How to make synergies feel powerful and earned

1 The bottom line

Make a few parts that point at each other, and let players find the combinations and set them up themselves. Small sets with deep combinations give many strategies for little learning, and the power feels earned.

2 Key takeaways

• Keep the number of parts small and let combinations multiply the depth. Players learn few things but get many strategies.
  • Ten cards that combine give 100 strategies, against 20 for twenty solo cards, with half as much to learn Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit4:22.
  • Nintendo cut dozens of Zonai device ideas to a minimum set so players do not freeze at the build Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:57.
• Design each part to hint at its partners. A combo the player spots feels like their own idea.
  • Body Slam suggests Entrench and Barricade without any tutorial Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit1:16.
• Make the best synergies need setup. Preparation turns a lucky fit into a plan that lands.
  • Slay the Spire asks for planning per turn, per combat and per run Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit5:44.
• Cap power and carried options so no single build replaces everything. Variety dies when one answer covers every problem.
  • Dead Space 3 let players craft one gun so versatile they never needed another Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit2:38.
  • Dead Space 1 limits you to four guns Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit4:30.
• Keep the pool fresh with random offers, pruning and restarts. Players adapt instead of repeating one solved build.
  • Mark's shiv deck lost to the Time Eater, and he has not seen that mix since Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit8:03.

You weren’t simply given the tools to be powerful - you found them.

Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit

2.1 Start with a small set of parts

Cut your parts until a player can hold them all in their head, because combinations will supply the depth.

• Pare the toolset to the bare minimum. Nintendo did this with the Zonai devices in Tears of the Kingdom Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:57.
  • Brainstorm widely first. Nintendo came up with dozens of ideas, such as fans, wheels, cannons and floating platforms, then cut the list.
  • The reason is decision paralysis. Fewer options keep players from freezing when they face the build.
• When you merge two games, cut from both sides. Rollerdrome's first build took most skating features and most arena shooter mechanics, and it was an overwhelming mess Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:16.
  • Chip away at both halves until the mix feels natural and can be learned.
  • Simplify each half, because players now juggle both at once. Rollerdrome automated forward movement, removed bailing and the grind balancing mini-game, and added a shared ammo pool, snappy auto-aim and reflex slow mo Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:54.
  • Bailing works in Tony Hawk's because skating is all you think about, and dodging works in DOOM for the same reason Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:54.
• Let combinations carry the depth. Ten parts that combine beat twenty that stand alone Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit4:22.
  • Aim for lenticular design: simple on the surface, with hidden depth in combinations. Beginners use the parts directly, and experts keep finding more Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit4:56.
  • Mark Rosewater coined the term for Magic: The Gathering cards, and Slay the Spire's cards work the same way Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit4:56.
• Hand parts over gradually. Slay the Spire gives cards one at a time during a run Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit9:36.
  • This gives the thrill of synergies without the paralysis of a huge pool.
  • Mark finds the deck building of Magic and Hearthstone overwhelming, because he must choose from hundreds of cards at once.

2.2 Make parts point at each other

Write each part so its text or rule suggests a partner, and the player does the connecting.

• Let a part's wording suggest its combo. Body Slam deals damage equal to your block Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit1:16.
  • The player immediately thinks of Entrench, which doubles block, and Barricade, which stops block resetting.
  • Heavy Blade points at Inflame and Limit Break in the same way.
• Write perks that react to what the player actually did. Word Play's first modifier boosted words whose first and last letters match Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit9:10.
  • Such conditional perks push players to think about which words they spell, shaping strategy and balance.
  • That modifier was added in April and was key to the game's sense of strategy.
• Give special pieces their own rules. Word Play adds golden, diamond, emerald, potion, dot, glass, mirror, exclamation mark and locked tiles Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit6:17.
  • Each new tile type opens new combinations with perks.
  • The glass tile acts as a one-time copy of any other letter, and compound tiles let one tile play 'ING'.
• Link two mechanics so one feeds the other. In Rollerdrome, tricks refill your ammo Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit1:36.
  • The resource link makes two halves feel like one loop instead of two games bolted together.
  • Paul Rabbitte found it at the GMTK Game Jam 2017, with the theme Dual Purpose Design. In the final game, grabs and grinds refill ammo.
• Chain effects so one part sets up another. In Dead Cells, a freeze grenade sets up a sword that deals double damage to frozen enemies Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit8:36.
  • Weapons, traps and grenades apply freezing, burning or poison, and other weapons punish enemies with those effects.
  • Into the Breach pairs a unit that chains electric shock through adjacent targets with one that grapples enemies and pulls them together Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit8:51.

2.3 Give each part a role that others need

When every part has a niche, players must combine and swap instead of leaning on one favourite.

• Match each tool to a job. DOOM Eternal pairs weapons with enemy traits so players swap constantly Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit5:36.
  • The rocket launcher suits the big slow Mancubus, and the shotgun suits close-range Whiplashes.
  • The ballista counters the flying Pain Elemental, and the plasma rifle breaks the Doom Hunter's shield.
  • Utility tools add more choices, such as freeze bombs against Prowlers and the blood punch against shields.
• Make co-op partners need each other's abilities. Equally capable players drift off and meet only to revive Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit2:11.
  • In Resident Evil: Revelations 2, Claire has firearms, while Moira has a stunning torch and a crowbar but no guns.
  • Chris and Sheva in Resident Evil 5 are near-identical, which is the contrast.
• Split information so talking is the only way to play. In Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, one player sees the bomb and the other holds the manual Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:00.
  • The bomb player describes it, the manual player reads out the steps, and the first must listen and act.
• Limit what players carry so roles must be balanced. Dead Space caps you at four guns Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit4:30.
  • Each gun suits a different job, such as precision, crowd control, charged shots or raw damage, so you trade off before each fight.
  • The four are the plasma cutter, line gun, contact rifle and pulse rifle.

2.4 Make the payoff earned

Ask for setup, let players find the link, and make the burst big against a backdrop of small numbers.

• Require setup before the big payoff. A synergy that comes together too easily is less fun than one needing preparation Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit5:30.
  • Players enjoy plotting an absurdly unlikely sequence and then watching it land.
• Layer the planning across turn, combat and run. Slay the Spire plans on all three scales Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit5:44.
  • Per turn, play cards in the right order, such as making an enemy vulnerable before damaging it.
  • Per combat, spend turns building, such as boosting poison for several turns before a card triples it, or using Setup and Thinking Ahead to get combo cards into one hand.
  • Per run, choose cards, shop buys and relics.
• Let players discover the combination rather than handing it over. Power the player finds feels earned Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:50.
  • Players notice a link between two cards and assemble it, which can feel like beating the developer.
  • Most of the time the devs planned it all along, but the feeling of mastery is the point.
• Keep ordinary turns small so the burst feels huge. When most turns deal small damage, a combinatorial attack feels thrilling by contrast Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:35.
  • Mark's Silent deck used relics that boosted zero-cost cards, added random cards on exhaust, and kept his hand between turns. Storm of Steel then made nine upgraded shivs for 81 damage in one turn.

2.5 Stop one synergy from taking over

Cap the strongest builds, reward lean decks, vary what is offered and restart often.

• Cap the power of anything players can build. Dead Space 3's crafting went too far Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit2:38.
  • Players could craft a combined assault rifle and rocket launcher with acid bullets and boosted damage, reload and clip size.
  • It works with every bullet, so the system meant to show off Isaac's engineering deleted weapon variety. The upgraded plasma cutter in Dead Space 1 did something similar.
• Reward removing and skipping parts. Junk cards and curses dilute the combo cards you want to draw Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit6:50.
  • Slay the Spire lets you remove cards at shops and events, and treats skipping a reward as important as adding one.
• Use random generation so players adapt. Players cannot pick perfect synergies from a list Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:19.
  • They build around the cards and relics that show up early and find connections on the fly.
  • The hope that this run might produce a perfect synergy also drives compulsive replay.
• Pair synergies with restarts. Synergies easily become optimal strategies that players repeat until the game gets boring Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit8:03.
  • Constantly starting over, after death or after a win with a new character or higher difficulty, means one build does not ruin balance forever.
  • Mark's shiv deck fell to the Time Eater boss, and he has not seen that card and relic mix since.

2.6 Where designers disagree

Some of these tactics only fit certain products, and a few pull against each other.

• Open building power versus caps. Dead Space 3's free crafting produced one gun that replaced all others Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit2:38.
  • Dead Space 1's four-gun limit forces a balanced loadout instead Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit4:30.
  • Slay the Spire gives players real power, with 81 damage in one turn, but pairs it with pruning and restarts to contain it Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:35.
• Constructed pools versus gradual assembly. Mark finds Magic and Hearthstone deck building overwhelming because of the hundreds of cards on offer Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit9:36.
  • Rosewater's lenticular design, which hides depth in combinations, comes from Magic itself Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit4:56.
• Restarts and randomness suit only some products. Slay the Spire relies on permadeath so no single build goes stale Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit8:03.
  • A game without constant restarts needs another way to stop one build dominating, such as caps on carried weapons Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit4:30.
• Role splits only fit multiplayer. Different abilities and split information work because a second person fills the gap Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit2:11.
  • A solo game gets the same need from enemy traits that call for different weapons Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit5:36.