Blog Post #7: Symmetrical Games Are My Favorite Kinds of Games (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Intro

In this blog post, I will describe the difference between loopholes vs features in games, and explain an example of each. Then I will think of a way for a player to subvert the rules of my card game, and discuss whether or not this would take away from my game’s experience, or add to it. I will also compare and contrast a symmetrical vs asymmetrical game, and apply it to my card game.

Loopholes vs Feature

A loophole is a flaw in the system that users can exploit to gain and unfair or unintended advantage (Fullerton). It is different from gaining a simple “advantage” in a system; a true loophole gives a player agency for a type of play that ruins the experience for all players. If an unintended loophole exists in a game, it cannot be considered complete.

An example of a loophole occurred for League of Legends, around a year ago. In LoL, there are 5 different roles, and each player had a single rank to showcase, no matter which role they mained. However, in Season 9 of LoL, Riot Games decided to change the system where each player had 5 separate ranks: one for each role. This meant that I could be a Gold III top laner, but a Diamond IV mid laner, and depending on what role I was assigned, I would either be matched with gold players or diamond players.

The issue with 5 separate ranks was that players figured out a super easy loophole to inflate their rank. If I had a low rank for top lane, but a high rank for mid lane, and my friend was the opposite, I could just queue up for top and he would queue up for mid, and we would switch roles in game. This led to unfair matchups because of uneven skill, and since Riot didn’t have a feasible solution to this loophole, they reverted the ‘5 separate rank’ system entirely within a few months.

A feature is a flaw in the system that actually turns out to add to a game’s gameplay, so it is kept (Fullerton). It is different from a loophole because it does not take away from the gameplay, but rather adds to it.

An example of a feature is the Doran’s Blades strat in League of Legends. In LoL, there are hundreds of different items that players can build. There was a time where buying 5 Doran’s Blades on certain champs was regarded as better than buying a full completed item, because the stats on a Doran’s Blade was very worth the gold spent for it. The game designers did not intend for this to happen, but since it added more variety to gameplay, they did not make any changes to the Doran’s Blade item.

A way for a player to subvert the rules of my card game would be to have an alliance with another player. To some, this would seem like an unfair advantage, but is actually can help and heighten the competitiveness of the game. I think this would be a game’s feature, not a loophole, and it should be kept in the game as an option that players can take if they want to.

Symmetry vs Asymmetry

A symmetrical game will give each player the exact same starting conditions and access to the same resources and information (Fullerton). An example of this would be chess. An asymmetrical game ie one where you give opponents different abilities, resources, rules or objectives (Fullerton).

My card game is definitely symmetrical. Each faction has the same card values, and the same number of cards. A way I could make the game asymmetrical would be to give different cards unique abilities that has to do with their faction and stats. For example, the special ability for a Leviathan faction card could be a tidal wave that does a lot of damage.