Action Economy
– So much to do, so little time.
Much like real life, game players often have a large number of possible actions to choose from but can only use a small number in any given time period. But games aren’t played alone; your opponents are also facing the same decisions about what to do during their own limited time. This tension, both internal (should I nuke the goblin or buff the paladin?) and external (“skip you”, every Uno player’s most hated words) form an action economy which describes how players’ “spending power” gives them an advantage or disadvantage in gameplay.
– The most precious resource any action will consume is the time taken to perform it.
A player can try to get an economic advantage in two main ways:
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Skew the currency supply in their favor, i.e. speed themselves up or slow their enemies down. Mechanics like haste and slow - are periennial favorites. Making other players skip turns or crowd-control effects on characters that essentialy cause skipped turns are effective strategies. Outright stealing other characters via charm is also a devastating mechanic. (Note: using your turn to just make another player skip a turn is basically net zero - all you’ve done is stall for a while. Same if you use your entire turn to heal the damage done in the previous turn.)
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Use the currency they have more efficiently, by choosing better options when spending currency or having access to a better market. Not all actons are of equal strength or effectiveness; sometimes it’s better to get two slightly smaller effects in the same action than spending two turns on full-strength actions. This can be a common source of power creep as games are updated with new content; maybe there’s a new buff that increases three stats instead of two, or a debuff that slows and snares and deals damage over time all in one spell. Abilities that do more things at once are likely to be preferred over single-effect abilities, all other costs being equal.
– Speed kills.
Examples
- Chess: You can only move one piece per turn.
- FPS: You can either take a shot with your starter pistol, which has unlimited ammop, or the plasma rifle (which does 8x the damage) but is hard to get ammo for. Which do you pick?
- RPGs: You have a spell that heals, and a spell that heals slightly less but also cures conditions. Which one will be more popular?
- RPGs: You have an ability that guarantees your next attack will crit (if it hits) and do double damage. Is it worth it? You could just attack twice.
- RPGs: You have a spell that will cause an enemy’s next attack to miss. Is it worth it? You’re both essentially losing an action.
- MtG: Man-o’-War: You gain a creature, your opponent loses a creature. Not bad for a single spell.
- MtG: Time Walk: Who doesn’t want to take another turn?