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[J. R. Hill]

What do you think are the most important things to keep in mind when trying to make a game that has high replay value?

E.G. games 8-Bit Killer, Spelunky, Tetris, Multiplayer FPS games, etc. where you play them over and over.

[SirNiko]

One way is to design aspects of the game that encourage the player to play in different ways. For example, modes that let the player play as a different character, or apply unique variations such as no bombs, or you are restricted to certain units. Metal Gear Solid for the Game Boy Color did this by making alternate versions of each level with new objectives, like don't get hit, or kill a boss with only grenades, or climb the mountain, only this time Donkey Kong is at the top.

Issuing regular rewards is another method. After beating the game, give them a fancy new gun, grappling hook, or let them turn on a new cheat like Big Head Mode. This gives the player an incentive the play the game through a second time, this time while playing with their new toy. This is compatible with other methods, though you have to be careful not to make it feel like a grind to earn all the toys. There's no certain way to prevent that from happening. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon does this by unlocking a new character each time you finish the game. The first character is a mage who has almost unlimited MP, but is physically weak. The next is a warrior with no magic, but he barely takes damage, and the last was a thief with low everything but monsters almost always dropped their random loot.

Add lots of features that make the experience varied. Randomly generated content is one way, or lots of mechanical choices is another (ie, several characters to choose from, or items with different mechanics). Something to beware is to not make the choices too significant, otherwise the player may feel as thought they're being forced to replay the game to see all the different paths. Konjak's Legend of Princess did this by allowing the player to choose more difficult items to use to increase the challenge, as an example (The rest of the game is exactly the same).

Design mechanics that make different levels of play significantly different. For example, the first time you play you may go through clumsily, without knowing monster weaknesses, so that you wind up drinking lots of potions. On a subsequent playthrough, the player takes less damage due to more efficient fighting, and doesn't use as many potions. Give them something meaningful to do with those items, like allow them to trade them for a special item, or they can use the extra health to plow through a secret path they skipped on their first run to fight a bonus boss. Kingdom of Loathing did something like this, in that as you became more efficient at completing quests you would have to figure out how to defeat powerful monsters at much lower levels, or you'd start reaching zones without enough stat points to eat the foods you were used to eating so you need to adjust your diet to cope.

Just some brainstorming ideas/examples off the top of my head.

[iffi]

Allowing users to create custom content can help increase replay value a lot (Starcraft's and N's custom maps are two examples which I have experienced for myself). I personally am not very fond of using unlockables to increase replay value, probably because it feels as if the developer is "holding back" on the fun I can have the first time around. I'm bad at putting it into words, but I hope someone here understands.

[Snakey]

By simply giving players options on how he/she wants to complete the objectives. Typically, awful games tend to force players into a situation where it becomes "Do what the designer was thinking or you will lose". I suppose for some games this is necessary (such as some adventure games) but I don't often replay adventure games since the story line is fixed anyways.

Anyways, the way I've always approached it was to simply give players some generic tools (a tool that can unlock doors easily, a tool that can hack the nearby turrets, etc) and then present them with a situation. That way when players come up with an interesting way to solve a situation they get their own reward.

[Soulliard]

The key is making the game different every time. I can think of a couple ways to do this.

Random generation is the most obvious solution. This is used in roguelikes, Spelunky, and arguably Tetris. Unless the randomness is merely superficial, it will be like playing a different game each time.

Multiplayer games achieve replayability almost automatically, because every other player is unique. As long as there is a significant variety of strategies and playstyles, each match will be very different.

If the game gives the player different choices of how to play (such as different characters in a fighting game), or allows for multiple unique strategies (such as many strategy games), or provides multiple goals or rule variations, this can also substantially increase replayability. It doesn't allow for as much replayability as the previous two options (since the player will eventually try out all the different options), but it still is an effective way to extend the life of the game without a huge amount of extra effort.

[The Monster King]

id like to add that multiplayer games gain replay value if they're competitive
co-op does gain a few but much less, while playing with your friends can definitely make a game more fun if its the same thing twice it can get boring easily

but yeah basically the more choices the better replay

[s0]

Beating Hero Core unlocked an additional "hard mode" with different level layouts if  I remember correctly,

[Xecutor]

my 2 cents: speedruns enabled games global table for fastest players.

Speaking of kingdom of loathing.
Class "pastamancer" can operate pasta.
Class "sauceror" can create sauces.
To create fancy food, you need skills from both classes.
To obtain skill from different class you need to ascend
with this class and select normal or hardcore ascension.
Gain permanent skill thru winning game with some limitations that is.

[Blodyavenger]

There is one system that is frequently used these days - Achievements
Make achievements for different stuff that you can achieve in your game.
For example, have a boss that can be killed in two different ways - normal one and other one should be "harder" for which you get an achievement.
Then again, you need to complete X maps without killing any of monsters (which should be harder) etc.
You can even spice things up make some more interesting achievements (depends on your game of course).
Achievements can easily add another way to finish a level like without jumping or something. Try to figure out

Then again, give player an option to chose a path he will follow in the game. Let him chose one path that will lead him to the end and lock others so he will need to play again if he'll want to check others out.
In my platformer, there will be a world on which you'll progress by completing maps. While colleting coins you'll be able to unlock one of the paths avaliable. Ammount of coins you'll have with yourself for sure will be enough only to unlock one path. Other will have to be unlocked laters or when you start new game.

[The Monster King]

i refuse to find achievements interesting by themselves

that might just me being a dick since a lot of people play for the achivements/gamerscore

but i dont really like doing arbitrary things without some sort of in-game feedback

something more than just "achievement unlocked"

its still a solution for some people like i said

[alspal]

If it's designed well, looks nice and is still providing a challenge then I'll keep playing it. If I've mastered it or the game is just too easy (i.e., tedious),  then I move on.

Also, lol @ the term "replay value".

[bento_smile]

I replay games a lot when there is stuff to collect. Like, Loco Roco 2, getting items for the Mui Mui house and building them stuff... Or Katamari Damacy, where you get cousins, presents, or just plain everything! A friend of mine also has this 'must collect all things' problem. 

(But of course, it helps if it's fun to play in the first place, as collecting on its own isn't enough. And all this collecting is a secondary goal anyway.)

[The Monster King]

collecting all things is already a more fun version of achievements IMO

[SirNiko]

When you say you don't like achievements, are you thinking specifically like the little XBox things that pop up? Do you consider in-game trophies and awards to be the same thing?

VVVVVV has a trophy hut that displays little trophies in-game when you complete tasks, like beat the game with less that 50 deaths or beat a time-trial stage with all the trinkets without dying.

Pokemon gives you a little congratulations screen when you finish your pokedex and then go to the office building in one town.

Metroid Prime shows you a little cutscene that hints at the next game if you manage to find all the hidden items.

Which of those is an achievement, and which is not, if any?

I ask because I've heard people express a dislike of achievements before, but I'm kinda curious what makes that differentiation between achievement and a non-achievement in-game accomplishment, if there even is a difference.

[bento_smile]

Hmm, I think somehow an in-game acknowledgement of performing a task is ok (like completing your pokedex) but an Xbox style "you completed your pokedex, 10pts" is kind of tacky. Maybe it's the arbitrary points value you get and stack up... Or maybe the game is directing too much, rather than me just deciding goals myself. XD

Atelier Iris 3 had some interesting achievements. Sometimes they were ridiculous things (like jump 100 times in the first dungeon) but they were used to unlock better items within the levels. You could also unlock the items by just replaying, as killing monsters and such also contributed to the score for unlocks

[Xion]

I don't mind achievements but I never pay attention to the points. I've done a few achievements just for the hell of it - like the "jump 200 ft" or "kill 10 bitches in 5 seconds", not the "you finished chapter 2!" type shit - and found them rather satisfying. that "you finished chapter 2!" stuff is annoying. Of course this depends entirely on whether completing the achievement is actually fun. They are - or should be? - as much rewards for having fun as they are challenges to be completed I think. Like, surviving for 10 minutes with 6 stars or whatever is something I'd try to do whether there's an achievement for it or not, but doing so and receiving said achievement feels more satisfying than just dying and getting nothing. Like your efforts were acknowledged. And then there's the achievements I normally wouldn't try but because they're there I do, like get x headshots on y level. And when I do it also feels satisfying. I rose to meet the challenge, and the game was like "fair enough, here's your dollar" and I'm like hell yeah gimme dat.

collecting all things is already a more fun version of achievements IMO

this though, I must disagree with. collecting things arbitrarily is annoying as fuck, and I am just completionist enough to want to get them all, which more often than not results in great frustration. If it doesn't do shit for the game I don't want to want it, but I like tidy levels so I can't just leave glowing orbs of Collecty Thing laying around. I mean if I need to collect x things to open up the next level, don't let x = 500 and don't let things be everywhere. more like 5 and at the end of separate challenges would be good enough. [/imho]

...of course 500 and everywhere does increase the replayability but it does so in a way that I despise ._.

unless by collecting things you mean few, secret or hard-to-get things, in which case I agree, those are great.

Grading I guess is a way to increase replayability - trying to surpass ones own previous efforts. What? I only got a B? That was some S shit I just pulled off. I can do this, I know I can, so close. Also encourages mastery of the game as opposed to just getting by.

[moi]

What do you think are the most important things to keep in mind when trying to make a game that has high replay value?

E.G. games 8-Bit Killer, Spelunky, Tetris, Multiplayer FPS games, etc. where you play them over and over.

#1 RULE / THE GAME MUST NOT BE TEDIOUS TO PLAY:
       ->no unskippable tutorial embedded in the first levels
       ->no "read the little panels to learn how to play" crap
       ->no collecting of little items dispersed everywhere (like "collect all the yellow butterflies"). Achievements are okay, but not necessary.
       ->no grind/upgradefest (as seen in flash games)
       ->zero delay interface (no unskippable cutscenes, on-button ends fades or delays, on-button get back to menus, good menu options preselected)
      
#2 FREEDOM
       ->freedom of movement
       ->several different actions
       ->several solutions to finish each level
       ->freeform gameplay when possible

#3 MAKE THE BRAIN WORK
       ->easy to pick up, difficult to master
       ->make the player feel intelligent, make him feel like he's discovering things by himself

#4 ATTENTION TO DETAIL
      ->well polished games
      ->little details that the payer discovers during subseaquent replays

[gimymblert]

Moi list should be sticky

[Soulliard]

I've thought about this issue a bit more, and I've determined that the key to making a game replayable is uncertainty. If the player already knows the outcome of the game, then there's no point in playing it again. This is why puzzle games and adventure games are usually only fun the first time. This doesn't mean games without uncertainty are bad. They just aren't very replayable.

There are a few ways to achieve uncertainty:

1) Other Human Players:
Human behavior is diverse and unpredictable, so it is no surprise that some of the most replayable games are multiplayer. As long as there is enough variety in opponents, these games can be played frequently for decades without people tiring of them.

As an aside, if a human opponent becomes predictable, then the game becomes much more like a puzzle. Once you determine how to take advantage of their predictability, beating them is trivial. This is why there is so much emphasis on keeping opponents guessing in fighting games.

Examples: Chess, Soccer, Dungeons and Dragons, Street Fighter II, Starcraft, Halo

2) Randomness:
Obviously, adding randomness increases uncertainty. But if the randomness has little effect on player actions (such as a random chance of scoring a critical hit), then it won't increase replayability by much. However, if the randomness has a large effect on player actions (such as a procedurally-generated level), it can add almost limitless replayability.

Examples: Rogue, Tetris, Spelunky

3) Complexity:
Regardless of whether they have random elements, some games use such a complex engine that actions may still have unpredictable results. The human brain simply can't process all the information in the game well enough to predict exactly what will happen. This mostly applies to simulations. This overlaps a bit with randomness in video games, since many video games use randomness as a way of representing complexity.

Games with a physical component often fall into this category, since mentally modeling all the physics of the real world is impossible.

Examples: Billiards, Dwarf Fortress

4) Reflexes
There is some unpredictability in human reflexes. Even if you're trying to dodge a stream of bullets coming at you in a shmup, there's a chance you will get hit anyway. However, the unpredictability here is pretty small, so it may not increase replayability that much. And once a player is skilled enough to reliably beat the game, it ceases to be replayable. Having different levels of success (such as a score) helps.

Examples: Darts, Bullet Hell


Some of the techniques mentioned earlier, such as adding additional characters or achievements, don't really increase replayability. That's just adding content to extend the life of a game, much like adding an additional level. The game still has a limited (if somewhat longer) lifespan.

Additions like those are very easy ways to extend a game's lifespan without expending much effort, so they may still be worthwhile. But if you want to make a game that the same people will be playing years from now, it will need some uncertainty.

[gimymblert]

Good points, it also remind me countless session in hard game with random health drop where I try to farm some randomly spawn enemy into mildly hard area while being low on energy. Those session are kept fresh and tense each time.