Skip to Content
 

Analysis Paralysis

7 replies [Last post]
Thu, 05/31/2018 - 10:40
harmon89
harmon89's picture
Offline
Joined: 01/13/2016

I've been working on a game that has quite a few moving parts, with a lot of strategy and plenty to consider each turn. While this has some positives, it does seem to encourage analysis paralysis.

One reason this may be is because the game has a lot of open information. I'm looking into ways to keep some of that information hidden. I'm also experimenting with a card drafting system similar to 7 Wonders so everyone is essentially taking their turn at the same time. This way at least everyone will be analyzing at the same time, and not doing as much waiting on others. Also drafting seems to have the affect of encouraging people to make a decision since they don't want to always be the player holding everyone up every turn.

Any thoughts on what causes analysis paralysis and different ways to mitigate it?

Top
Thu, 05/31/2018 - 11:56
#1
twoeyedcyclops
Offline
Joined: 02/05/2018
AP

One cause of analysis paralysis that I've seen with prototypes that I've played is when the player is presented with what looks like a decision, but is actually a puzzle because there's one right answer, and the player has to take a long time to figure out what the correct answer is.

For example, the player might have a choice of doing a couple different complicated things, and if you walk through all the steps involved in doing those two things, one will get you 5 victory points, and the other will get you 4. The correct answer is to do the thing that gets 5 victory points, but it takes some time to work through all the calculations and realize that's the "choice" the player is being presented with.

If that's the case, I don't think there's an easy fix for this because it means reworking the game so that the benefit you get from one decision or the other is more ambiguous, where it doesn't become clear until later whether you made the right decision or not. Ticket to Ride does a great job of doing this. You have clear choices on your turn, almost all of which are pretty good, but the benefit you get isn't immediate, and you won't know until later in the game whether you made the right decisions or not, so you have to operate on feeling. It's not a puzzle with one right answer.

It sounds like you are going in the right direction by hiding at least some of the information. I also like your idea of having simultaneous turns, because that's more enjoyable than waiting for other players to take their turns, but it only disguises the AP problem without addressing it.

Top
Thu, 05/31/2018 - 12:18
#2
Fri
Offline
Joined: 09/06/2017
Limit the number of choices that a can make on any one turn

You can try to limit the number of choices that a player has to deal with. Fewer choices = less analysis (and hopefully less paralysis). You can still have a lot of moving pieces, but if you can find a way to hide it from players later in the game. There are lots of way to accomplish this. One is when X happens one set of choices is replaced with a new set. Or you could have a tech tree so that players can unlock a new set of choices.

Top
Thu, 05/31/2018 - 17:47
#3
X3M
X3M's picture
Offline
Joined: 10/28/2013
Is there a possibility to

Is there a possibility to design some form of interrupting in your game?

What about a "now or never" mechanic?

Top
Thu, 05/31/2018 - 19:03
#4
questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Turn Sequence(?)

harmon89 wrote:
Any thoughts on what causes analysis paralysis and different ways to mitigate it?

In "TradeWorlds", originally it was a bit complicated to EXPLAIN the game. Basically how to play a turn... Until Nicole Jekich came up with a simple Acronym for each turn: A-B-C.

  • A: "Action" = Choose a role and perform that action.
  • B: "Buy" = Using the cards in your hand buy cards from your table.
  • C: "Configure" = Using other cards in your hand, deploy starships.

We adapted her Acronym "just a bit" to: A-B-C-D.

  • D: "Discard" = Put any cards from your hand into the discard and refresh your hand to five (5) cards.

And with that... That's as SIMPLE as you can describe how to play "TradeWorlds"... (The "core" game).

SO sometimes it's not just the availability of choices/options. Sometimes it's HOW they are presented to the player. Without A-B-C-D, it might be more challenging to explain how to play a TURN. With the formula, it's simple and mostly everyone can begin to understand after a few rounds.

The basic idea is create some kind of "Turn Sequence" which will help to guide players on what they should do on their turn. Knowing that you have all these options, maybe you can "sort" them out... If you specify HOW to play a turn.

Food for thought! Cheers...

Note: Just look at "A": Choose an Action. There are TEN (10) different roles with each one having it's own "action". Instead of trying to explain each role, we say choose one role and do that action.

Of course we could have players review the reference card containing all ten (10) different roles... and if they have questions concerning any of them, then any of those questions can be addressed.

But simplifying the "turn sequence" makes the game more understandable.

Top
Thu, 05/31/2018 - 20:47
#5
Paul Ott
Offline
Joined: 01/22/2018
Some great answers already,

Some great answers already, I'll just add that it may help to break down big decisions into multiple steps. Such as requirements (resources, buildings, position, influence, etc) that must be met first.

Top
Thu, 05/31/2018 - 21:01
#6
questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Just wanted to add...

questccg wrote:
But simplifying the "turn sequence" makes the game more understandable.

That if you can CATEGORIZE the various steps to your turn (what you can do) and then expand each "category" SEPARATELY ... You'll probably be able to explain the "Turn Sequence" EASIER... And then get into the nitty-gritty of each one of those options.

It's like building a "Tech Tree" with the "categories" for your turn.

There could be some overlapping (and maybe not). It depends on how you structure the categories (choices).

That's what I meant to say with the "A-B-C-D" of "TradeWorlds". Because we had things broken down into various categories, each step is a bit more manageable ... than having ALL choices available to you right at the start of each player's turn.

Top
Fri, 06/01/2018 - 09:11
#7
harmon89
harmon89's picture
Offline
Joined: 01/13/2016
Great tips!

Great advice! Everyone's comments were quite helpful. :-)

Top
Syndicate content


forum | by Dr. Radut