A Look at Gameplay Density and Intensity

June 14, 2024

2024 has been such an interesting year for me so far. Lots of ups with very few downs, but there was one thing I was starting to notice. Quite a pattern starting to crop up into my favorite hobby. That being a change in my taste in a weirdly dynamic way. This article will be an exploration of that change, and why I think you should look at what you see in it yourself as well.

What is Gameplay Density and Intensity?

However, before we get into the games themselves I'd like to talk about what has come to my mind as I've looked over these games and my playing habits. Those ideas are the ideas of what I will call gameplay density and intensity.

Gameplay density is the amount of the core gameplay in the game, the higher the density, the less empty space between core gameplay segments.

Gameplay intensity is how much the game asks of you to perform during its core gameplay loop.

I've started to notice over the years that the games I am attracted to are the ones with a high gameplay density with a higher focus on things with a higher intensity. However, there are always times for games that are not either of those things.

Pizza Tower

Pizza Tower is probably up there as one of my favorite games in the past couple of years. I've got nothing but positive things to say about it. However, I do think it's a good example of showing off intensity through its pretty well done rank system.

When playing the game just to beat it, the bare minimum you have to do is to just collect the ingredients so you can have enough money for each boss. However, whenever going for the highest rank, P-Rank, the intensity of it all ramps up from just a bit to more than one slip and it's over. When going for Ps you're reaching the peak of what the game can give you and it's downright amazing. However, the game barely pushes or requires this amount of investment out of you the player. The bare minimum is to finish the stage and go back if you don't have enough money for a boss from collecting the ingredients.

That being said the game itself while in the stages is fairly dense with gameplay overall. Outside of the hub area of the tower itself, the game is chocked full of gameplay. Each of those stages is carefully crafted to make you look around and understand how to use those tools. Regardless, I wish the game itself forced you to use them more. One could say that is a good thing, as people who want a less intense experience are allowed to through their interaction with the rank system and the moneygating for the bosses. However, as it is currently, it's not leading people to the peak of what it can ask of you. Everything is there outside of that final push. Some might like the loose approach to intensity and others may not, but I think that's what a large majority of ranking systems allow for.

Cosmic Smash

What can I say about Cosmic Smash outside of it being actually addictive? This little game has been something that has been keeping me quite entertained despite my life getting a little busier. The goal of Cosmic Smash is to play a game of racquetball or tennis mixed with breakout. Break all the blocks in a stage to continue to the next one. It's super easy to just boot up, play a run or two, and get back to what I was doing. The variation in a run allows things to be fresh because you can choose where you can go on a stage clear. It allows you to choose how much harder you want to play in any given run and I really like that.

Due to being an arcade game, it's forced to be incredibly dense as there's nothing but the game itself. The only lulls of empty space are when you're choosing the next stage. The game itself is fairly intense as the timer is something you have to game, the faster you play the stage, the more you're able to take it easy in the next one. The better you play the more time you gain on a clear. However, this also doubles on itself on just a single system, smashing.

Cosmic Smash is an arcade game with 3 buttons, hit, jump, and smash. Smashing allows the player to have a little vortex that sucks in the ball to you before a smash that breaks through breakable blocks without bouncing off of them. Doing this also takes time from your timer, allowing for a unique style of risk and reward to use your smashes without using too much time. However, if you finish a stage with a smash, you get a massive bonus. With this along with the constant loop of performance, the intensity is made to be pretty high. Each smash now becomes a risk and not being able to manage your time will lead to your run failing.

Managing to keep that all in check over a run becomes quite a test. Despite the high intensity of the stages and the challenges they pose after a clear, you run towards your next stage. These brief moments allow some fresh air to come in as it acts as a short break. The choice you make as well can sort of snowball the rest of your run as you carry your timer between each stage. Choosing to go into a longer and harder route might end up in you losing in the long run if you don't consider your current time.

I think it is through this balance that Cosmic Smash can loop you into that 'just one more run' mentality that I think the best arcade games are able to loop you into. If it wasn't for the smash button, those small but fairly brief pace breakers, and the slowly compounding stress of the timer working together the game would be lesser. I doubt I'd be talking about it right now without it. It's through that interaction and dynamism of three simple systems that the gold of the game, and how it plays with its own intensity, truly shines through.

Shenmue

Shenmue is one of my favorite games just from a game design and overall experience angle. I love it with all my heart, but it's time to get to the heart of it. For me, Shenmue is almost a cooldown game. I started to notice this because the core of the game, that being exploration, is a low intensity core loop. Shenmue does not ask much of you as a player, and what it does is, mainly just one big thing. Use your eyes. However, the amount of things to look at, talk to, and examine, are plentiful. It's incredibly dense in asking you to just explore and look at things.

When it comes to the highest-intensity moments, the combat, it comes to you. In these brief moments, it also doesn't ask much of you. You can button-mash through the entire game without a single punishment. Does learning or training the combat help with anything? Sure, but the game doesn't ask you to and that's the key here. Intensity is about the minimum of what the game will ask of you overall.

Despite all of this there is something that does grip me with Shenmue and I do think it is that combination of that low gamplay intensity with high gameplay density that keeps me addicted to the streets of Yokosuka.

Spikeout - Final Edition

Spikeout has to be one of the games in recent memory that really made me think about a couple of things. Mainly looking at action games from a more classic scope, as opposed to what the genre has become with things like character action. However, also how something as simple as a timer can make things intense. Something I see as Spikeout doing a great job with.

Spikeout is a 3D-style classic beat-em-up with 4 Buttons, Lock-on, Attack, Charge Attack, and Jump. It uses that simplicity by designing most enemies to do specific things and put you in a bad position. With just a couple of buttons and limited tools, it makes you really think about your interactions. The intensity itself is pretty high, but it gives you one last push through the fact the timer for every stage part is quite small. On a time-out you get a game over, so the game itself starts to force you to play. Each knockdown you get hit with, every combo you take, and even every combo you make, is all a consideration with the timer. It hangs over your head and becomes how you make decisions sometimes.

If you don't meet Spikeout with your best, it will fold you like an omelet. Without that strict timer, I don't think Spikeout would be as good as it is. The game could be taken as slowly as you want, and those tense situations the game put you into would mean so much less. That's what timers do best. After all, without it, you wouldn't be forced to act.

Prince of Persia (2008)

Prince of Persia 2008 is a really interesting game to me. Outside of it being one of the first games I ever played and having a soft spot for it even now. I think it's aged well in a lot of ways, especially artistically. However, I feel like there's one thing about it that really shoots the intensity of the game in the foot.

The core of the game is that of exploration of its open world through parkour segments, which is fairly fun. The cinematic flair of it all and all the animations the Prince goes through as he parkours around never gets old. The amount of inputs during any parkour chain is fairly low, as opposed to normal platformers, cinematic platformers look for timing between points as opposed to full-on precision. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just much lower intensity compared to the usual style of 3D platformers like Super Mario 64.

The thing that truly shoots Prince of Persia 2008 in the foot with its intensity has less to do with the lower intensity of gameplay, that comes with being a cinematic platformer, and more with its respawn system. The lack of a true fail state during any failed parkour chain, where Elika just saves you, and you start right back where you started is the problem to me. While this allows failure on a mass scale for any parkour chain, it also means any failure has much less risk. It can also shoot the pacing in the foot. If you get stuck on any specific parkour chain that is blocking the route forward, you have to keep repeating it until you get it right. That constant stop-and-start without any sort of fail state is something I think Prince of Persia is missing. Take for example in Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, where the rewind itself is a part of a grander fail state. You get a certain amount of rewinds before you have to restart the whole section. I think that's what Prince of Persia 2008 is truly missing.

It's through that lack of a full fail state where Prince of Persia is able to keep a lower intensity despite the amount of parkouring you do. Sometimes, the lack of punishments is something that is able to alleviate the intensity of an overall experience.

Conclusion

Over this past year, I've started to notice a pattern of getting into games that are usually very high intensity with a lot of density. So when it comes to games that are lower in both, usually something like an open-world game, where they try to balance multiple loops and thus dilute the density with many smaller loops instead of one core, I can't stick to it as well. Obviously, there are some outliers, Shenmue is a great example of something with a lower intensity that still keeps me hooked with its dense explorable world. Overall, it's brought me to think about what I truly value in terms of a game's overall pace.

Okay Tilted, density, intensity, and whatever is cool, but why talk about this? Well, I think looking at games in these metrics can lead you to find more games you like. To understand what pace you are truly looking for from a game comes from how dense and intense they are.

Do you enjoy casual games like Animal Crossing? Then you might really be into very low intensity games with a small amount of density focused around daily timers. Lots of farming games and overall casual games have a nice focus on this style of game design.

Do you really want to play a game that doesn't stop for you and forces you to play whether you like it or not? Maybe give a rhythm game or a shmup a try! Lots of arcade games also focus on design like this.

Maybe it's a game with overall medium intensity but with high intensity moments here and there. Then maybe something like Dark Souls might be more your pace.

Whatever it is, next time when you're looking at a game, think about what parts of its core loop and design are truly keeping you there. What sucks you in and is up to your speed. At the end of the day what we're all looking for out of games is all unique, but the games make the pace overall. Figuring that out will make finding your next favorite all the more easier.

Thanks for reading and see you next time. - TLD

Sources:

Pizza Tower and Prince of Persia Steam Banners from SteamDB.

Shenmue Banner by Anon from Steam Banners Booru

Background from DNF Duel