How to use feedback loops to keep games balanced

1 The bottom line

Use positive loops to reward success and end matches, and pair them with balancing loops that keep trailing players in reach. Alone, each loop frustrates someone, so the pairing keeps matches tense and comebacks possible.

2 Key takeaways

• Positive loops reward winners and bring matches to an end. They also magnify early moments, so they need a partner.
  • In Team Fortress 2, teams holding many capture points respawn faster, so victories compound and the match finishes quickly Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:25.
  • Because positive loops grow over time, the first few turns, kills or rounds can decide the winner Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit10:11.
• Pair every positive loop with a balancing loop. A mistake should be a road bump, not a tipping point.
  • Pyre pairs XP gains and persistent progression with XP for losses and the liberation system Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit6:44.
  • Mario Kart gives leaders weak items and players at the back the blue shell Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit1:32:23.
• Dampen a runaway loop by raising costs or cutting what feeds it. Easy repetition should stop paying.
  • In Elden Ring, level 9 to 10 takes about 10 Limgrave guards, but level 49 to 50 takes hundreds Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit9:02.
  • Black Ops stopped killstreak bonuses from counting toward more killstreak bonuses Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit11:20.
• Tune each loop against the player it hurts. Positive loops frustrate the weak, and negative loops frustrate the successful.
  • Pyre's balancing never undoes the value of winning Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit8:56.
• Match catch-up strength to your audience. Party games welcome luck and help for the weak, but esports needs skill to show.
  • Catch-up mechanics are contentious and must be used sparingly Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit13:15.

positive loops are frustrating for weaker players who get stuck in a death spiral

Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit

2.1 Find the loops already in your game

Any outcome that changes the odds of the next outcome is a loop, so map them before you add more.

• Treat each result as an input to the next round. A feedback loop feeds output back in, as described by Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit0:42.
  • Ask whether a player's success or failure changes the likelihood of later success or failure.
  • Positive loops reinforce winners and compound failures. Negative loops counteract change and hold things in equilibrium.
  • Call of Duty kill streaks and losing a piece in chess are positive loops. Mario Kart items are a negative loop.
• Look for loops that your rules create by accident. Some loops are simply built into the design, as Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit2:53 shows.
  • In Splatoon, the team with the most ink also has the most hiding places and the fastest travel.
  • Tekken has no loop, because losing a round gives no advantage or disadvantage in the next.
• Check how much your opening moments swing the result. Positive loops magnify over time Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit10:11.
  • Test the first few turns, kills, rounds or decisions to see how often they decide the winner.

2.2 Use positive loops on purpose

A positive loop gives growth and a decisive ending, but only if it does not turn into grind.

• Build a loop where a little success buys a lot more. This thrill of exponential growth is at the heart of many engaging games Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:11.
  • In Stardew Valley, a little money buys better tools and seeds, which earn more money.
  • Monster Hunter: World loops looting monsters into character upgrades.
• Let a positive loop finish matches that are already decided. It avoids stalemates and long drawn out endings, as Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:25 explains.
  • In Team Fortress 2, teams that control lots of capture points get reduced respawn times.
• Turn the power loop into a puzzle instead of a wait. Factorio does this Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:43.
  • Its loop of mining, plates, drills and furnaces grows into a problem of backlogs, repairs and adapting to a sudden freeze.
  • Deadlines, rewards and competing nations push players to optimise rather than just wait.
  • Satisfactory and Stardew Valley work similarly.
  • The plain version is dangerous. Cookie Clicker and roguelikes with permanent progression can be addictive, and in other games the same loop is just grinding Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit6:38.

2.3 Pair each snowball with a balancing loop

Give every source of runaway growth a counterweight, so the leader stays ahead by skill and not by inertia.

• Pair the loops directly. Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit6:44 shows Pyre doing this.
  • Characters level up when they win and the game always moves forward, which could snowball either way.
  • Negative loops make mistakes a road bump instead of a tipping point and keep the game a close challenge.
• Help the trailing player and slow the leader. Mario Kart's item boxes are not random Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit1:32:23.
  • Leaders get green shells and coins. Players at the back get the superstar, bullet bill or the blue shell, which hunts the leader.
  • The result is an ebb and flow of turnarounds that keeps everyone in the race Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit2:29.
• Make each level cost more than the last. A stronger character kills and levels faster, so rising costs hold the loop in check, as Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit10:42 explains.
  • This stops players from boosting to level 99 in the opening area in 20 minutes.
  • Elden Ring's cost climbs from about 10 guards per level at level 9 to hundreds at level 49. Easy kills stop paying, so players explore and take bigger risks Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit9:02.
• Let the world push back. Drains and market limits slow growth without a new rule.
  • In Civilization, unhappy citizens and the rising cost of a larger empire push back, and other nations gang up on the leader Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit9:48.
  • In Moonlighter, flooding the market with one item drives its price down, so you must vary what you sell Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit13:32.
  • Zelda's breakable weapons make you try new swords and explore for replacements Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit9:49.

2.4 Keep losing players from spiraling

A loss should never be the start of an unrecoverable slide.

• Reward failure a little. In a game that keeps moving after a loss, a weaker player can fall behind for good Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit6:55.
  • Pyre gives some experience points even when you lose.
  • Pyre also has no permadeath, unlike XCOM, so a bad match does not wreck later ones.
• Check your drains for downward spirals. A drain can be a positive loop that spirals toward failure, as Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit11:47 warns.
  • In Monopoly, every loss of money makes you less able to compete, sending you toward bankruptcy.
  • In XCOM, survivors get stronger while the dead are replaced by weak rookies, and you cannot go back to easier missions. Players end up stuck or steamrolling Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit5:04.
• Give struggling players a way to rebuild. Tom Francis proposed two fixes for XCOM, relayed by Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit5:53.
  • Add low profile missions that force you to use rookie soldiers.
  • Make squad size a per mission variable, so veterans cannot carry every fight.
• Let the player refill resources inside the fight. DOOM Eternal turns every enemy into a source of supplies Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:01.
  • Glory kills give health, the chainsaw gives ammo, and the flame belch drops armour. The player must stay aggressive instead of hiding.
  • Zombies respawn endlessly in the Nekravol Part II encounter. They barely do damage and die instantly, but they supply ammo, armour and health Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:17.

2.5 Tune the loops so nobody feels cheated

Both kinds of loop frustrate someone, so set their strength against who they hurt.

• Balance each loop against the player it hurts. Negative loops feel unfair to successful players whose victories keep getting taken away Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:45.
  • Keep winning clearly better than losing, as Pyre does Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit8:56.
• Cut what feeds a runaway loop. Early Call of Duty killstreak rewards counted toward more killstreaks, so a predator missile could lead to an AC-130 and then a tactical nuke Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit11:20.
  • Black Ops made bonuses stop counting toward more bonuses, so players had to earn the kills.
  • Another option is to decouple rewards for skill from core progression. In Devil May Cry, a high score buys better gear, so strong players get extra help. Donkey Kong gives KONG letter collectors bonus levels instead Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit12:07.
• Give players a counter to the most hated part of the loop. The blue shell is Mario Kart's most hated balancing tool, as Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit11:32 notes.
  • Mario Kart 8 added the super horn, which destroys blue shells. The race stays balanced, and the leader has a response.
• Make the negative loop part of the goal. Pyre's liberation rites are the stated objective Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:27.
  • You permanently send away your strongest characters, because only high rank characters can be freed. This forces you to level up and use the whole roster.
  • The final, hardest battles are fought with weaker units, which makes them tense. Removal ties into character arcs, so winning does not feel punished.
  • Punishing good play can send mixed signals. Capcom never revealed Resident Evil 4's dynamic difficulty, because saying it gets harder when you do well tells good players to make mistakes Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit8:18.

2.6 Where designers disagree

How hard to lean on comebacks depends on whether your players are mixed in skill or competing to find the best.

• Catch-up help suits party games, not esports. Luck gives newer players a chance, but in competitive games it obscures who is most skilled Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit2:41.
  • Modern Warfare 2 gives a deathstreak bonus for dying repeatedly. These tools are contentious and must be used sparingly Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit13:15.
  • Other levers for uneven groups are luck, as in Snakes and Ladders or Apex Legends loot, handicap modes, and low-skill roles like medic or engineer Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit13:42.
• Shape a strength with a drawback, not a cap, and accept some weak options. Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit12:51 reports that Sakurai avoids limiting an advantage because capping makes everything feel the same.
  • Ganondorf has huge power but is slow with short range. Charizard's Flare Blitz hurts Charizard.
  • Sakurai aims for no dominant fighter, not perfect balance. Pichu in Melee was purposefully underpowered, because winning with an underdog looks impressive Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit12:06.
• Hidden balancing can keep stories fresh, but may be weaker than it sounds. Shadow of War's design director describes a knob that makes someone betray a player who is doing too well Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit17:12.
  • Mark doubts the balancing is very aggressive, since he sometimes raised the difficulty himself to stop stories stagnating.