Tharsis
A digital survival strategy game built around rolling dice.
Where Tharsis comes up1 episode or test
- Rolls are independent
- Physics make digital dice feel real
- Familiar randomizer, easy to grasp
- Each draw changes the deck
- Odds shift after every draw
Tharsis chose dice so players grasp and trust the odds
From Zach Gage, Tharsis creator
What was said about Tharsis
Tharsis uses dice because people trust what they can hold. Zach Gage, named as Tharsis's creator, says people understand things they can hold, so the game's randomness comes from dice. Tharsis adds physics to its digital dice so they feel like real ones.
His quote: "we understand things that we can hold in our hand". The point is that a familiar physical randomizer lets players grasp and trust the odds. Dice rolls are independent of each other, unlike drawing cards, where each draw changes the deck.
The Two Types of Random in Game Design
Creator Zach Gage says people understand things they can hold, so it uses dice and adds physics to its digital dice to make them feel real.
Tharsis uses dice because people trust what they can hold. Zach Gage, named as Tharsis's creator, says people understand things they can hold, so the game's randomness comes from dice. Tharsis adds physics to its digital dice so they feel like real ones.
His quote: "we understand things that we can hold in our hand". The point is that a familiar physical randomizer lets players grasp and trust the odds. Dice rolls are independent of each other, unlike drawing cards, where each draw changes the deck.
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