Cursed Problems in Game Design

GDC Festival of Gaming
2 HN recommenders · recommended in 2 months, 2020–2024
YouTube
889K views · 6 years ago · talk · intermediate · evergreen

A GDC talk on cursed problems in game design, meaning design problems that look solvable but where every solution brings an equally bad new problem. The speaker, Soren Johnson, walks through examples from game design to show why some trade-offs can only be managed rather than fixed.

HN people use the idea as a vocabulary for design dilemmas, applying it to Diablo's multiplayer scaling and to EdTech's retention versus friction conflict.

“it feels like Blizzard tried to solve a cursed problem and walked right into the predictable outcome.”
Game design
#gamedesign#designtrade-offs#gdc#sorenjohnson#unsolvableproblems

4 comments from Hacker News

b
@bouh2021 · in “Cursed Problems in Game Design”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
RecommendsView on HN
J
@Jach2020 · in “Cursed Problems in Game Design”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
RecommendsView on HN
i
@impure2024 · in “Why Is the EdTech Industry So Damn Soft?”
EdTech is a cursed problem (▶ this video). What do companies want? Retention. What hurts retention? Friction. And friction is precisely what you need to teach someone something. I even think this article is a bit overly simplistic, paying money will not change the equation that much.
CitesView on HN
b
@bob10292023 · in “Diablo Pitch Document (1994) [pdf]”
> A fixed level/difficulty system This is the central aspect of fun for me in an ARPG. When I come back through that starting story area at level 40, I expect to absolutely melt the enemies I run into. If I get super fucking lucky on a roll and pick up a legendary (i.e. against the story/balance team's wishes), I should be able to have a goddamn romp through the world for quite a bit. This emergence of potentially-unintended gameplay outcomes in an ARPG results in the fun for me. Maybe there's a way to do the multiplayer-friendly scaling thing that my dopamine loop would enjoy but I haven't seen it yet. Ultimately, it feels like Blizzard tried to solve a cursed problem and walked right into the predictable outcome. ▶ this video
CitesView on HN