Second Playthrough
Design Concepts

Feedback loop

In short A cycle in which the result of what a player does changes the conditions for what they do next.

A feedback loop is a cycle in which the result of an action changes the conditions for the next action, so that outcomes feed back into the system that produced them. Loops come in two kinds. A positive loop amplifies: the player who gains an advantage finds it easier to gain more, and a match tilts toward a decisive ending. A negative loop dampens: a player who falls behind receives help, or a leader meets resistance, and the contest stays close. Most games combine both, and much of their pacing comes from how the two are balanced. The term describes the shape of a system over time, not any single rule within it.

Not to be confused with

  • Mechanic

    A mechanic is a single action or rule, such as jumping or trading; a feedback loop is the pattern that emerges when mechanics feed their results back into one another over time.

  • Interactivity

    Interactivity is a work's response to a single input; a feedback loop is what happens when those responses accumulate and change the conditions for every later input.

  • Gamification

    Gamification adds points and progress displays to non-game activities; those displays deliver feedback, but they form a loop only if the results actually change what comes next.

Where the game lives

  • rules
  • goals
  • feedback
  • uncertainty
  • choice
  • play

A feedback loop lives in the rules and is felt as feedback, and its main job is to manage uncertainty about who will reach the goal first. It acts on the player's choices but has nothing to say about free, open-ended play.

used dropped · What the six structures are

Examples

  • MonopolyParker Brothers, 1935

    Property earns rent that buys more property, a positive loop that steadily pushes the leader toward victory.

  • Mario Kart 64Nintendo, 1996

    Item boxes hand stronger items to racers further back, a negative loop that keeps the pack close.

  • Resident Evil 4Capcom, 2005

    A hidden difficulty system adjusts enemies to how well the player is doing, damping both runaway success and repeated failure.

In the essays

The Game in All of These

Where the game lives

Six structures—rules, goals, feedback, uncertainty, choice, play—map any game-like thing; the missing ones explain why it does or doesn’t feel like a game.

8 min read
Beyond Entertainment

Gamification is not a game

Gamification usually borrows the visible parts of games—points, badges, streaks—and drops what makes them work: real choice, uncertainty and voluntary play.

8 min read

Sources

  1. BookKatie Salen and Eric Zimmerman. Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals. MIT Press, 2003. The chapter "Games as Cybernetic Systems" treats positive and negative feedback in game design. Reading list
  2. TalkMarc LeBlanc. Feedback Systems and the Dramatic Structure of Competition. Game Developers Conference, 1999.
  3. BookErnest Adams and Joris Dormans. Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design. New Riders, 2012. Reading list