategies thanks to a steady trickle of loot and new units. "I always felt confident heading into the missions," says Bourassa, "even when that confidence was misplaced." 

The smaller-scale structure of Dawn of War II's campaign missions in comparison to traditional RTS games helps, too. Short missions with small groups of units battling other small groups (and little or no base building) reduce the need to master micro-management and instead allow the player to learn and adapt as the situation demands. The skirmish multiplayer mode doesn't share this well-balanced learning curve, though, as it's too different to the campaign for knowledge transfer and new players tend to get annihilated. 

TAKEAWAY: A good learning curve balances danger or challenge with player empowerment; it gives the player a taste of both failure and victory and makes either feel like a learning experience.

Ironcast is the rare genre-mashup game that gets the blended elements to fit together. It's a Puzzle Quest-inspired tile-matching puzzler with a touch of roguelite adventuring and steampunk-themed resource management and mech-bot warfare.

Bourassa notes that while it looks straightforward at first, it's actually a deeply layered experience. "They do a lot of interesting things with the mechanics at all levels," he says, "and I found the meta-game quite engaging." 

The player gathers resources from the tile-matching mode, which they soon learn how to use to engage in full-on turn-based mech combat that involves a range of abilities and strategic and tactical decisions. If they lose a battle, it's game over, but certain upgrades and unlocked mech pilots remain so that they can still feel a sense of progress. All the game's complexity is metered out in such a way that you have time to get comfortable with new mechanics before your skill with them is tested. And the upgrades enable new strategies rather than simply incrementing the power of your weapons and shields.  

TAKEAWAY: You can ease players into complexity and surprise them at the same time by starting simple then repeatedly upping the stakes and stripping back the layers underlying the gameplay systems.

The original Super Mario Bros remains a masterclass in game design, and a big part of that is the expert manner in which its difficulty ebbs and flows — a small spike at the beginning followed by a gentle upward curve that has additional spikes at the end of each of its eight worlds (as Mario nears and then battles the world boss). 

It's also a great example of how to teach a player without tutorials. "It introduced most of the core concepts in World 1-1," says Schreiber. It didn't explicitly explain anything, but rather left the player to explore and discover the mechanics simply by trying things.

You may not go into the game knowing that enemies die when you jump on their heads and that blocks with question marks on them give coins or items (or what those items do), but you can stumble on these concepts within seconds and extend your understanding of how they work over the duration of the game. 

TAKEAWAY: Classic games still hold great lessons in game design, and Super Mario Bros in particular is a shining example of how to quickly introduce the core concepts and then playfully explore their permutations over the rest of the game.

There's no point developing a great game mechanic if only a tiny percentage of players can figure out how to use it. If you're striving for challenge, be fair, and remember to allow players some time to acclimatize to their new-found skills. You need to both give your player the appropriate tools and teach them how to use these tools before you ask them to scale a cliff or make a seemingly-impossible leap. 

If you're not trying to make a difficult game, remember that great learning curves should have small spikes along the way to challenge players and test their mastery of the mechanics or to introduce new mechanics. 

Most importantly, consider that teaching people how to play your game is not just a matter of telling them what to do and then leaving them alone. Nor is it about micro-managing their experience. You need to let them play and experiment and to ensure that when they fail they can understand why. Mistakes and successes alike should improve their mental models of how your systems work. And they should drive your players to get better at your game, not to walk away. 

Thanks to Corey Davis, Chris Bourassa, and Ian Schreiber for their help with putting this article together.

[symbianosgames]

The best games are a slow steady learning process.

They teach and guide while they entertain and challenge. They push players to improve steadily — to master a mechanic not by forcing you to scale a metaphorical wall, but by compelling you to climb a series of metaphorical steps. 

This does not necessarily mean they have great tutorials — indeed, many games with awesome learning curves throw you straight into the experience proper. Nor does it mean that they have to dumb down their design. It's simply a matter of crafting progression systems that allow the player to get a handle on the fundamentals early and then to grow and improve at every stage after that. 

It's not easy to pull this off. To give you some guidance as to how you can execute a brilliant learning curve, we asked several designers to tell us what games they think do it well.

None of the seven examples that follow are easy games, but all of them meter their difficulty with a well-considered learning curve. 

From the moment the player wakes up in protagonist Chell's minimalist living quarters, Portal gently prods her forward. As Global Game Jam co-founder and Rochester Institute of Technology assistant professor Ian Schreiber notes, "the entire game is basically a tutorial on how to beat it, except it expertly frames the learning as gameplay." Portal challenges by crafting puzzles around new mechanics and new applications of existing mechanics.  

It allows all the time players need to get comfortable with the controls or to think about how to solve the next puzzle, and it scales the difficulty by simply incrementing the complexity.

What you learn in completing one puzzle is needed to figure out the next one, and you have environmental cues that indicate what you need to learn or do (though not how to do it). Some cues are subtle such as the position of sentry turrets, while others are obviously instructional like the warning signs at the entrance to each test chamber. And thanks to these cues there's a clear progression from using portals to walk through a wall to using them for high-speed platforming. 

TAKEAWAY: You can simultaneously teach and challenge players at the same time if you weave the learning experience into the environment and level design.

All of the Burnout games do a fine job of introducing faster cars and tougher races and challenges at a comfortable pace. But one deserves special praise.

"I absolutely loved Burnout 3," says Corey Davis, design director at Rocket League developer Psyonix. "The pace of acquiring more powerful cars lined up really well with my mastery of the boost system, crashing opponents, and track knowledge." 

Each new car is just the right amount faster and stronger than the previous one to maintain an even challenge level and not pull the player out of their depth. The crafted tracks and frantic high-speed tussles with rival racers grow more intense as the player progresses, and there's a rewarding and fun experience for anyone to find — veteran racing junkies, casual fans, and newcomers alike.  

TAKEAWAY: You need to constantly test players and push them to execute tougher maneuvers as they improve their mastery of the core mechanics, but there's a fine line to straddle here if you want to keep both inexperienced and experienced players engaged from start to finish.

Much like a real instrument, Guitar Hero offers an intensely satisfying learning curve. It arguably even outdoes a real guitar in this respect, as it provides more useful feedback and gave the player ways to play along to their favorite songs regardless of skill level — the chosen difficulty level affects the number of notes to play and fret buttons to hit. It also adds an extra layer of progression by dividing songs into a "setlist" of increasing difficulty — so the challenge ramps up song by song as well as by difficulty level. 

Davis praises this design decision. "I never felt like it was cheap; it felt purely like I needed to get better," he says. And the feedback loops both on the screen during play and intrinsic to the challenge of mastering the twin difficulty systems combine beautifully with the simple joy of making music — of mastering hit rock songs. 

TAKEAWAY: Multi-tiered learning curves can let players control their own challenge level and rate of progress, and also provide a clearer indication of how much harder the next stage will be.

To someone who's heard about but not played the infamously-difficult Dark Souls, it may seem like a strange inclusion in this list. But extreme challenge and a good learning curve are not mutually exclusive. "The difficulty escalates very nicely," says Red Hook Studios creative director Chris Bourassa. 

"Just as you start feeling overwhelmed, you find yourself back in Firelink Shrine," he continues. "It's a clever use of the town hub as a thematic downbeat, and works like a chapter break in the game. As you catch your breath, you can look forward to a meaty jump in difficulty as you set off to the next area, followed by another smooth curve."

Cthulhu Saves the World designer Robert Boyd made a similar point in his 2012 analysis of Dark Souls' design

TAKEAWAY: High difficulty does not necessarily equate to a too-steep learning curve, as Dark Souls exemplifies.

Bourassa also praises the learning curve of real-time strategy/action-RPG hybrid Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II. Specifically, he was drawn in by its tension between threat and empowerment. It gives the player confidence to try things and to experiment with new combinations of strategies thanks to a steady trickle of loot and new units. "I always felt confident heading into the missions," says Bourassa, "even when that confidence was misplaced." 

The smaller-scale structure of Dawn of War II's campaign missions in comparison to traditional RTS games helps, too. Short missions with small groups of units battling other small groups (and little or no base building) reduce the need to master micro-management and instead allow the player to learn and adapt as the situation demands. The skirmish multiplayer mode doesn't share this well-balanced learning curve, though, as it's too different to the campaign for knowledge transfer and new players tend to get annihilated. 

TAKEAWAY: A good learning curve balances danger or challenge with player empowerment; it gives the player a taste of both failure and victory and makes either feel like a learning experience.

Ironcast is the rare genre-mashup game that gets the blended elements to fit together. It's a Puzzle Quest-inspired tile-matching puzzler with a touch of roguelite adventuring and steampunk-themed resource management and mech-bot warfare.

Bourassa notes that while it looks straightforward at first, it's actually a deeply layered experience. "They do a lot of interesting things with the mechanics at all levels," he says, "and I found the meta-game quite engaging." 

The player gathers resources from the tile-matching mode, which they soon learn how to use to engage in full-on turn-based mech combat that involves a range of abilities and strategic and tactical decisions. If they lose a battle, it's game over, but certain upgrades and unlocked mech pilots remain so that they can still feel a sense of progress. All the game's complexity is metered out in such a way that you have time to get comfortable with new mechanics before your skill with them is tested. And the upgrades enable new strategies rather than simply incrementing the power of your weapons and shields.  

TAKEAWAY: You can ease players into complexity and surprise them at the same time by starting simple then repeatedly upping the stakes and stripping back the layers underlying the gameplay systems.

The original Super Mario Bros remains a masterclass in game design, and a big part of that is the expert manner in which its difficulty ebbs and flows — a small spike at the beginning followed by a gentle upward curve that has additional spikes at the end of each of its eight worlds (as Mario nears and then battles the world boss). 

It's also a great example of how to teach a player without tutorials. "It introduced most of the core concepts in World 1-1," says Schreiber. It didn't explicitly explain anything, but rather left the player to explore and discover the mechanics simply by trying things.

You may not go into the game knowing that enemies die when you jump on their heads and that blocks with question marks on them give coins or items (or what those items do), but you can stumble on these concepts within seconds and extend your understanding of how they work over the duration of the game. 

TAKEAWAY: Classic games still hold great lessons in game design, and Super Mario Bros in particular is a shining example of how to quickly introduce the core concepts and then playfully explore their permutations over the rest of the game.

There's no point developing a great game mechanic if only a tiny percentage of players can figure out how to use it. If you're striving for challenge, be fair, and remember to allow players some time to acclimatize to their new-found skills. You need to both give your player the appropriate tools and teach them how to use these tools before you ask them to scale a cliff or make a seemingly-impossible leap. 

If you're not trying to make a difficult game, remember that great learning curves should have small spikes along the way to challenge players and test their mastery of the mechanics or to introduce new mechanics. 

Most importantly, consider that teaching people how to play your game is not just a matter of telling them what to do and then leaving them alone. Nor is it about micro-managing their experience. You need to let them play and experiment and to ensure that when they fail they can understand why. Mistakes and successes alike should improve their mental models of how your systems work. And they should drive your players to get better at your game, not to walk away. 

Thanks to Corey Davis, Chris Bourassa, and Ian Schreiber for their help with putting this article together.

[symbianosgames]

The best games are a slow steady learning process.

They teach and guide while they entertain and challenge. They push players to improve steadily — to master a mechanic not by forcing you to scale a metaphorical wall, but by compelling you to climb a series of metaphorical steps. 

This does not necessarily mean they have great tutorials — indeed, many games with awesome learning curves throw you straight into the experience proper. Nor does it mean that they have to dumb down their design. It's simply a matter of crafting progression systems that allow the player to get a handle on the fundamentals early and then to grow and improve at every stage after that. 

It's not easy to pull this off. To give you some guidance as to how you can execute a brilliant learning curve, we asked several designers to tell us what games they think do it well.

None of the seven examples that follow are easy games, but all of them meter their difficulty with a well-considered learning curve. 

From the moment the player wakes up in protagonist Chell's minimalist living quarters, Portal gently prods her forward. As Global Game Jam co-founder and Rochester Institute of Technology assistant professor Ian Schreiber notes, "the entire game is basically a tutorial on how to beat it, except it expertly frames the learning as gameplay." Portal challenges by crafting puzzles around new mechanics and new applications of existing mechanics.  

It allows all the time players need to get comfortable with the controls or to think about how to solve the next puzzle, and it scales the difficulty by simply incrementing the complexity.

What you learn in completing one puzzle is needed to figure out the next one, and you have environmental cues that indicate what you need to learn or do (though not how to do it). Some cues are subtle such as the position of sentry turrets, while others are obviously instructional like the warning signs at the entrance to each test chamber. And thanks to these cues there's a clear progression from using portals to walk through a wall to using them for high-speed platforming. 

TAKEAWAY: You can simultaneously teach and challenge players at the same time if you weave the learning experience into the environment and level design.

All of the Burnout games do a fine job of introducing faster cars and tougher races and challenges at a comfortable pace. But one deserves special praise.

"I absolutely loved Burnout 3," says Corey Davis, design director at Rocket League developer Psyonix. "The pace of acquiring more powerful cars lined up really well with my mastery of the boost system, crashing opponents, and track knowledge." 

Each new car is just the right amount faster and stronger than the previous one to maintain an even challenge level and not pull the player out of their depth. The crafted tracks and frantic high-speed tussles with rival racers grow more intense as the player progresses, and there's a rewarding and fun experience for anyone to find — veteran racing junkies, casual fans, and newcomers alike.  

TAKEAWAY: You need to constantly test players and push them to execute tougher maneuvers as they improve their mastery of the core mechanics, but there's a fine line to straddle here if you want to keep both inexperienced and experienced players engaged from start to finish.

Much like a real instrument, Guitar Hero offers an intensely satisfying learning curve. It arguably even outdoes a real guitar in this respect, as it provides more useful feedback and gave the player ways to play along to their favorite songs regardless of skill level — the chosen difficulty level affects the number of notes to play and fret buttons to hit. It also adds an extra layer of progression by dividing songs into a "setlist" of increasing difficulty — so the challenge ramps up song by song as well as by difficulty level. 

Davis praises this design decision. "I never felt like it was cheap; it felt purely like I needed to get better," he says. And the feedback loops both on the screen during play and intrinsic to the challenge of mastering the twin difficulty systems combine beautifully with the simple joy of making music — of mastering hit rock songs. 

TAKEAWAY: Multi-tiered learning curves can let players control their own challenge level and rate of progress, and also provide a clearer indication of how much harder the next stage will be.

To someone who's heard about but not played the infamously-difficult Dark Souls, it may seem like a strange inclusion in this list. But extreme challenge and a good learning curve are not mutually exclusive. "The difficulty escalates very nicely," says Red Hook Studios creative director Chris Bourassa. 

"Just as you start feeling overwhelmed, you find yourself back in Firelink Shrine," he continues. "It's a clever use of the town hub as a thematic downbeat, and works like a chapter break in the game. As you catch your breath, you can look forward to a meaty jump in difficulty as you set off to the next area, followed by another smooth curve."

Cthulhu Saves the World designer Robert Boyd made a similar point in his 2012 analysis of Dark Souls' design

TAKEAWAY: High difficulty does not necessarily equate to a too-steep learning curve, as Dark Souls exemplifies.

Bourassa also praises the learning curve of real-time strategy/action-RPG hybrid Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II. Specifically, he was drawn in by its tension between threat and empowerment. It gives the player confidence to try things and to experiment with new combinations of strategies thanks to a steady trickle of loot and new units. "I always felt confident heading into the missions," says Bourassa, "even when that confidence was misplaced." 

The smaller-scale structure of Dawn of War II's campaign missions in comparison to traditional RTS games helps, too. Short missions with small groups of units battling other small groups (and little or no base building) reduce the need to master micro-management and instead allow the player to learn and adapt as the situation demands. The skirmish multiplayer mode doesn't share this well-balanced learning curve, though, as it's too different to the campaign for knowledge transfer and new players tend to get annihilated. 

TAKEAWAY: A good learning curve balances danger or challenge with player empowerment; it gives the player a taste of both failure and victory and makes either feel like a learning experience.

Ironcast is the rare genre-mashup game that gets the blended elements to fit together. It's a Puzzle Quest-inspired tile-matching puzzler with a touch of roguelite adventuring and steampunk-themed resource management and mech-bot warfare.

Bourassa notes that while it looks straightforward at first, it's actually a deeply layered experience. "They do a lot of interesting things with the mechanics at all levels," he says, "and I found the meta-game quite engaging." 

The player gathers resources from the tile-matching mode, which they soon learn how to use to engage in full-on turn-based mech combat that involves a range of abilities and strategic and tactical decisions. If they lose a battle, it's game over, but certain upgrades and unlocked mech pilots remain so that they can still feel a sense of progress. All the game's complexity is metered out in such a way that you have time to get comfortable with new mechanics before your skill with them is tested. And the upgrades enable new strategies rather than simply incrementing the power of your weapons and shields.  

TAKEAWAY: You can ease players into complexity and surprise them at the same time by starting simple then repeatedly upping the stakes and stripping back the layers underlying the gameplay systems.

The original Super Mario Bros remains a masterclass in game design, and a big part of that is the expert manner in which its difficulty ebbs and flows — a small spike at the beginning followed by a gentle upward curve that has additional spikes at the end of each of its eight worlds (as Mario nears and then battles the world boss). 

It's also a great example of how to teach a player without tutorials. "It introduced most of the core concepts in World 1-1," says Schreiber. It didn't explicitly explain anything, but rather left the player to explore and discover the mechanics simply by trying things.

You may not go into the game knowing that enemies die when you jump on their heads and that blocks with question marks on them give coins or items (or what those items do), but you can stumble on these concepts within seconds and extend your understanding of how they work over the duration of the game. 

TAKEAWAY: Classic games still hold great lessons in game design, and Super Mario Bros in particular is a shining example of how to quickly introduce the core concepts and then playfully explore their permutations over the rest of the game.

There's no point developing a great game mechanic if only a tiny percentage of players can figure out how to use it. If you're striving for challenge, be fair, and remember to allow players some time to acclimatize to their new-found skills. You need to both give your player the appropriate tools and teach them how to use these tools before you ask them to scale a cliff or make a seemingly-impossible leap. 

If you're not trying to make a difficult game, remember that great learning curves should have small spikes along the way to challenge players and test their mastery of the mechanics or to introduce new mechanics. 

Most importantly, consider that teaching people how to play your game is not just a matter of telling them what to do and then leaving them alone. Nor is it about micro-managing their experience. You need to let them play and experiment and to ensure that when they fail they can understand why. Mistakes and successes alike should improve their mental models of how your systems work. And they should drive your players to get better at your game, not to walk away. 

Thanks to Corey Davis, Chris Bourassa, and Ian Schreiber for their help with putting this article together.