The three types of goals (long-term, intermediate, and moment-to-moment) form a hierarchy of the player’s experience and direction in the game. At the top of the hierarchy are the long-term goals, which provide the overall framework for the player’s experience. Below that in the hierarchy are the intermediate goals. You might think of them as short-term goals, but that could be misleading. Intermediate goals are of variable length and are started and (hopefully) completed during the course of pursuing the game’s long-term goals. Intermediate goals are often optional and, as such, can offer considerable variety and choice to players. In some cases, however, intermediate goals must be completed to move forward through the game. So an intermediate goal could consist of a five-minute side quest, or it could involve hours of complex tasks to perform. These goals could also be called middle goals, because they complete their cycle at various points in the middle of the game.

Moment-to-moment goals are based on decisions the player makes, which in turn are based on immediate feedback from the game. For instance, if you get hit by a mighty blow and your health meter plunges toward the brain-dead marker, it’s time to do something. An example of a moment-to-moment goal in this case would be to a) run, b) use a healing item, c) go into a defensive mode, d) seek help quickly, e) hide, and so on. In other words, based on the immediate situation, you must do something. It’s a “now” sort of thing.

Some games have no specified goals. Games such as SimCity allow players to explore a toolset and environment without imposing specific win/lose conditions. And games such as Grand Theft Auto, although they do have a story arc and specific mission-based goal structures, also encourage a lot of creative free play.

But common among all games of this sort is that the player creates his or her own goals internally. And these player-created goals can be of any type—short- medium-, or long-range. For instance, in GTA, a player might have the long-range goal of collecting every cool car and stashing them all in garages. There’s no great benefit to be obtained in the game by doing that, but it’s cool to the player. Likewise, they might have a medium-range goal of collecting a certain sum of money in a certain period of time. Moment-to-moment goals often come into play—for instance, when you are being chased by the cops and looking for a place to hide until they stop looking for you. Similar player-created goals exist in SimCity and other games without explicit goals.

While you are considering goals in your own designs, there are other chapters and sections of this book that you may find relevant, such as Chapter 11, “Scenarios,” Chapter 9, “Storytelling Techniques,” and the “How a Character Grows...Character Arcs” section in Chapter 12, “Character Design.”

Clearly, players will almost always be engaged in assessing multiple goals. There will always be long-term goals, ranging from “save the world” to “get the highest score” or “come in first.” And players will also have to be aware of the moment-to-moment goals at all times. But it is also possible that, with these goals firmly in mind, players could find themselves tracking and managing multiple intermediate goals as well. In fact, in some games the number of simultaneous tasks and goals can add up quickly, until you are actually tracking dozens of separate goals at the same time. As an example, in some Role-Playing Games you might be:

Even in a simple puzzle game, such as Tetris or Bejeweled, you may be simultaneously:

This section looks at the larger goals found in games. These are the big-picture goals that, when met fully, will end up winning you the game. These are goals such as “free the people,” “save the planet,” “end the war,” or “take him dead or alive.” Basically, the purpose of these goals is to help you make short-term decisions and take actions that are likely to help you win the game—in other words, achieve the long-range goal. Note that these goals may be well established from the beginning of the game, or they may be revealed more slowly as the plot unfolds. Admittedly, some games have no fixed and final goal. Many sim games, such as SimCity, have no fixed goal, and, of course, persistent-world online games have no ultimate goal that would end the game.

In some cases, the ultimate outcome of the game is determined to a greater or lesser extent by the decisions you, as the player, make. A good example is Fable, in which you can choose a good or an evil path or one somewhere in between. The ultimate outcome of the game varies somewhat based on these choices. However, these are exceptions, and most games do have long-term goals that are the culmination of the game experience. Note that some games can have more than one long-term goal, all or some of which can be met simultaneously, or they may have different long-term goals, such as in the case of Civilization, which can be won in a variety of ways (depending on the version you’re playing)—by conquest, by diplomacy, by culture, or by technology.

Here are some examples of long-term goals. When designing a game, will you have one long-term goal, as in the original Mario Bros. games, where you had to save the princess (and beat Bowser to do it)? Or will you have multiple long-range goals. You might have multiple paths to the end with different results, such as in Civilization, where you can win by military domination, by colonizing space, or even by being elected to lead the United Nations. Looking at this list of long-term goals, how can you use them in your own games? Can you combine them in unusual ways or find goals not mentioned on this list?

Design Challenge

1. Consider each of these long-term goals and think of all the ways you could set them in games.

2. It sometimes seems that the list of game-winning plots is pretty limited, although there can be many variations on high-score types of plots. For instance, selling the most pizzas in a game about pizza parlors would constitute a high-score goal. Think about other kinds of high-score goals and how to implement them in games.

3. Can you think of some alternative long-range goals?

4. Think of games in which the player can strive to attain more than one long-range goal at the end of the game.

5. Think of games in which you might have a choice of long-range goals.

6. Think of variations on multiple long-range goals—different combinations of long-range goals that could be simultaneously reached or that could form choices in an interesting game concept.

7. Think about games that have no explicit goals. What kinds of long-range goals could a player have in a game that doesn’t spell out an end-game strategy?

Intermediate goals are often steps along the path to achieving the long-term goals mentioned in the previous section. However, intermediate goals can also occur independently of the major game storyline. For instance, you might engage in a side quest or leave the main game path in order to explore a secondary opportunity—perhaps to get more experience or to obtain information or a useful item or weapon.

Completing some intermediate goals, while often enabling other goals to be completed, can also eliminate goals from the game. An example would be in a game where you can complete a level by defeating a boss, but if you defeat him too soon you may lose out on some other opportunities that exist elsewhere on the level. By choosing to defeat the boss without fully exploring every option, you effectively complete one goal but make others impossible to complete. In clever game design, achieving some intermediate goals, such as killing an enemy who happens to be a security expert, might prevent you from accomplishing future goals, such as using that enemy to help you break into a secure location.

In any case, intermediate goals can still be relatively simple—such as finding a place to rest and recuperate or locating and talking to a particular character—or they can involve multiple steps, such as performing a diplomatic mission to resolve a feud between two kingdoms in order to gain the support of their rulers.

In essence, if you look at Chapter 21, “Experiential Design,” you will see many of the activities that can be the objects of intermediate goals. In addition, any long-term goal can also be an intermediate goal. For instance, in some games saving the princess might be the ultimate goal of the game, but in others saving the princess might be only one step along the way to saving the world. However, not all intermediate goals make good long-term goals. Finding a horse to ride across the prairie would not be a very good long-term goal, but it could be a completely valid intermediate goal.

Intermediate goals also function as what some people call supporting goals—that is, goals that can make other goals easier to accomplish or goals that are necessary for completing other intermediate goals. Thus, you might want to defeat a specific enemy, but it will be difficult with your current equipment. One supporting goal would be to obtain better weapons and armor so that you will be in a position to defeat that enemy. Defeating the enemy in question may, however, only be a stepping stone along the path of the game—itself an intermediate goal.

Some examples of intermediate goals include:

Intermediate goals can actually be combined in various ways. For instance, you might have to complete a race, then kill someone at the end or deliver a message. You might have to kill a group of enemies and also obtain an artifact of importance. In fact, all complex, multistep intermediate goals will involve several sub-goals, and players will have to determine how to accomplish each sub-goal in order to complete the overall task.

Design Challenge

1. In looking at the list of possible intermediate goals, think about different ways they might combine to create scenarios that haven’t been used over and over again.

2. Create a scenario that involves a single intermediate goal with many steps.

3. With different long-term goals in mind, think of some intermediate goals that would move the player closer to the end. Think of some goals that would be worthwhile but would not further the story, plot, or attainment of the ultimate goal(s) of the game.

4. What are some other intermediate goals you can think of to challenge players?

5. What intermediate goals could also be long-term goals?

In contrast to long-term and intermediate goals, moment-to-moment goals serve the purpose of providing feedback and reinforcement to players involved in reaching their other goals. Without the information provided by the moment-to-moment feedback systems, players would have no way of knowing whether they were making progress toward short- and long-term goals, or even if they were surviving or in danger of immediate extinction!

So, where an intermediate goal might be to escort someone to safety, one of the feedback systems players would need is a way of telling whether the person they are escorting is still following them, if he is in danger, and if his health is low or he is otherwise in trouble. This kind of information can change from moment to moment, and players must be aware of any significant changes in the person’s status. Likewise, players have to monitor their own health, their position along the path to safety, possibly the condition of their weapons or spell-casting energy, and so on.

The goal of a designer is to be sure that feedback systems exist and to be aware of how many systems the individual player will have to be tracking at any point in the game. Sometimes it is the very intensity of information to track that can affect the sense of involvement and challenge in a game. Varying the amount of feedback at different parts of the game can also affect the pacing of the game, varying between times of slower activity and times of frenetic action. (See also Chapter 28, “Controlling Pacing.”)

By calling this section “Moment-to-Moment Goals,” I imply that the goal of staying alive, for instance, is connected with the feedback systems of monitoring health as well as assessing the current threat level and situation. Although the goal is to stay alive and maintain health, the feedback systems are used to accomplish this goal.

Other Moment-to-Moment Goals

Whereas the previous examples of feedback systems and situational awareness are examples of information you need to track while playing, other moment-to-moment goals are actions you take as a direct result of the information you receive from these feedback systems, such as:

• Heal from injuries.

• Regain energy/stamina/mana/ammunition or any expendable resource you need to survive and continue.

• Find certain items that can prolong gameplay, such as extra lives or health items—particularly when you are low on either lives or health and the game could end if you don’t find these things.

• Rest.

• Seek cover (in battle).

• Find the next enemy.

• Find the enemy doing the most damage.

• Find the most important enemy.

• Find any group of enemies that a) can be attacked or b) poses a significant threat.

• Change strategies if your attack and/or defense strategies aren’t working.

• Retreat if failure is imminent.

• Determine the best attack strategy, including choice of weapons, attack position, patterns of attack and defense, and so on.

• Determine whether an item is useful, better than what you have, or required (for a quest, for instance).

• Determine whether you can afford something from a vendor.

• Reload/switch/drop/pick up/fire weapon.

• Perform a skill.

• Cast a spell.

  • Perform a ritual.

  • Summon a creature.

  • Cast a buff/debuff.

• Repair item/structure/vehicle.

Design Challenge

1. Think about different parts of a game, such as battles of different kinds, exploring a map, flying a plane or driving a car, buying/selling/trading, and so on. Name the feedback systems the player must track during those sequences.

2. Being aware of feedback systems is important to understanding the player’s experience. Now, think of sequences in games that are familiar to you and add another feedback system to that sequence—one that normally would not be associated with it. Does adding another feedback system present possibilities for different designs?

3. Make a chart of feedback systems and actions they lead to. For instance, what actions might you take if your health bar was low, and under which circumstances? What actions would you take if you saw a dangerous enemy heading your way? What actions would you take just before battle, and which feedback systems would help you decide on those actions?