Alright, back to randomness vs. skill-based play.
One quick thing I want to mention is that all the topics in this blog apply to every kind of game, not just video games - board games, 'real life' games (such as tag), and even card games. Today, I want to talk about 1 card game in particular, probably the most popular trading card game of all time - Magic the Gathering.
In highschool I played Magic quite a bit; a few months ago, I picked it back up again and have been playing on and off. As I'm currently doing research and pondering on game design, I think I'm finally starting to understand some of Magic's nuances.
First and foremost, you will not win every game. It's essentially impossible. Even if you are the "better" player, or if you have a stone-cold superior deck, it's still possible (and even probable), that you can lose: you could get mana screwed (mana is a certain type of card that you need to play your other, main cards), you could have to mulligan multiple times because you lack mana and just slowly lose control of the game after your opponent has card advantage, you could get all of 1 type of mana when you need your other type, or (don't know if I've mentioned this yet) you could get mana screwed.
* Ahem *
Well, if this happens so much, why even play Magic? That doesn't sound like a fun game at all. Turns out there are some things you can do to remedy the possibility of having a bad start, but the real kicker is that, contrary to what most would expect, the variance in your card draws and unpredictability of the game make it pretty darn fun. You never know what kind of starting hand you'll get. You never know what cards you'll draw over the course of the game. Some card effects actually have random results as well! Even if it does happenstance you get 3 lands (i.e. mana; typically a great start) in your opening hand but none over the rest of the game, it's absolutely fine. The core experience is what's fun. And maybe next game, you'll get all your super strong cards and do well.
I suppose what I want to point out about Magic is that the randomness and variance are a core part of the game and are essential components in what makes it so much fun. There's always a possibility that a lesser skilled player could come out with the match if he/she gets a good draw. It's exciting, and keeps players coming back.
A little while back, I had a discussion with a friend of mine about randomness vs. skill in Magic. He (a very experienced Magic player) told me it was about 70-30 randomness - skill. At first, this notion repulsed me. 70% luck? Really? For a brief moment, I considered dropping Magic because of this imbalance.
Soon after, I realized that it's simply the nature of the game's design and formula. It keeps things interesting. I can certainly say that I have triumphed against opponents who (very clearly) knew more about and were better at the game than I was, because of this element of randomness. And it felt good! But the better player, given enough games to offset variance, will eventually win (and most matches are played in best of 3's, so that helps offset the random draws as well).
So in summary, Magic the Gathering is an example of a successful game weighted more towards "luck" rather than skill. But, skill is still an important component and is integral to each match's winner. The game was simply made to have this particular balance between the two components - and it's a winning formula. The game is fantastic.
Next week, I'll discuss a game weighted more on the side skill at its foundation - League of Legends. LoL is a personal favorite of mine, so watch out for that post.
Peace,
KR
One quick thing I want to mention is that all the topics in this blog apply to every kind of game, not just video games - board games, 'real life' games (such as tag), and even card games. Today, I want to talk about 1 card game in particular, probably the most popular trading card game of all time - Magic the Gathering.
First and foremost, you will not win every game. It's essentially impossible. Even if you are the "better" player, or if you have a stone-cold superior deck, it's still possible (and even probable), that you can lose: you could get mana screwed (mana is a certain type of card that you need to play your other, main cards), you could have to mulligan multiple times because you lack mana and just slowly lose control of the game after your opponent has card advantage, you could get all of 1 type of mana when you need your other type, or (don't know if I've mentioned this yet) you could get mana screwed.
* Ahem *
Well, if this happens so much, why even play Magic? That doesn't sound like a fun game at all. Turns out there are some things you can do to remedy the possibility of having a bad start, but the real kicker is that, contrary to what most would expect, the variance in your card draws and unpredictability of the game make it pretty darn fun. You never know what kind of starting hand you'll get. You never know what cards you'll draw over the course of the game. Some card effects actually have random results as well! Even if it does happenstance you get 3 lands (i.e. mana; typically a great start) in your opening hand but none over the rest of the game, it's absolutely fine. The core experience is what's fun. And maybe next game, you'll get all your super strong cards and do well.
I suppose what I want to point out about Magic is that the randomness and variance are a core part of the game and are essential components in what makes it so much fun. There's always a possibility that a lesser skilled player could come out with the match if he/she gets a good draw. It's exciting, and keeps players coming back.
 |
| Ral
Zarek. Quite possibly one of the most fun cards to play, specifically
because of his completely random final ability. Fun times (both
good and bad) were had. |
Soon after, I realized that it's simply the nature of the game's design and formula. It keeps things interesting. I can certainly say that I have triumphed against opponents who (very clearly) knew more about and were better at the game than I was, because of this element of randomness. And it felt good! But the better player, given enough games to offset variance, will eventually win (and most matches are played in best of 3's, so that helps offset the random draws as well).
So in summary, Magic the Gathering is an example of a successful game weighted more towards "luck" rather than skill. But, skill is still an important component and is integral to each match's winner. The game was simply made to have this particular balance between the two components - and it's a winning formula. The game is fantastic.
Next week, I'll discuss a game weighted more on the side skill at its foundation - League of Legends. LoL is a personal favorite of mine, so watch out for that post.
Peace,
KR
Great article Kannan, looking forward to the League post!
ReplyDeleteIf you look at the stats for the top Pro Tour players, you'll see that the best have a win percentage of up to 70% on the Pro Tour, where they're playing exclusively against similarly skilled players. Obviously it doesn't account for matchups in the decks they chose to play, but from that statistic we can infer that when mistakes in game play are minimal between two similarly skilled players, the game is about 40% skill and 60% luck - similar to what you said in the post.
Thank you for the kind words!
DeleteAh, that certainly makes sense. It's great that you cite the highest level of play - the game's underlying mechanics are revealed much more clearly when talking about the most experience players. 40 - 60 does indeed seem to be a more accurate assessment.
Check back soon for more updates!
Forgot to mention the die roll at the beginning of the game. If you factor that in and look at an individual game without sideboarding rather than a value averaged over a longer period of time, the impact of luck increases quite a bit - there are many games that are decided entirely by the die roll.
DeleteInteresting one about game design. To design games one should attend game design courses or institute.
ReplyDeleteGood one Kannan. Am a game savvy and planning to start a blog to update my daily research on games. I am pursuing my gaming course from a game designing institute and almost done with my course and currently doing a project of designing a new game.
ReplyDelete