Luck Vs Skill A hindrance or a tool?

A look at luck

What makes a game of luck? Random outcome Players are often played by the game, not vice-versa Strategy is often needless Appeal is massive!

An ancient game One of the first ever games: the game of dice Mostly dominated by luck Played by billions of people through history Legends say it was invented to distract from famine

A look at skill

What makes a game of skill? Deterministic outcome Reliance on player’s abilities to discern outcomes Strategic planning is of crucial importance

A practical example Still incredibly old, the game of chess is said to be entirely relying on skill Legends say the inventor was incredibly rich, fooling a king by asking very little Still, played by billions of people through history But, less than dice…

What if they were interlinked?

Experience reduces luck Kids playing tic-tac-toe play it like a real game, feels like chess Eventually they master the game Luck switches into the solved game we know and love

A false dichotomy Can we have Luck with no skill? Can we have Skill with no luck?

A toy game Can you guess the digit of PI? Completely deterministic Almost impossible to determine

Why not both? Liar’s dice, the best of both worlds? The game still involves luck as you still have to roll dice The game also focuses on the skill of the players as the have to lie about their results

How can we use luck to make better games? What sort of luck do we have? Luck as an equaliser Luck as a difficulty spike Luck as a reward Luck to create drama

Luck as an equaliser How can we make video games more fair for everybody? Add in dice with less variation Swaying the chances in favour of the last in a race Tripping the fastest opponents in a fighting game

Luck as a difficulty spike What if our players want a bigger challenge? Random chance can screw up the best of plans Planning for the unthinkable is a great thrill Elevating the odds, elevates the reward!

Luck as a reward Do we like a game, or its elements? Roguelikes are infinitely recombining games The slot-machine effect can improve a player’s experience The playground effect creates a social facet of an otherwise “lonely” game

Luck to create drama Do we like winning without effort? Swaying the chances in favour of the losers can lead to last-minute comebacks The best of stories are those full of conflicts to overcome! Luck can lead to “I will win next time” situations

A look at complexity

What does more luck and less skill entail? What sort of luck do we have? Games are more accessible They have more “memorable moments” Are often considered “casual” by the “hardcore” demographic

What does more skill instead? What sort of luck do we have? Appeals to the ego! Can foster “addicted” audiences Personal progression is more rewarding

How can we use them as a tool? Complex systems breed emergent gameplay Luck can be used as a tool to give life to a world (literally!) Skill can be added to extend a game’s longevity and depth

An experiment: add luck to skill Take Tic-tac-toe and add an element of luck, how does this change the game?

Another experiment: add skill to luck Take dice and add an element of skill, how does this change the game instead?