Play without time pressure.
WHAT TURN-BASED PLAY PROVIDES
Time to consider Complexity that real-time could not support Accessibility, since reflexes are not required
WHAT DETERMINES TURN ORDER
Fixed sequence Initiative or speed values Action point accumulation
WHAT ACTION POINTS PROVIDE
Choice about how much to do, and trade-offs within a turn.
WHAT INFORMATION THE PLAYER NEEDS
What each action will do What the opponent can do The consequences of positioning
WHY FULL INFORMATION MATTERS
Turn-based decisions are only meaningful if the player can reason about them.
WHAT HIDDEN RANDOMNESS DESTROYS
The sense that outcomes follow from decisions.
WHAT TO DISPLAY
Probabilities, where randomness applies.
WHAT TO CONSIDER
Whether randomness is needed at all.
WHAT PACE PROBLEMS ARISE
Turns taking too long Waiting through opponent turns Animation lengths compounding over many turns
WHAT TO PROVIDE
Speed controls, and the ability to skip animations.
WHY
Players who have seen an animation a hundred times want it faster.
WHAT TO TEST
A long session, where pacing problems accumulate.
