WB Games
A video game publisher behind the Batman Arkham series.
Where WB Games comes up1 episode or test
WB Games' Arkham combat lets players spam the punch button and still look awesome. Troy Skinner says casual players with low tolerance for suffering are about 60% of the console market and leave when they don't feel masterful. The lesson: give the core fantasy through simple inputs, flashy results and forgiving errors, and weigh the cost of making players earn it against how many will quit.
- 1Spam the punch buttonSimple input, no mastery needed
- 2Forgiving systems assistMagnetic snapping, obvious counters, patient AI
- 3Big animation playsCinematic set-piece from a simple input
- 4Player looks awesomePower feels instant
From Troy Skinner, WB Games
What was said about WB Games
Arkham's combat lets simple inputs produce flashy, awesome-looking results. In Batman Arkham's free-flow combat, spamming the punch button makes the player look awesome instead of punishing them. Troy Skinner of WB Games put it as: "In this game you spam the punch-in-the-face button and you look awesome!"
The approach pairs cinematic set-pieces with forgiving systems: magnetic enemy snapping, obvious counter prompts and patient AI. Power feels instant because simple inputs turn into big animations.
WB Games sees casual players as a large group who quit without mastery. Troy Skinner says casual players with low tolerance for suffering make up about 60% of the console market. In his view, if they aren't masterful they are demotivated and walk away.
This is the counterweight to earned-fantasy design such as DOOM Eternal, which Hugo Martin compares to climbing a mountain rather than taking the elevator. Earned fantasies feel better, but many players won't push through failure to reach mastery. Quote: "if they're not masterful, they're demotivated, they walk away".
Who Gets to be Awesome in Games?
Troy Skinner of WB Games notes that in Arkham you spam the punch button and look awesome. He says casual players with low tolerance for suffering make up about 60% of the console market and walk away when they aren't masterful.
Arkham's combat lets simple inputs produce flashy, awesome-looking results. In Batman Arkham's free-flow combat, spamming the punch button makes the player look awesome instead of punishing them. Troy Skinner of WB Games put it as: "In this game you spam the punch-in-the-face button and you look awesome!"
The approach pairs cinematic set-pieces with forgiving systems: magnetic enemy snapping, obvious counter prompts and patient AI. Power feels instant because simple inputs turn into big animations.
WB Games sees casual players as a large group who quit without mastery. Troy Skinner says casual players with low tolerance for suffering make up about 60% of the console market. In his view, if they aren't masterful they are demotivated and walk away.
This is the counterweight to earned-fantasy design such as DOOM Eternal, which Hugo Martin compares to climbing a mountain rather than taking the elevator. Earned fantasies feel better, but many players won't push through failure to reach mastery. Quote: "if they're not masterful, they're demotivated, they walk away".
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.