Chance and Skill

Chance
Brathwaite mentions in the opening section of the 5th chapter that 'Most games contain at least some factors that are random or not repeatable'. This statement is clear because it offers the idea that most games will factor in chance to entertain the players.

There are many roles that chance is used for in games, such as:

Delaying solvability
This is the idea that it prevents the player from solving the game, or preventing a single player from being able to win every time the game is played. The idea that chance will prevent players from mastering a game for a longer period of time compared to a game that lacks chance.

Making play 'competitive' for all players
Strong players will beat weak players in pure strategy games. Introducing chance into these games allows a weaker player the chance to beat the stronger player because it becomes more luck based. This allows a higher chance of victory to all players and when a player can blame luck it lessens their chance of being upset about losing.

Increasing variety
If a game lacks chance and randomness, then the players will always begin the game in the same method. By introducing variety it forces players to adapt to the new situations each time they play.

Dramatic Moments
Introducing chance into a strategy game helps create dramatic tension. Tension is created by risk, if a player is making a strategic move that is based on chance the risk could be high and this causes the tension to rise. Tension rises in proportion to the amount of risk.

Decision Making
The player will make the obvious decisions if they can see the outcome. Random factors can offer more strategic choices and allows the player to make more complicated and compelling choices

Mechanics
Dice
Dice are the staple of random mechanics. Utilising dice allows for a random number to be created. However, as more dice are used a 'bell curve' is created and this reduces the random number as numbers located in the middle of the spectrum become more likely to show up. By using dice with more faces, this probability is reduced and the randomness is increased.

Cards
You can randomise the order of cards by shuffling the collection of cards. Cards can work in conjunction with hidden information by hiding your own cards from your opponents and by revealing cards it can change the probability of other cards appearing.

Number Generators
These are technically not random, so they are known as pseudo-random number generators. Players need to be careful because some generators will favor numbers over others.

Hidden Information
The idea of hiding information from certain players allows the information to appear random to the players who are unable to view the information. Hidden information can lead to a player becoming frustrated and leaving the game because they find understanding it more difficult.

There are other bits such as a deidrel, which functions like a 1d4; a spinner which behaves like a dice and tiles to offer a similar randomness to a deck of cards.

Brathwaite mentions in the book that 'All Randomness Is Not Created Equal'. This statement shows that the idea of chance and random is different and unequal in different games. For example, the chance found in Poker is different to the chance found in Chess.

There are two types of games that are purely random, these two types of games are Children's Games, and Gambling.
These games both utilise chance in order to allow more people to play them. Children's games give the illusion of skill to children whilst gambling offers everyone a chance at winning.

Skill
Strategy is a returning point for many games. Players will often return to games in order to learn the necessary patterns and in doing so offers them entertainment whilst they also become more skilled at the game.

There are many reasons to implement skill into games. A good game uses skill to give interesting decisions and the success of those decisions is the players skill. Good games reward this skill with immediate feedback. This allows the player to continue thinking about what to do next and this helps immerse him in the game, or as Brathwaite says in the book: the 'magic circle'. This magic circle relates to 'flow', a type of game state.

These decisions are a sign of a good game and there are multiple types of decisions:

Obvious Decisions
These are decisions that you would take no matter what, such as taking the queen if their is no repurcussions in chess. These choices are often made because they are the optimum choice and there is no point making any other choice. These choices can be automated, such as reloading a gun or recovering stamina.

Meaningless Decisions.
These are decisions in which the responses have no different outcomes on the game. These are boring decisions because they do not affect the game state. There is a different outcome for this in which the player perceives that their meaningless decision  is making a change to the game state, when in fact it is not.

Blind Decisions
Decisions that are made without any information regarding the decision. These types of decisions affect the game state however, without information, the outcome is completely random. These decisions are made better if the player is offered with more information, but not the entirety of information.

Tradeoffs
Tradeoffs are decisions that a player must make when they are unable to accomplish all of the available goals.  There is no right or wrong with these decisions and that makes them more interesting.

Dilemmas
A type of tradeoff that only has a negative outcome for the player.

Risk versus Reward Tradeoff
A type of tradeoff which involves a situation with different levels of risk, yet multiple outcomes.

Frequency or Anticipation of Decisions
Developers need to think about the number of decisions that a player needs to make in a game and how often they need to be made. The quality of a game depends on the frequency of decisions that are being made. Decisions are not always frequent but there is often a build up towards the situation, by building tension for example.

Strategy and Tactics
Strategy is the term given to when a player is deciding what to do in the long run whilst tactics is more for short run. These terms are also related to macro and micro management respectively. Tradeoffs are good for strategy whilst twitch skill is more related to tactics.

Mechanics of Skill
Tradeoff mechanics
Auctions
There are multiple types of auctions, they typically involve betting resources in order to earn another item or resource.

Open Auction
A type of auction in which the participants can call out bids whenever they want until noone makes another bid.

Sequential Auction
The same as an Open Auction but there is a specific order in which the bidding is done.

Silent Auction
Ever players makes their bid at the same time, but in secret.

Fixed Price Auction
The item is set at a fixed price, and the first player to accept wins.

Dutch Auction
The item starts at a high price but begins to drop over time.

Reverse Auction
An auction in which the players bid to prevent a negative effect happening to them.

Purchases
The ability to buy items or equipment or actions. The choices come from the limited currency and the urgency of purchasing that item or equipment, because it may not be available later on.

Limited Use Abilities
Allows players to break the standard rules of the game in specific ways. These are limited and are only used once or twice, offering a limited advantage. The choice comes in using the ability at specific times.

Dynamic Limited Use Abilities
Varying strengths of abilities based on time, location or other factors the decision can change strategically. Offers a choice as to when to use the abilities.

Explicit Choices
Choices with clear results. The choice comes in which path to follow.

Limited Actions
Having a limited choice of which actions, or which characters to follow.

Trading and Negotiation
Choices involving alliances, choices to trade items and offer advantages to other players or to offer them bad deals and to betray them. These choices can affect late game because the players will be more reluctant to trust you.

Strategic Evaluations
Developers need to understand how a player will go through their game when considering skill and strategy. Questions such as 'do players care when other players are taking their turn?' or 'Are players making long term plans?' or 'Are there multiple strategies for multiple games?' come into play and the developer must deal with these appropriately. The developer would need to find a way to immerse the player into the game so that they will want to stay with it for the length of the game. Developers need to attempt to persuade their players into planning ahead for the game, in order to gain an advantage and they would need to persuade the players to be finding multiple strategies for solving the game.