Knob
Integrated outcome
You might say: the result matters later
An integrated outcome changes the larger course of play: resources, position, relationships, progress or future actions. Set which differences persist and when they expire; integration does not require a permanent story branch.
- What it does
- Makes a local choice part of a continuing game rather than an isolated effect.
- Ask
- Which future possibilities change because of this action, and for how long?
- Typical
- Specify the affected state values, duration or reset boundary, and downstream rules that read them.
- Trouble
- Both alternatives immediately reconverge with identical relevant state, or a persistent penalty matters but is never communicated.
What to look for
- Resources persisting after an action
- Position carried into the next choice
- Future actions changed by the result
Connections
- See also: State change
- See also: Part behaviours
Sources
- Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman, Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals, ch. 3, excerpt PDF p. 3: changed piece relationships, character stats and the larger game
Every action taken results in a change affecting the overall system of the game.
- Jesper Juul, Design (MIT CMS.608 lecture, 2008), slide 8: integrated outcome
Meaningful play: When relation between action and outcome is discernable and integrated
Use it on your project
teardown-apply: hold "Integrated outcome" (choice-future-state) from the teardown at https://teardownatlas.com/game-design/ against my project
Paste it into a coding agent that has the teardown skills.
An AI agent wrote this map with the teardown skill. It can contain errors: check the sources before you rely on a part. About and legal