Opinion of hard games

[UnrealCanine]

I'm currently finishing a game that includes medals, and the last one, the 100 pointer is very demanding

How does the community feel about ultra-hard games?

[Xeptic]

I personally think hard games are fun, as long as the difficulty level is based on some sort of skill (like working out a level boss' attack pattern), and not on pure luck or mindless button bashing.

[Chainsawasaurus]

I like the added difficulty as long as the game slowly ramps you into it. It's gotta be pick up and play easy and then later get harder. Like say N by Metanet.

If the game starts out hard like say Alien Hominid, I lose patience and then interest.

[Mufanza]

It's the design that matters, not difficulty

[Jin]

Check out this shitty game. I hope you don't make something that difficult. Flash games are supposed to be quick fun.

[Kirk-Cocaine]

At 1/27/11 09:55 AM, Jin wrote: Check out this shitty game. I hope you don't make something that difficult. Flash games are supposed to be quick fun.

The worst culprit is this or this.

Games that are hard for hard's sake become incredibly tedious incredibly quickly and therefore shite.

[Lochie]

At 1/27/11 10:35 AM, Kirk-Cocaine wrote: The worst culprit is this

How depressing.

[Wurmy]

At 1/27/11 10:35 AM, Kirk-Cocaine wrote:

At 1/27/11 09:55 AM, Jin wrote: Check out this shitty game. I hope you don't make something that difficult. Flash games are supposed to be quick fun.

The worst culprit is this or this.

Games that are hard for hard's sake become incredibly tedious incredibly quickly and therefore shite.

I can see why you say that, and I agree with you to a point.

Personally I really enjoyed "I wanna be the guy" (as well as the parody "I wanna be the flash game"). The thing is, neither of these games are truly hard. They fake difficulty by randomly killing the player. Except, it isn't random, as there are always ways to avoid the deaths. I find that finding out how to avoid those deaths is pretty fun, and eventually advancing to the end.

On that note, I have only bothered (enjoyed) playing "I wanna be the guy" on medium difficulty (the easiest) as there are a LOT more save points. The problem with games like these is that, if there are not enough save points it simply becomes tedious to figure out the next puzzle after you die, and then have to re-do every single obstacle.

However games like these are pretty "hard" to keep balanced. Since I play video games quite a lot and am very good at them, my view on difficulty is somewhat skewed. I can see how the average person who simply wants to kill sometime would find a game like this simply too hard and too time consuming etc..

Well, that's my two cents..

[Kirk-Cocaine]

At 1/27/11 02:25 PM, Wurmy wrote: The problem with games like these is that, if there are not enough save points it simply becomes tedious to figure out the next puzzle after you die, and then have to re-do every single obstacle.

Yeah, this is sort of what I meant, sorry. It's mildly fun at first, but the repetition and then failing obstacles that you've passed before makes for a tiresome experience that simply just isn't fun and therefore defeats the point of any game.

At 1/27/11 01:42 PM, Lochie wrote: How depressing.

Sorry pal, nothing personal, I have no problem with games getting progressively harder (all good games do), but I just don't find that type of hard game particularly engaging.

[PSvils]

Now that this is talking about game design:

The difficulty of a game is irrelevant. It's the fun-ness of it/the connection the player has with the game. Games like I Want To Be The Flash game fail to entertain many users because it puts players through the same tasks over and over again until they FINALLY manage to succeed all of them. In my opinion, a really fun game is one that only gives achievement, but no harsh punishment. The goals are laid out for the player, and it is made clear what is expected of him, but he should always have the feeling of advancing and discovering something new. Games like Bioshock sort of solve the repetition problem by not resetting the world when the player respawns, so all his previous achievements remain, and he is able to move onto the next task.

Overall, the game can be very very easy, or very very hard. It's all about how you present your ideas, story, etc., and above all, contrast between all parts of the game. Like in music, there's a fine line between repetitive and geniously thought out, progressive.

That being said, there are always exceptions. You can't define fun, better have some beta testers take a whack at it!

P.