Games & Virtual Worlds Series

Trade-Offs, Dilemmas, Sacrifices, Risk & Reward

Understanding Games: How Video Games & Board Games Work

Michael Filimowicz, PhD

Published in

Understanding Games

5 min readJan 3, 2023

Another way to classify decision making in games is with respect to their consequences, which are often unforeseeable.

Trade-offs: In game design, a trade-off is a situation where players must choose between two or more options, each of which has its own pros and cons. For example, a player might have to choose between taking an action that will give them a short-term advantage but leave them vulnerable in the long term, or taking an action that is less risky but will give them a smaller reward. Trade-offs can add depth and strategy to a game, as players must weigh the costs and benefits of different options and make decisions accordingly.

Dilemmas: A dilemma is a decision-making situation in which all options have drawbacks or negative consequences. For example, a player might face a dilemma when choosing between two actions that both have negative consequences, such as taking an action that will damage their own resources but prevent their opponent from gaining an advantage, or taking an action that will benefit their opponent but allow them to build up their own resources. Dilemmas can create tension and uncertainty in a game, as players must decide which option is the least bad.

Sacrifice: In game design, sacrifice refers to the act of giving up something in order to gain an advantage or achieve a goal. For example, a player might sacrifice one of their own pieces in a board game in order to capture an opponent’s piece, or they might sacrifice their turn in order to gain a long-term benefit. Sacrifice can add strategy and depth to a game, as players must decide when and how to make sacrifices in order to achieve their goals.

Risk and reward: The concept of risk and reward refers to the idea that players should be rewarded for taking risks and making bold moves, but also face consequences for failing. In game design, risk and reward can be balanced in a number of ways, such as by offering players a large reward for taking a high-risk action but also imposing a high penalty for failure, or by offering a smaller reward for a lower-risk action with a lower penalty for failure. The risk and reward balance can influence player behavior and decision-making in a game, as players weigh the potential risks and rewards of different actions.

Bibliography & Further Reading

A Game Design Vocabulary: Exploring the Foundational Principles Behind Good Game Design by Anna Anthropy and Naomi Clark
A Theory of Fun for Game Design by Raph Koster
Advanced Game Design: A Systems Approach by Michael Sellers
An Introduction to Game Studies by Frans Mayra
Basics of Game Design by Michael Moore
Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made by Jason Schreier
Board Game Design Advice: From the Best in the World vol 1 by Gabe Barrett
Building Blocks of Tabletop Game Design: an Encyclopedia Of Mechanisms by Geoffrey Engelstein and Isaac Shalev
Character Development and Storytelling for Games by Lee Sheldon
Chris Crawford on Game Design by Chris Crawford
Clockwork Game Design by Keith Burgun
Elements of Game Design by Robert Zubek
Fundamentals of Game Design by Ernest Adams
Fundamentals of Puzzle and Casual Game Design by Ernest Adams
Game Design Foundations by Brenda Romero
Game Design Workshop by Tracy Fullerton
Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design by Ernest Adams and Joris Dormans
Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames edited by Chris Bateman
Games, Design and Play: A detailed approach to iterative game design by Colleen Macklin and John Sharp
Introduction to Game Systems Design by Dax Gazaway
Kobold Guide to Board Game Design by Mike Selinker, David Howell, et al
Kobold’s Guide to Worldbuilding edited by Janna Silverstein
Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design, 2nd Edition by Scott Rogers
Narrating Space / Spatializing Narrative: Where Narrative Theory and Geography Meet by Marie-Laure Ryan, Kenneth Foote, et al.
Narrative Theory: A Critical Introduction by Kent Puckett
Narrative Theory: Core Concepts and Critical Debates by David Herman, James Phelan, et al.
Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative, Fourth Edition by Mieke Bal
Practical Game Design by Adam Kramarzewski and Ennio De Nucci
Procedural Storytelling in Game Design by Tanya X. Short and Tarn Adams
Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing by Wendy Despain
Rules of Play by Salen and Zimmerman
Storyworlds Across Media: Toward a Media-Conscious Narratology (Frontiers of Narrative) by Marie-Laure Ryan, Jan-Noël Thon, et al
Tabletop Game Design for Video Game Designers by Ethan Ham
The Art of Game Design, 3rd Edition by Jesse Schell
The Board Game Designer’s Guide: The Easy 4 Step Process to Create Amazing Games That People Can’t Stop Playing by Joe Slack
The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative by H. Porter Abbott
The Grasshopper, by Bernard Suits
The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies by Bernard Perron and Mark J.P. Wolf
The Routledge Encyclopedia of Narrative Theory by David Herman
The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design by Flint Dille & John Zuur Platten
Unboxed: Board Game Experience and Design by Gordon Calleja
Video Game Storytelling: What Every Developer Needs to Know about Narrative Techniques by Evan Skolnick
Writing for Video Game Genres: From FPS to RPG edited by Wendy Despain
Writing for Video Games by Steve Ince
100 Principles of Game Design by DESPAIN

Games & Virtual Worlds Series

Trade-Offs, Dilemmas, Sacrifices, Risk & Reward

Understanding Games: How Video Games & Board Games Work

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Written by Michael Filimowicz, PhD