Resource Race - The Right Idea

Player choices are a major contributor to a unique and exciting gameplay experience, as choices typically offer challenge (often in the form of a risk) and rewards (often gameplay affecting resources.) A near perfected example of embedding player decisions in play is apparent in the Hasbro classic, Monopoly. Because of the game’s heavy reliance on human interaction, there is always a unique element to player choice. The game provides players with constant feedback regarding their choices – if a player chooses to purchase a property from another player, tangible cards and resources are exchanged, giving all parties meaningful feedback.

This tangible feedback concept passes to the game’s reward system, as well. When a player completes a micro-goal, such as purchasing a specific property, they acquire a tangible object, affording player motivation to collect resources. In addition to the decision based rewards from human interaction, Monopoly is layered with both fixed and variable rewards. For example, the game offers fixed rewards for circumnavigating the game board, and variable rewards through the chance and community chest mechanic. These perpetual rewards ensure that play has a feel of continual progression.

In addition to the successful layering of rewards, Monopoly also ensures that gaining a reward is meaningful. When a player attains an a reward, the state of the game changes, allowing the rewarded player to access higher level goals, while making similar goals easier to attain. The presence of game-changing rewards ensures that opposing players are driven to compete for them. With such a challenging, rewarding feel of play, and the allowance of abstract human decisions, Monopoly has more than earned its place as a timeless classic.