fundamentals for designing engaging PvP interactions
Core Gameplay Actions
vs
Two ways to threaten, three ways to answer, and the mind game between them. A case study from No Rest for the Wicked.
reference: refining gameplay & feel
The anatomy of an attack
core gameplay actions
Offensive verbs: sweeps and thrusts
Drag your token, or try:
Drag the blue token around either arena
core gameplay actions
Defensive verbs
Block
2Guard while held
Hold to absorb. Costs stamina, and heavy hits push you back. From Elden Ring.
Dodge
2I-framesRecovery
A long roll that’s invincible on the way. Beats everything, but the recovery gives the initiative back. From Elden Ring.
Quickstep
2moverecFree to punish
Faster, shorter, and Fully vulnerable. Step the right way and counterattack. Guess wrong and you’re hit.
Press → to add the third option
quick steps weren’t new to No Rest for the Wicked…
…but they used to be overpowered dodges
Every cell is worked out from the same hitboxes as the other slides. Hover a cell for why.
core gameplay actions
Sidestep a thrust. Backstep a sweep.
Read your opponent
You
Stamina
Opponent
Your decision map
from the Forsaken ability mockups
The verbs, as animated in Spine
Sweeps
Thrusts
Defense
Other strikes
what the mapping revealed
Every option has a counter
ThrustBeats a backstep (long reach)Loses to a sidestep (narrow)
SweepBeats a sidestep (wide arc)Loses to a backstep (short reach)
BlockCheap against thrustsDrains stamina against sweeps
DodgeSafe against everythingBut the attacker resets first
QuickstepThe highest rewardOnly if you read the attack
Dodge stays a universal but weaker answer. The best answers are situational, so players have to read each other. That’s the mind game.