Gameplay depth

 

  It's all well and good when a game is enjoyable to play, but how long will someone obtain the same level of enjoyment from the same gameplay? This varies from person to person, but ultimately, the interest levels will drop if the gameplay doesn't evolve. This is where good game mechanics and features come in. 

Let's say you are playing some sort of war based real time strategy game. Let's also say that you have infantry, cavalry and an air force at your disposal. Now you battle with an opponent against his/her forces, and it is fun. Great. However, two weeks later and both you and your opponent have the same forces and the battles begin to get repetitive. Limited outcomes are possible from your battles, and although different formations and mixes of troops add some level of depth to the game, you will not be long in finding a new game to entertain you. 

Now add some abilities into the troop features. Let's say the infantry have an option to set up a mortar. The mortar has to be manually controlled by you the user, it has to be aimed and you have to predict the landing spot relative to the enemy movements. The time spent using this feature of the infantry will mean that you will have less time to control the movements of your other forces and the infantry themselves will have to stay stationary. However the potential reward for landing a successful mortar shot on your opponent will mean that the lack of concentration in other aspects of the battle may pay off. So you are now given a choice. This simple feature allows for totally different 'styles' of play as well as keeping the player interested. The battles are no longer simply positioning and moving, now the player has another potential focus and area of gameplay where they can allocate actions, thought and time. 

Add various features into the other units of the army and you will have a constantly evolving game that can really only be limited in complexity by the physical capabilities of the player.

This is just one example of gameplay depth, and a very basic view of it. The area of game depth will be discussed again, and aspects of it will be looked at in a more detailed fashion.