{"id":3021,"date":"2022-12-17T10:51:38","date_gmt":"2022-12-17T13:51:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gamejamplus.com\/?p=3021"},"modified":"2025-08-27T12:48:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T15:48:20","slug":"progression-design-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gamejamplus.com\/en\/progression-design-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Progression Design – Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

So, in our last post<\/a> we learned how to make the player feel the progression through the design. How the progression in a game is not necessarily your character\u2019s personal progress (as in, individual development) but how his actions can cause things in the game to change over time, and how this change is visually represented. Today, we\u2019re going a little deeper into this topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like previously mentioned, the player\u2019s actions leads to change, which represents progress. An important concept that needs to be learned here is the hierarchy of actions<\/strong> that needs to be performed by the player in order to cause this progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s go back to Mario once again so we can better understand such concept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In every Mario game, the main objective is to save princess Peach at the end. But there isn\u2019t a button that the player can just press to instantly save her. This is something that will be achieved through a series of actions throughout the game that is known as the so called hierarchy of actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this scale, which can be represented by a pyramid where the final main action is on top and the most basic one is at the bottom, we can see the chain of actions that will lead the player to complete each step of the game. So in Super Mario World, the process of saving the princess is actually the process of defeating the Koopa Kids and destroying the castles. This is another action altogether, but the player understands that it is necessary in order to reach the end of the game. However, there is another action that leads you to beating the Koopa Kids. Since they are the bosses at the end of each level, you\u2019ll first need to beat the levels in order to face their respective Koopa Kid. And what is the main, most basic action that you do in a Mario game in order to beat each level?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is, of course, jumping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this way, we have an entire hierarchy of actions that need to be done, one smaller action leading to the next, bigger one:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jump > beat the level > defeat the Koopa Kid > save the princess<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

And that\u2019s what you have to keep in mind when making a game: how can the player\u2019s actions lead to the game\u2019s macro objective?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf the player understands the way in which each basic action contributes to the objective, he\u2019ll value it and create a bigger compromise with the game.<\/em>\u201d \u2013 Explains Ygor Speranza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And with this, we saw just how those actions can combine with each other in a hierarchy, each one being one layer above. Therefore, we see how the player\u2019s Core Action is directly connected to his final goal. If we were to make a percentage, each jump the player performs in Super Mario World will put him 1% closer to beating the game and reaching his objective. And it\u2019s through this connection that we create a sense of progression. \u201cEach time I jump I progress a little.\u201d That\u2019s the sensation the player must feel while playing a game. No matter how small this \u201cJump\u201d into the next step of the progress may be, it will make him feel more invested if it clearly feeds into the next one. When the player understands this, he\u2019ll realize that \u201ceach jump I make I\u2019m a little closer to the end of the level, and each level I beat makes me one level shorter of beating the game.\u201d It\u2019s like a chain of actions where the smaller actions lead to the bigger ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, to recapitulate: progression as a model in game design is composed by two parts: change and destiny. As things change in the course of a game, they transform in favor of a final destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that\u2019s only speaking in general terms. There are more types of progression, which we\u2019ll be seeing in the next parts of this series. Until then, you can look at your game and ask yourself just how strongly tied the main character\u2019s actions are to the game\u2019s objective now that you understand this concept a little better.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So, in our last post we learned how to make the player feel the progression through the design. How the progression in a game is not necessarily your character\u2019s personal progress (as in, individual development) but how his actions can cause things in the game to change over time, and how this change is visually […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4783,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[36,35,37],"class_list":["post-3021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-game-design","tag-game-progression"],"yoast_head":"\nProgression Design - Part 2 - GameJamPlus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gamejamplus.com\/en\/progression-design-part-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Progression Design - Part 2 - GameJamPlus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"So, in our last post we learned how to make the player feel the progression through the design. 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