Angry Bride: Don't be difficult

17 November 2013

People have been playing early builds of Angry Bride since less than a month after development started. The feedback I’ve received and experiences I’ve witnessed have helped to shape the game into its current state. Less than a month away from release and I’m still testing new builds out with people.

One of the big pieces of recent feedback is that the game was difficult. Angry Bride has three different difficulty levels and the concern was raised on the easy difficulty level by both casual and some more experienced gamers.

“Why would you make it so difficult?!”

The problem is that I’m so good at the game and I’m not trying to brag. While working on the game, I’ve played it over a hundred times. I understand the different weapons and power ups, when they should be used and their strengths and weaknesses. I understand the different enemy types and how to deal with them. I also understand the controls without reading the two “how to play” screens.

The first thing new players do when presented with the options “Start Game” and “How to Play” is click “Start Game”. From more than 20 people who I observed playing the game, only one of them clicked “How to Play”.

Explain Like I’m Five

The first thing to help curb the difficulty level is to teach impatient players the controls without overloading their senses. As a player, the bare minimum you need to get up and running is how to move and how to shoot, so that’s all I’ve decided to give you at first. When the game starts, you’re prompted with two on-screen hot spots: one for moving, one for shooting.

From there, it’s up to the subtle UI cues to tell you what to do next. When your ammo runs out, you’re prompted to select another weapon. BAM! Now you know how to change weapons. When your special is ready, it flashes, daring you to click on it. BAM! Now you know how to use specials.

It’s still hard

Once players have worked all this out, the game is still difficult. Initially, the three difficulty levels were rather unsubtle. Each difficulty level simply increased the number of henchmen and reduced the amount of pick ups. Not that clever and a bit too lazy on my part. So I reworked it.

When playing on the easiest difficulty, the henchmen react slower and the faster moving ones are slowed down. This gives the player a better chance at reacting and understanding what’s going on. The player still receives items more frequently and their super recharges faster.

That sounds too easy, what’s the catch?

Personally, I do find the easiest mode too easy but that’s why there are two other difficulty levels. The normal difficulty is how Angry Bride should be played once you have the hang of it. It has the right number of enemies for the size of the level so things don’t feel too overwhelming while they remain challenging. The hardest difficulty level is still unfair in terms of the number of enemies and the reduced power ups. What am I going to do about that? Nothing. Life isn’t fair, so deal with it.

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