What are loops in game design? - Loops - Game Design Theory

Learn how players come up with actions when they are playing your game so that you can design around this. People use a loop structure when they devise the actions that they want to complete in almost any situation. This loops structure is the way the use the information they already have in their head to devise an idea about how to interact with the surroundings. For a game these action are translated by the system of the platform you are playing on and the feedback is received from the game about the effect the actions had.
From the start of the video we discuss how clash of clans and the city building genre are great examples of games that have lots of different sized loops. With a play session potentially lasting a few seconds or a single action also potentially taking days to complete.
We then discuss the mental process of a learning loop that the player goes through in order to build up skills in the game. This loops consists of having a store of information called the mental model. Referring to that store of information the player's brain decides on an action based on their current understanding of the environment or situation. The player then acts by taking this action. The action in the case of the game is received as input by the game and run through the game logic in the system which we generalize as rules. The game the hopefully returns an output back to the player in the form of feedback. The player receives this feedback and interprets what this means in the context of their action and stores this new thought back into their mental model. This process repeats throughout all actions in the game.
Then we take a look at a passage of play from a game called Recore. The passage of play is the player trying to work out how to get through a door that is only open for a short time. We discuss how the player is going through this loop during this progression of play.
We then link it back to Clash of Clans and use the idea that some sessions are short and some actions take days to illustrate how these loops occur and they are at different sizes.
Finally we talk abut how to use the loop structure to debug your players problems in your game. Does your game have a situation where the player isn't recieving feedback for their action? Is this why they are confused? Is something random happening and the player doesn't understand why? maybe you should allow the player to act on that first so they know the feedback is coming from somewhere. Is the player interpreting the initial feedback correctly or is it not being interpreted correctly leaving the player confused?
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[@lunarzam6277]

This is incredibly well done and manages to break down the essential of loops in game design. Well done!

[@JoeyZio]

Great video! I can't believe it doesn't have more views. You've got a clear way of explaining things and a very professional editing style.

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

Thanks for watching Joey. Gotta love that algorithm. The important thing is you watched it and enjoyed it.

[@abcdandonandon]

i didnt even realize your subscriber count. your videos are the quality of the best info channels.

[@SadSkullStudios]

Thank you for simplifying a potentially tricky - yet very basic, aspect of game design. It was very helpful.

[@Renegrox]

Thanks mate, game design wasn't something I could study back in the days in Venezuela, what you shared here is key to anyone trying to learn on their own. Thanks. Hope to have something to share with the world soon.

[@spiralhalo]

this is a great explanation on the topic! it really explains why tutorials feel so boring and outdated, and how better game design can get rid of the necessity for it (or make it more subtle)

[@montenague]

You explain things very well, I can see this channel becoming a valuable resource 🐱‍🏍

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

Thanks montenague, I appreciate that!

[@rebornreaper194]

Dude I saw a couple of your videos, and just assumed you had like 1M+ subs. I think the fact you don't is an injustice 🙏

[@MckCloud]

This video is very well put together and paces fantastically. I was expecting to see a million views or something close to that, keep it up.

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

Thanks MckCloud. It's always nice to get a comment along the lines of "you should be bigger". Thanks for checking out the video.

[@theeggylegs]

I think this is the first channel/video that got me to subscribe during the first video I watched. Good stuff. Thanks, my dude.

[@archieaullikan6757]

So helpful and simple, this is so valuable to me starting out in game development thank you so much

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

Best of luck on your game dev journey.

[@sahilsen]

Fantastic video - thanks! The speed of speech had me rewinding it a bit - but the Australian accent and brilliant content reminded me of Economics Explained. Subscribed and looking forward to digging into more content.

[@SuperDutchrutter]

Great breakdown of gameplay loops! Thanks for the video

[@SilverEther]

great quality video. great quality commentary. well done mate.

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

SHARE THOSE BROKEN LOOPS!!! I remember the first time I got killed by a giant in Skyrim, I flew into the air and rag-dolled like crazy. I thought the game had kicked the bucket and laughed like hell. Wasn't until a mate informed me that the giants do that when they club you that I had a complete correct mental model. It was funny while it lasted.

[@Owenzx_Night-ma-re]

Great video!!

[@GILGAMESH97]

This is well put together, looking forward to seeing more!

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

Thanks GILGAMESH97. Taking a little break to play through the new Tomb Raider then I'll be back with more game design.

[@souljastation5463]

loops is the new buzzword that somehow everybody started to use on their death stranding reviews.

[@0x0xDEADBEEF]

its a stranding type game

[@BrainsEatZombies35]

Good video. Subscribed.

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

I'm glad you liked it and thanks for subscribing. Hope my content keeps being enjoyable for you.

[@findthestones]

Great video! Thanks for sharing 😀

[@neversparky]

Really cool video! Out of curiosity, is there much way you can work in a gameplay loop later in the game when the player has already finished most of their resource/character progression and has learned most of what you have to teach them?

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

Yeah. Have a look at the end game in games that are known for strong end games, have a look at how season content changes or adds to the main questing and gameplay loops in MMO and multiplayer games and look at games that change their new game plus playthroughs in some way or another. You could do something like add something new, repackage what you have in a fun way or add new constraints/stakes to existing mechanics or patterns.

[@codik16]

Amazing content! Thank you very much for this precise, helpful and insightful class!

[@JonesJr876]

Great Video on loop, and game essentials.

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

Thanks for checking it out.

[@zazito34]

Wow, great channel! You have gain a subscriber :)

[@HalfAsleepSam]

I'm working on an openworld game right now, and one of the ways I plan to combat a broken loop like an enemy spotting the player but the player not spotting them is to add sounds to enemies when they find the player as example, I am working on an ambush enemy of a Crab that disguises as a hill that when it gets up to attack the player is it makes the sounds of an angry crab bubbling, aswell as this I also add a little visual indicator of a light flash on screen and a little arrow pointing towards the enemy allowing the player to know they've entered a fight

[@ben_east]

high quality! keep it up!

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

Thanks Benjamin East. Getting back into it now after a long break.

[@0815michik]

Here is a link to Daniel Cooks article Loops and Arcs btw: lostgarden.home.blog/2012/04/30/loops-and-arcs/

[@azraelle6232]

Mental Model: I see that this video has a Like button, much like other videos I've seen on KZbin. Action: I click on the button, expecting that it will mean I like this video. Rules: KZbin increments the number of likes on this video by 1. Feedback: I see the neato little animation of the thumb jumping up and down, meaning that my action succeeded. I now have the mental model that a similar occurrence will happen when I click on the Subscribe button.

[@azraelle6232]

Hey, it works!

[@E71101]

Quality content 100%!

[@MEGA_TREE]

Great

[@the-sz8sq]

10 minutes to explain that people react to and remember things they see

[@ranjithvenkat4410]

nice analyse

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

Thanks Ranjith Venkat

[@tasoganedude]

I just found your channel. I'm a sucker for game design.

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

Welcome. I think I left some game design videos around here somewhere? Where did I put them.....

[@mokv9889]

Cool video. Thank you.

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

No Problem. Thanks for taking the time to watch.

[@nemo9396]

The loopn available to players is Action - Reaction - Reward

[@2011Savagee]

great Channel!

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

Thanks 2011Savagee.

[@Arnav1720]

Which game were you playing in starting

[@luqmanazeem6251]

This concept seems easy to use on paper, but gets tricky to apply anywhere when you're working on an actual game.

[@johnterpack3940]

The X4: Timelines tutorial is a broken loop. It starts out as expected, walking you through the basic mechanics and getting you acclimated to the world. It finishes by walking you through the process of hiring a reserve pilot. My mental model tells me the end of the tutorial is the start of the game. I'm playing a game about building my own empire. I've just hired my first employee. But then the feedback is that I can't use a reserve pilot until I have a second ship. I have no way to take missions and give them to the pilot while I sit in the station bar sipping cognac like a boss. So I'm out there running missions to pay for a reserve pilot who is sitting in the bar sipping cognac.

[@jelko2850]

So, the loop is the relationship between action and feedback?

[@jelko2850]

I noticed and read the description. I think I understand well enough now!

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

Yes. So at different levels of complexity.... ideally you will choose to do something and then you will receive some feedback after doing it that you can use to choose something else to do. And we can design around these steps to improve these loops.

[@felixmikolai7375]

can be helpful but imo new school game dev try to make sciens of things wich are not. anyways ty

[@TheJohn2272]

2:00 joystick

[@sealsharp]

The footage or ReCore reminds me how ReCore one of the most wasted potential i've ever seen. Remove the 1% situations that sucked horribly and it would have been an awesome experience.

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

I have a real soft spot for ReCore. Enjoyed the first half immensely. It's my jam. As you said, wasted potential. The back half of the game was a mess.

[@alondite215]

This is just a more complex, truncated, and ultimately less effective way of talking about the concept of interplay. Truncating because approaching it from this angle doesn't consider mechanical depth, and it doesn't provide any additional practical understanding in return. In fact, I'd say it contributes _less_ understanding because it frames gameplay in a far more limiting way. Not to mention that designing loops instead of designing interplay results in measurably more shallow and less dynamic gameplay. I'm starting to think that "industry standard" design principals/practices are the reason so many games are so excruciatingly shallow...

[@MdYeasin-mx2zg]

Hello gmtk clone.

[@MdYeasin-mx2zg]

Jk lul

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

gmtk clone is a compliment frankly. haha. I love Mark's work.

[@bunnyrabbit443]

🌮

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

🌭

[@chavorocket]

There's nothing inherently "fun" about a loop of activities, it's more likely that the concept of "gameplay loops" is just an artificially contrived structure that gets imposed on games that have some repeated aspects. You can identify a loop of activities in any game but trying to reverse engineer them by intentionally developing "loops" of gameplay just seems like a misinterpretation of an observation

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

There's nothing inherently suspenseful or gripping about a 3 act structure or nothing inherently interesting or compelling about art theory, it's more likely that these things are just artificially contrived structures that get imposed on films and artworks that have some suspenseful or interesting aspects. You can pick out 3 acts in any film or various techniques like leading lines in any artwork, but trying to reverse engineer them by intentionally developing "Acts" or "Leading Lines" seems like a misinterpretation of an observation. There are whole structures of game design that revolve around primary and secondary loops. They are a tool that is used to help make something as complex as a game a little more manageable and also to help diagnose issues when things go wrong.

[@chavorocket]

@@gamedesignwithmichael I understand your perspective but disagree that the two ideas are equivalent, thank you for your reply

[@xyzzy3000]

Gameplay loops is a paradigm introduced around 2015 in a paper by Emmanual Guardiola based on work done in his lab since around 2012. It is just one tool among many for modelling gameplay. Some people seem to think it is a synonym for gameplay and can't conceive of any other modelling methodology. You're right though - excessive focus on loops can be detrimental (to a man whose only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail).

[@suntzu6122]

Disagree. Structure is what makes things fun. Pulling the slot machine is addictive because of random reward loop. Playing chess is fun because of elegant skill gap game loops. A game without loops almost inhently cant be fun because its not predictable in some way.

[@x1101126]

I personally hate any kind of "loop" in game design. It's just waste my time until I can see something new.

[@elenexxenele8443]

Your game would be an hour long if you only saw new stuff

[@web2yt488]

Shit. Hyperbole.

[@SqualidsargeStudios]

Clash of clans is garbage