How to add depth with holds, timing and chains

1 The bottom line

Depth comes from letting a few simple verbs change meaning through timing, holds and chains, not from adding buttons. Each variation must be a real trade-off, or players have no decision to make.

2 Key takeaways

• Get more out of the verbs you already have. Depth is combination, timing and positioning, while new unlocks are only breadth.
  • Bayonetta has only punch and kick, but button order and pauses create new attacks Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit2:07.
  • Mario's jump in 3D World changes length, height, angle and landing zone Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit0:54.
• Offer a press, hold or timing choice only when each side has its own trade-off. If one option is strictly better, there is nothing to decide.
  • In Owlboy, holding fires slower than hammering the button, so players are simply penalised for holding Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit0:14.
• Let moves chain so players choose which move to use and when. The choice of sequence is where expression lives.
  • Tony Hawk's adds the revert and the manual, two actions built to keep a combo alive between skatepark pieces Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit1:15.
• Reward risky timing, and keep it optional. Experts get a higher ceiling and newcomers are never blocked.
  • In Rollerdrome, a perfect dodge plus reflex mode triggers super reflex, which turns the dodge from a defensive move into an offensive one Mark Brown, with Paul Rabbitte and Drew, Roll76:02.
  • You almost never need Mario's advanced moves to finish a game Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit9:11.
• Attach a cost to every option. Costs make players weigh a choice instead of pressing a random button.
  • In Dark Souls, stamina restores more slowly while the shield is raised, so players dart between the stamina bar and the incoming enemy Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit4:20.

It's about knowing which move to use, and when.

Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit

2.1 Start with one verb that can mean many things

A single action becomes rich when speed, direction and combination change what it does.

• Let one action produce many outcomes depending on how it is performed Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit0:54.
  • Shape the action with timing, holding, direction or combination, so choices come from the most basic interaction.
  • Donkey Kong's fixed jump animation is the contrast, since it has one outcome.
  • Mario's jump is a toolbox of long jump, triple jump, wall jump, ground pound jump, somersaults and dive Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit4:49.
• Make the verb depend on how the player was moving Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:51.
  • Mario's jump angle and distance depend on his direction and speed before the press, so a huge gap needs a run-up.
  • Donkey Kong's left and right jumps could be dedicated arcade buttons, while Mario's nuance needs analogue input.
  • In Yakuza 0, the punch needs Kazuma to move next to an enemy.
• Build combined moves from verbs, not from arbitrary buttons Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit9:01.
  • Crouch plus jump gives a backflip, a running crouch gives a long jump, and a mid-air crouch gives a ground-pound.
  • Players can guess what a combination will do, because it feels like the natural result of the verbs.
  • The trap is squeezing in another action by pressing two unrelated buttons.
• Carry a deep move list on few buttons using holds, directions and context Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit6:19.
  • In Devil May Cry, one attack button gives an uppercut when you hold back and a stinger when you hold forward.
  • Yakuza has environmental finishers and Dark Souls has the backstab.

2.2 Add timing windows to holds and presses

A window turns a button into a bet on how long to wait or when to act.

• Make a held button trade immediate effect against a bigger delayed one Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit0:37.
  • Tap for a weak instant effect and hold for a stronger one, as Mega Man X does with its pellet and charged blast.
  • The player risks being hit during the charge.
  • The armour upgrade extends the charge further.
• Let players push an invisible timer Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit0:15.
  • A cooked grenade can be thrown at once, or held so it detonates in mid-air, on impact or in the player's own hand.
  • In MotorStorm, holding boost too long makes the car explode, so players release to cool the engine and nurse the button all race Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit4:49.
• Reward a second press inside a window Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit0:43.
  • Gears of War turns reload into a timed press on a bar that boosts the next shots.
  • Ms. 'Splosion Man adds several mid-air jumps for manic thrills.
• Pay off a tight window with a flash, a sound and a big result Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit2:42.
  • In God of War (2018), a weakspot hit makes the axe flash mid-air, and recalling at that moment makes the next attack explode with frost damage.
  • Thumper's perfect turns and counter attacks work the same way.
• Make the player trigger the return so timing becomes tactics Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:30.
  • Leave the axe in an enemy to freeze it, or throw it behind a shielded foe and recall it into the exposed back.
  • An automatic return would remove all of these choices.
• Hand control back soon after a move locks the player in Mark Brown, with Maddy Thorson and Noel Berry, Celeste7:25.
  • Celeste's dash fixes direction at max speed for only the first 0.15 seconds, then slows Madeline.
  • Players can cancel the momentum to avoid flinging into spikes.

2.3 Price every option

Choices only matter when each move has a niche and a cost.

• Treat wind-up and recovery as balance numbers Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:07.
  • The wind-up mostly sets attack speed, and the player is vulnerable during it.
  • King Dedede's slow hammer swing and Zero Suit Samus's instant jab show timing conveying strength and risk, with frame data left tweakable for later balance Mark Brown, Super Smash Bros.18:07.
  • Transformers Devastation's light attack lands in 14 frames and the heavy takes 36.
  • The Black Knight Greatsword in Dark Souls has almost two seconds of anticipation.
• Give every move a niche and a matching disadvantage Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit2:00.
  • A strong attack is slow, and a wide sweep does little damage. Other moves leave you vulnerable, cost a resource or sit on a cooldown.
  • Keep overlap minimal, like a shotgun, sniper rifle and assault rifle Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit5:34.
• Make block and dodge cost and offer different things Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:54.
  • In Dark Souls, block is easy and negates damage but drains stamina and can be broken.
  • The roll avoids everything but needs timing, costs stamina, leaves recovery vulnerability and moves you.
• Use a heating resource to force tempo shifts Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:25.
  • Vanquish's suit overheats when you rocket slide or use AR mode, so you must plan a retreat after dealing damage.
  • Cover becomes a brief respite, and players stop brute forcing.
• Give an ability two things to think about, and require positioning for the strongest ones Mark Brown, Ori and the Blind Forest2:58.
  • When Ori bashes off a projectile, the bullet goes one way and Ori the opposite way, so a careless bash can ping Ori into spikes.
  • Bash is not instantly accessible like a double jump, since you must manoeuvre into the right spot Mark Brown, Ori and the Blind Forest2:11.

2.4 Chain moves into routes

When moves link, players choose a sequence, and the route becomes their own.

• Let moves chain so the fun is knowing which to use and when Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit1:15.
  • Super Mario Odyssey offers tall, long, fast and last-minute-save jumps.
  • Jump, dive and hat throw chain together to bound between rooftops in New Donk City.
  • Long jump, throw, then dive onto the hat covers an enormous distance, and players pick a safe route or a stylish fast one Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit4:49.
• Chain different verbs into new moves with a timing window Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit6:06.
  • In Psychonauts, attacking right after a jump unleashes the palm bomb.
  • Plague Knight reuses Shovel Knight's layouts, so the fun comes from the complexity of the character, not of the environment Mark Brown, with Sean Velasco and David D'Angelo, Yacht Club Games4:06.
• Make momentum the goal, so unbroken chains are rewarded Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:49.
  • Titanfall 2's pilot runs at only 22 km/h, but wall-running, wall leaps and sliding boost it temporarily.
  • The best players keep chaining, using the grapple and a slide-hop on landing.
  • Momentum carries a built-in skill check, since the faster you move, the harder the game is to control.
• Mix building blocks from a table of movement elements Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit6:29.
  • The elements are chaining, environment, timing, momentum, trajectory and physics.
  • Just Cause 3 hooks onto the environment, builds momentum as the rope retracts, then chains into a parachute and a wingsuit with an odd trajectory to read.
• Alternate axes of movement inside a chain Mark Brown, with Sean Velasco and David D'Angelo, Yacht Club Games12:10.
  • King Knight's bash sends him into a pirouette, and landing on something during it restores the bash.
  • The bash is high commitment, because a miss can be disastrous.
• Offer a slow safe route and a fast risky one Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:27.
  • Reward the hard road with a sense of accomplishment when the player nails the tricky moves and timed presses.
  • Rise of the Tomb Raider often prescribes one linear route through a room, which this approach avoids.

2.5 Reward mastery without requiring it

Put the higher ceiling inside the same verbs, and let experts reach for it.

• Reward risk with a bonus on an existing mechanic Mark Brown, with Paul Rabbitte and Drew, Roll77:23.
  • Roll7 found in prototyping that well-timed dodges could clip through enemies unharmed, so they built that into the perfect dodge.
  • Inspired by Bayonetta's witch time, they boosted reflex as the reward, which was the easiest way to do it.
  • Super reflex asks for no new combos or buttons, only riskier timing Mark Brown, with Paul Rabbitte and Drew, Roll76:50.
• Offer expert moves with a reward the easy route lacks Chris McEntee, Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Moon Studios)3:46.
  • In Ori, aiming a dash out of sand and into another sand zone is a harder move, so a reward can sit up there.
  • In Assassin's Creed 2, Ezio can reach out mid jump to snatch ledges and ropes, which beginners can ignore Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit4:41.
  • Advanced Mario moves serve pro players who want to express themselves, find secrets or cut their time Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit9:11.
• Let masters discover techniques the tutorial never taught Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:57.
  • These are not new features, only knowledge, timing and dexterity applied to what was already there.
  • Bayonetta's dodge offset keeps a score streak alive mid-combo, and Vanquish's boost-dodge cancels a rocket slide for huge distance without overheating.
  • Vanquish's weapon-switch reload tricks and Call of Duty's sprint reload cancel feel like strategy, and developers have never removed them Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit4:32.
• Use main-game challenges to push players toward combining tools Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit5:02.
  • In Vanquish, enemies with weak points on their backs require rocket sliding, slow-mo and retreat.
  • You shoot rockets out of the air in AR mode and slide under giant bosses' legs.
• Check that optional skill content really has depth Mark Brown, Marvel's Spider-Man12:27.
  • Spider-Man's side challenges expose finicky physics, and its web-swinging skill ceiling is low next to other traversal games.
  • Celeste's advanced techniques work well because they fit the level design, and some are taught in the game Mark Brown, with Maddy Thorson and Noel Berry, Celeste13:01.

2.6 Where designers disagree

Some depth tools fit only certain games, and some can swallow the rest of the system.

• Free cancelling or committed moves Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:42.
  • With no cancelling, every move is a commitment, as in Dark Souls, where you cannot dodge, block or attack mid-swing.
  • With free cancelling, play is fluid, as in Bayonetta, but enemies can be more aggressive.
  • Cancelling does not automatically make a game easier.
• Parries feel great but can turn combat into a waiting game Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit8:43.
  • Tighten the window, punish a miss, limit the count, or make a parry stun rather than kill.
  • Nioh has a tough window, Breath of the Wild punishes a mistimed dodge, and Bloodborne uses limited quicksilver bullets.
  • Early Assassin's Creed lets you stand and counter one enemy after another.
• Stop players from stun-locking enemies Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit10:18.
  • Poise, stamina limits, several attackers or uninterruptible attacks force a back and forth between offence and defence.
  • Dark Souls calls it poise, and fighting games call it super armour.
• Hold-to-modify and manual aim suit some games more than others Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:04.
  • Holding aim to shoot accurately at the cost of movement trades accuracy for mobility, but it does not suit every game.
  • Wrecking Ball has no aim assist, so the player must be precise about speed, position and angle Mark Brown, Marvel's Spider-Man8:17.
  • Tap-and-hold throwing in Mind Over Magnet is hard to support on both mouse and controller stick, because they are similar but not identical Mark Brown, Mind Over Magnet7:14.