Overview: My last blog discussed a methodical approach to perfectly balancing numerical values in a game, thus making the experience more mentally engaging for the player. Now I'm going to switch gears and talk about “perfect imbalance” and how it can keep any multiplayer gameplay from getting stale and repetitive.
Perfect imbalance in a nutshell is a rock-paper-scissors design model in which each strategy has specific strengths and weaknesses. Ideally, no single method of play is so dominant that it cannot be countered. Perfect imbalance creates a constantly shifting meta game. It ensures that whenever a certain strategy A becomes overwhelmingly popular, there exists another strategy B that can be executed to trump strategy A and prevent it from becoming commonplace. Then, a third strategy C must exist to counter the strategy B, otherwise the player base will only use strategy B and the game becomes dull and boring.
The following video by the Extra Credits team explains in more detail why perfect imbalance is such a crucial aspect to a multiplayer game.
Video by: http://www.youtube.com/user/ExtraCreditz
So when you are designing a game, keep the idea of perfect imbalance in mind. As designers, we want to empower players. One of the best ways to do that is to allow them to be the ones that discover new strategies. Perfect imbalance allows new strategies to constantly evolve in any multiplayer game and is essential to maintaining your game’s long-term replay value. Happy balancing!
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