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Four Ways To Make Your Turn-Based Game More Interesting (Or Ruin It)

The dose makes the poison.

A dog's breakfast of unrelated bonuses. So many conditional bonuses. Constant keywording. I found sorting through loot in Diablo 4 so tiring that I just used the item with the most text.
Some times I envy designers who make action games.

Suppose you want to make your action game harder. Sure, you can take the numbers-go-up route. More health, more damage. But you can also make the target smaller. Or faster. Or move in an unpredictable way. Or take cover. So many levers to pull.

But I write turn-based RPGs. In these games, you and your opponent control blobs of numbers. I throw my numbers at your numbers, and you throw your numbers back at me. Eventually one of us runs out of numbers and loses.

Since it's all math with no reflexes, there are fewer levers I can pull to make fights harder or more suspenseful.

But there are a few reliable ways to make your turn-based game more interesting. I use all of these in varying amounts in every game, and I have made pretty much every possible mistake several times.

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