Design Commentary

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Designing Tri Peaks levels for a solitaire game is quite challenging as you need to pay close attention to not only the obstacles and tasks, but also the overall shape of the card layouts. The key to creating a good level is to start with the base layer and build on top of it. Creating a base layer will let you understand how the cards should be layered on top of each other for the subsequent layers. This is because your objective as a designer is to create choke points and prevent the player from easily continuing their streaks of collecting cards by having multiple cards open to pick and choose from. To achieve this there are various different ways in which a designer can choose to tackle this problem.

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One such method involves using the layers to your advantage. By placing multiple cards on top of a single card will mean that the player has to go through several moves before opening into the lower layer and getting one step closer towards their objective in the level. Another method is to stack single cards on top of each other and thus reduce the number of options available to the player. However, you have to be mindful of the fact that doing so will also create a reduction in the number of cards available for the player to pick and choose from. Therefore, keeping a proper balance of many cards opening into 1 card or 1 card into 1 card openings are also followed up with wide open sections where players can recover some of their lost moves by continuing streaks and gaining cards back in their deck.

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Obstacles are also a good way of creating challenging sections in the level that create choke points. By placing obstacles in specific parts of different layers to create a deliberate pattern, you can direct the attention of the player to start memorizing the patterns in the level so they can better deal with the upcoming obstacles by either searching for helpful cards and saving them to be used on the obstacle or consider leaving some cards open in the level to purposefully have multiple options available when the obstacle’s card number is revealed. Providing players with multiple options to resolve the obstacle/choke point helps to create a much more engaging level as the player is challenged to figure out which strategy will benefit them the most.

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Additionally, the placement of tasks is also very crucial when designing the level not only because it dictates the number of moves the players will have to make to complete it, but also causes them to prioritize certain helpful booster and consider when to use them. If all the tasks are always placed near the bottom most layer of the level then each level will require the player uncovering all the cards leading to a monotonous gameplay experience. To avoid this as a designer you have to make sure you sprinkle in the tasks throughout various layers of the level. Not only does this help create a sense of forward progression in the level for the player, but it also allows them to focus on different sections of the level to uncover the objectives for their tasks and when they are close to running out of moves, it helps them to see how close they are to finishing the level if there is only a handful of objectives left to collect. Thus, making them potentially consider purchasing helpful boosters. This is less likely to occur if the player does not feel like they are close to finishing the level because they have not collected enough objectives for their task.

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Having a solid grasp of these techniques is what enabled me to create many successful levels for the game which in turn helped maintain the player retention rate and continue generating profit for the studio. This was also recognized by the management and as such I was also later tasked with checking the quality of levels from other designers to ensure they understood the creative process that is involved in making successful levels.