What Works And Why is a monthly column where Gunpoint and Heat Signature designer Tom Francis digs into the design of a game or mechanic and analyses what makes it good.
I think difficulty is one of the most under-solved problems in game design. We’ve barely started to break out of the assumptions and principles that were concocted to keep people putting quarters into arcade machines. So I’m excited and delighted when a game comes up with something smarter than Easy/Normal/Hard, and 868-Hack is one of those rare games.