Balancing choices
Spot dominant strategies, use costs and counters so every option is worth choosing, and tame runaway leaders.
THE PROBLEM
The dominant strategy
A dominant strategy is an option that is always the best one, whatever the situation and whatever the other player does. Once players find it, they stop choosing: they just pick it. Every other option becomes dead content, work you made that nobody uses, and the choice you designed quietly disappears.
A racing game where one car is fastest, handles best and is free. After a few races, every player drives that car, and the other nine cars might as well not exist.
Check yourself
In Nima's card game, the Dragon card is the cheapest card in the deck and also the strongest. What will happen once people have played a few rounds?
- Nothing bad: strong cards make the game exciting
- Everyone builds around the Dragon and most other cards stop being played
- Players will avoid the Dragon because it feels unfair
- The game gets more varied, because everyone has a Dragon
Show the answer
Everyone builds around the Dragon and most other cards stop being played
Right. Cheap and strongest has no downside, so it's a dominant strategy. Players will play it every time, and the other cards turn into dead content.
Tool 1: every power has a price
Heavy sword
Hits hard, but swings slowly. Great against one big, slow enemy. Risky when you're surrounded, because every swing leaves you open.
Dagger
Hits lightly, but swings fast. Great for quick enemies and getting out of trouble. Slow going against a tough enemy with lots of health.
Three units in a strategy game.
Unit Attack Cost
Scout 2 1
Soldier 4 2
Knight 9 2Attack per coin:
Scout 2
Soldier 2
Knight 4.5 <- dominant
Fix: Knight cost 2 -> 4 (attack per coin 2.25)Dividing power by cost is a quick first check. It doesn't replace playing: speed, range and timing matter too. But when one option is more than twice as good per coin, you've found your problem.
TOOL 2
Counters: nothing beats everything
Rock beats scissors, scissors beat paper, paper beats rock. Each option is strong against one and weak against another, so no option wins everything. Designers call this intransitive balance. Many strategy games use the same triangle with units, so the best choice depends on what the other player picked.
A common pattern: cavalry run down archers, archers shoot down spearmen from a distance, and spearmen stop a cavalry charge. Bring only cavalry and a wall of spears ruins your day.
Check yourself
Match each design problem to the balancing tool that fixes it
Show the answer
- One cheap card is also the strongest → Give it a real cost
- Every player picks the same unit, whatever the enemy brings → Add a counter that beats it
- Whoever moves first wins most games → Give the second player a small bonus
- The leader gets further ahead every turn → Help whoever is behind a little
Tool 3: a fair start
Symmetric
Both sides get the same things. Chess gives each player the same sixteen pieces. Fair by construction, except for one thing nobody can share: who moves first.
Asymmetric
Each side gets different abilities: a strong army against a sneaky one, a hunter against the hunted. Often more interesting, but the numbers can't prove it's fair. Only lots of playtesting can.
Check yourself
Giving the second player a few bonus points, as Go does with komi, is a way to balance a first-player advantage.
Show the answer
True
True. Moving first is worth something, so the second player gets something back. Other common fixes: alternate who starts, or give the last player one final turn.
Tool 4: feedback loops
Positive feedback loop
Winning makes you stronger, so the leader pulls away. In Monopoly: more property brings more rent, which buys more property. Exciting early, but the ending is often decided long before the game is over.
Negative feedback loop
The game helps whoever is behind. Mario Kart gives stronger items to racers further back, so a race stays close. Too much of it feels unfair to the leader; too little makes the end boring.
Check yourself
Does this rule push the leader further ahead, or help players catch up?
- Monopoly: owning more property brings more rent
- Mario Kart: racers near the back get stronger items
- Each enemy you defeat makes your character stronger for the next fight
- The player in last place draws an extra card each turn
- The player with the most soldiers also earns the most gold
- Each round, the leader gives one card to the player in last place
Show the answer
Positive loop: leader pulls away: Monopoly: owning more property brings more rent, Each enemy you defeat makes your character stronger for the next fight, The player with the most soldiers also earns the most gold
Negative loop: helps who's behind: Mario Kart: racers near the back get stronger items, The player in last place draws an extra card each turn, Each round, the leader gives one card to the player in last place
Tune the numbers without getting lost
- Name the problem in play, not on paper
"Testers picked the Knight in 9 of 10 games" is a problem. "The Knight's number looks high" is a guess.
- Change one number
Only one. If you change cost, attack and speed at once, you won't know which change did what.
- Move it by a clear step
Around 10 to 20 percent is a good start. Tiny nudges get lost in the noise of a few games; huge swings flip the problem the other way.
- Play again and write it down
Note the version and what changed. If it made things worse, you can go straight back.
Check yourself
Testers say the Archer unit is too strong. What's the best next step?
- Lower its attack, range, health and speed together, so it's definitely fixed
- Raise its cost by about 15 percent, then playtest again
- Remove the Archer from the game
- Make every unit identical so nothing can be too strong
Show the answer
Raise its cost by about 15 percent, then playtest again
Yes. One number, a clear step, then play. If the Archer is still picked every game, take another step; if nobody picks it now, you went too far and can step back.
Lesson recap
- A dominant strategy is always best; it turns every other option into dead content and removes the choice.
- Give every strong thing a cost: hard-hitting but slow, fast but fragile.
- Counters, like rock-paper-scissors, make sure nothing beats everything.
- Moving first is often an advantage; alternate starts or give the second player a bonus, like komi in Go.
- Positive loops let leaders run away (Monopoly); negative loops help who's behind (Mario Kart). Use both in moderation.
- Change one number by a clear step, then play again.