#Balance game how to#
#Balance game free#

A card that deals more damage (or offers a higher defense) will usually have a higher value. More powerful actions are assigned a higher value. This value is assigned to the various elements of a game, and the total value is basically a rating of how good a card is, compared to other cards. The easiest way IвЂ™ve found to balance something is to assign a value to each elements in a game. AV, DV, and SV?ДЄttack Value, Defense Value, and Special Value. In short, this is a skill you can get better at. As you playtest, youвЂ™ll confirm or refute those assumptions, then build a better model for the next playtest. As you gain experience, your sixth sense builds in that experience into these guesses. Starting out, the numbers weвЂ™re putting into the spreadsheet can be assumptions or guesses.

#Balance game how to#

IвЂ™m highlighting this to mention one major fact: spreadsheets can contain everything related to a gameвЂ™s numbers, including how to derive what goes on the card. While thereвЂ™s other details that will be on the card (like art), only the details with a green background actually make it on the card. The rest of the stuff is just here for tracking / internal use (like the ID number) or balancing.Д®ach row (columns A-L) represents one card. This isnвЂ™t created with any specific game in mind, but it follows the same patterns I follow in a real-world game. Behold, the spreadsheet:ДЇor this example, I have a set of 20 cards, each with a Attack, a Defense, and some sort of Special effect.

#Balance game free#

By all means feel free to use Microsoft Excel, OpenOffice Calc, or whichever program floats your boat. (Start in the вЂwithout costвЂ™ tab.)ДЇor this post IвЂ™m going to be in Google Sheets, mainly because itвЂ™s free and online. Open this template worksheet now to follow along. ItвЂ™s the second part IвЂ™ll be doing a deeper dive into today. Keeping you organized is their first major benefit, and being able to share or import data is great.

Make it possible to import data into services like Component.studio or Nandeck.

Make it easy to share data with collaborators, publishers, graphic designers, etc.

If you already have a bit of knowledge of spreadsheets, this post is for you (if you feel youвЂ™d like a bit of catch-up, head here for a primer) Dangit, Jim, IвЂ™m a game designer not a number cruncher!ДЄs theyвЂ™re most commonly used by designers, spreadsheets do four major things: I was a Business major in college, and it was a class on entrepreneurship where I got to be really comfortable in spreadsheets. Spreadsheets вЂ“ a word that drives terror or delight into the heart of many a game designer.