Playfields

I was laying in the hammock in our summer cabin one evening and started pondering on playfields.

First, let's consider the level playing field. All players of the game have the exact same chances, everything depending on their skill (and chance).

To understand the biased play field, let's think of a tug of war - it's harder to pull uphill than downhill. Same can be applied to any game type where players are playing against each other. Handicap in golf. A bit faster car in karts.

But the playfield doesn't need to be flat (biased or not). A stable playfield is useful when you want to keep the players in game as long as possible and keep things interesting - many car games are notorious for doing this. The futher along you are, the harder it gets to keep ahead, and the further back you fall, the easier it is to get ahead.

Unstable playfield is useful when you want the matches not to drag on. Like a fighting game where it becomes harder to stay on your feet the more you get hit.

Finally, there's nothing stopping you from making a biased stable or unstable playfield.

Comments are appreciated.