Tony Hawk's
An arcade skateboarding score-chaser series.
Where Tony Hawk's comes up4 episodes and tests
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testThe 100 Games That Taught Me Game Design
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testHow to Turn Movement into a Game Mechanic
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testHow Game Designers Protect Players From Themselves
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testDepth, Mastery, and VanquishTony Hawk's trades realism for arcade fun, and its design keeps players chaining moves. Reverts and manuals bridge combos between park pieces, a board-righting move rescues bad landings, and repeated tricks score less. The sources give no sales or user figures. The lesson: let mechanics combine, add a recovery move, and use scoring to push players toward varied, skillful play.
- 1GrabRepeated moves score less each time
- 2RevertKeeps the combo alive between pieces
- 3ManualLinks tricks across the skatepark
- 4FlipVary tricks to keep scoring
- 5GrindEnds one mega combo
From Mark Brown, Tony Hawk's design analysis
What was said about Tony Hawk's
Tony Hawk's added the revert and manual to link tricks into combos. The revert and the manual are two actions designed to keep a combo alive between pieces of a skatepark, so players chain moves and choose which to use and when.
Depth comes from this linking: only a master combines grabs, reverts, manuals, flips and grinds into one mega combo. Mark Brown uses it to argue that combinable, skill-based expression is "not just for brawlers" and fits racers and skating games too.
Repeated tricks score less, so high scores require varied play. Tony Hawk's gives fewer points each time a move is repeated, and keeping a combo alive requires chaining different tricks, so a high score demands the full range of mechanics.
The scoring steers players away from finishing sloppily with the same few tactics. Quote: "the only way to get a high score is to play in the most stylish and interesting way possible."
Forgiving, arcade controls keep players skating instead of bailing. Players can right the board back in line with the ground to recover from a bad landing, a rescue move that saves them without removing the skill.
The series ignores physics for arcade fun, in contrast to Skate, which is grounded and hard to control.
The 100 Games That Taught Me Game Design
It ignores physics for arcade fun, in contrast to the grounded and hard-to-control Skate.
Forgiving, arcade controls keep players skating instead of bailing. Players can right the board back in line with the ground to recover from a bad landing, a rescue move that saves them without removing the skill.
The series ignores physics for arcade fun, in contrast to Skate, which is grounded and hard to control.
How to Turn Movement into a Game Mechanic
The revert and manual exist to keep a combo alive between skatepark pieces. You can also right your board as a recovery move.
Tony Hawk's added the revert and manual to link tricks into combos. The revert and the manual are two actions designed to keep a combo alive between pieces of a skatepark, so players chain moves and choose which to use and when.
Depth comes from this linking: only a master combines grabs, reverts, manuals, flips and grinds into one mega combo. Mark Brown uses it to argue that combinable, skill-based expression is "not just for brawlers" and fits racers and skating games too.
Forgiving, arcade controls keep players skating instead of bailing. Players can right the board back in line with the ground to recover from a bad landing, a rescue move that saves them without removing the skill.
The series ignores physics for arcade fun, in contrast to Skate, which is grounded and hard to control.
How Game Designers Protect Players From Themselves
Repeated moves earn fewer points, and keeping a combo alive requires chaining different tricks. High scores therefore demand the full range of mechanics.
Repeated tricks score less, so high scores require varied play. Tony Hawk's gives fewer points each time a move is repeated, and keeping a combo alive requires chaining different tricks, so a high score demands the full range of mechanics.
The scoring steers players away from finishing sloppily with the same few tactics. Quote: "the only way to get a high score is to play in the most stylish and interesting way possible."
Depth, Mastery, and Vanquish
Only a master combines grabs, reverts, manuals, flips and grinds into one mega combo, so depth rewards skill in skating games.
Tony Hawk's added the revert and manual to link tricks into combos. The revert and the manual are two actions designed to keep a combo alive between pieces of a skatepark, so players chain moves and choose which to use and when.
Depth comes from this linking: only a master combines grabs, reverts, manuals, flips and grinds into one mega combo. Mark Brown uses it to argue that combinable, skill-based expression is "not just for brawlers" and fits racers and skating games too.
More in Games
GamesNintendo
A Zelda adventure where Princess Zelda copies objects and monsters as echoes to solve puzzles and fight.
GamesThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Nintendo's long-running action-adventure series about Link exploring Hyrule, solving puzzles and fighting Ganon.
GamesDead Space
A major video game publisher and the guest's employer.
G
29 sources · 94 tipsMind Over Magnet
A puzzle platformer where you escape a factory using a magnet and a magnetic field.
GamesFar Cry 2
An open world action game where you recruit and play any of London's citizens.
GamesGod of War
A combat-focused action adventure game from Santa Monica Studio with Norse mythology and light puzzles.
Mind Over Magnet
Mark Brown's first game, a puzzle game he made while learning Unity.
GamesDishonored
A first-person stealth action game from Arkane with supernatural powers and the Clockwork Mansion level.