Difficulty is without a doubt the most universal game design concept, with most creators using a game’s unique challenges as a foundation for its design. Whether it be board games or video games, no game exists that doesn’t have difficulty in some form. The concept’s impact on games is astronomical, with difficulty impacting anything from how satisfying a game is to play to a game’s skill ceiling. Of course, with it being so omnipresent, game creators have crafted the difficulty of their titles in many unique ways, which naturally gave birth to difficulty types. Types of difficulty refer to the ways games tackle difficulty in a broad sense, with the more unique details being what differentiate games of the same difficulty type. Each type has its own pros and cons that developers have had to deal with over the years, but by examining the base attributes of the three types of difficulty, one could come to understand the concept of difficulty so much more.

Types & Catharsis

There are three main types of difficulty that exist in gaming: Skill-Based Difficulty, Level-Based Difficulty, and Luck-Based Difficulty. Skill and Level-Based Difficulty exist on a sort of spectrum or slider, with a game tending to lose some of one for the other, while Luck-Based is an outlier that doesn’t appear on that line. This is to say that the types of difficulty aren’t set in stone for games, and in fact, most titles actually tend to utilize multiple types of difficulty. The previously mentioned slider is determined simply by a question of “how much?”, not “Does this game use this?”. The majority of games one will play will never fall to the extreme of entirely using one difficulty type, and the reason for that lies in the emotion of the player. One of the main jobs of any game is to be satisfying to play, and overcoming a challenge creates satisfaction, which is one of the primary reasons why difficulty is so important. Naturally, this effect is bolstered if the player is challenged in various different ways, so using multiple difficulty types tends to do a lot to make a game satisfying to play. In short, using more than one difficulty type creates more catharsis in the player than just building a title with one. According to Charlotte Nickerson in her article Catharsis: Definition & Meaning of Cathartic Release, “Catharsis is the expression of formerly repressed feelings in order to overcome problems associated with them,” and this is a feeling that developers hope to invoke through difficulty as a whole; the addition of multiple types simply increases the strength of that feeling. Through viewing the various difficulty types and how they interact through the lens of catharsis, game creators create their game’s unique challenge.

Skill-Based Difficulty

Skill-Based Difficulty refers to a game that challenges the player by constantly testing their proficiency and forcing them to continuously improve it in order to succeed. The most shining example of this difficulty type is doubtlessly fighting games like the Street Fighter franchise. In titles like those, a player’s objective power is completely static, as there’s usually nothing they can do to change the attacks or increase the attributes of the character they select. Instead, the only way a player can become more powerful in the context of the game is to maximize the tools they have access to and use those to win, which is why fighting game players spend so much time practicing combos and understanding what each individual move of a character does. While the fighting genre may be the example here, this applies to every other title that utilizes Skill-Based Difficulty. Essentially, in a game with Skill-Based Difficulty, players don’t get stronger so much as they get better. Challenging the player in that way tends to create mentally engaging gameplay as well as an intensely cathartic gaming experience. The immersiveness and feelings of betterment this difficulty type invokes have made games like Ghost of Tsushima and Street Fighter amazing titles, but Skill-Based Difficulty does have its drawbacks. Namely, it is just as capable of frustrating the player as it is of giving them a feeling of catharsis. Because of the need for outside-the-box thinking and genuine mastery in titles utilizing the difficulty type, they are generally more difficult than games that use other types, which does risk angering the player. Of course, the point of difficulty is to make things harder, but when solutions to problems are as hard to find or understand as they are in many skill-based titles, some will inevitably become frustrated from being stuck on something and drop a game entirely. That is the curse that games utilizing Skill-Based Difficulty like Street Fighter or Dark Souls have to deal with; it’s simply an inherent issue of the type. That said, games utilizing this type of difficulty are continuously looked at as shining examples of how to craft difficulty well and have achieved meteoric success, proving just how effective Skill-Based Difficulty can be. Through intense catharsis and deeply interesting gameplay, this approach to challenging players thrives.

Level-Based Difficulty

Level-Based Difficulty refers to a game challenging its player by forcing them to progress in an objective power system, with numerical values typically determining power in this difficulty type. An objective power system is a mechanical system in a game that determines a player’s strength through an objective measure, such as the classic level mechanic. Pokémon is a prime example of Level-Based Difficulty, as it creates its challenge entirely through its level system, which itself is a perfect example of an objective power system. The title uses a number, which is called a level, to determine almost everything about any given creature, from its total health to its damage output. The player has to increase the level of their creatures to contend in battles with other creatures around the world, with the main obstacle stopping players from beating other creatures being that they’re often a higher level than their own. Basically, Level-Based Difficulty makes players stronger in the game’s world but not necessarily better at that game. That may seem like a strange way to design a game, but Level-Based Difficulty is popular for a reason; it has a host of benefits it can offer. For one, this difficulty type has satisfying, tangible progression built into its DNA. From the level-ups in Pokemon to the expansive Skill Tree of Skyrim, games that use Level-Based Difficulty consistently have players working towards something, which eradicates most feelings of stagnation when they play while also creating that cathartic feel. That is key to things such as longevity and community building, which are big for both individual games and franchises. In addition to that, the solution to problems is usually quite clear in games with Level-Based Difficulty, so players usually won’t get too frustrated as they’re much less likely to be stuck on something for a long period of time. Generally, games of this difficulty type just feel easier to get into than others. That accessibility gives titles a massive appeal that other types of difficulty can’t quite touch. On the flip side, this difficulty is also mostly responsible for the “grindy” nature of many games, forcing them to fight the same battles over and over again. That can quickly become tedious and hurt a game’s overall quality. It’s also inherently harder to make engaging gameplay with Level-Based Difficulty, and the lack of need to make diverse and interesting challenges means developers have to go out of their way more to include those things in their titles. But while it may have its downsides, there’s a reason some of the most popular games of all time use Level-Based Difficulty. The accessibility of it is unmatched, and the satisfying progression is palpable.

Luck-Based Difficulty

Being simultaneously the least focused on and most utilized difficulty type, Luck-Based Difficulty is the outlier of the three difficulties. The more level-based something is, the less skill-based it is, and vice versa, but Luck-Based Difficulty is not on that spectrum. This difficulty type refers to when a game challenges a player with pure chance, with them usually having little to no ways of improving their odds of a good outcome. A board game is a telltale example of this type, as the common dice-rolling family game is built almost entirely around chance. The merit of Luck-Based Difficulty is almost entirely in the thrill a game can provide someone, and creating difficulty in this manner provides plenty of thrills. That excitement keeps players engaged and can make for a thoroughly cathartic experience, boosting the quality of that title as a whole. In addition to that, Luck-Based Difficulty completely removes gameplay staleness as a problem; the high variance it creates simply doesn’t support sameness of any kind. However, the drawbacks of this difficulty type can be difficult for both players and developers to contend with. Lack of control is a necessary evil in games using this difficulty, which means that players have limited options when it comes to strategy and just recovering from failure in general. Naturally, dealing with that can get very frustrating and isn’t conducive to constantly enjoyable gameplay. Developers have to deal with the issue in various ways, such as through the presence of others (games like Monopoly do this) or minimizing the presence of Luck-Based Difficulty, the latter being the more popular approach. Critical hits, damage variance, an RPG’s Luck stat—all of these are ubiquitous examples of the difficulty type but are usually small parts of a title, not what it’s built around. Luck-Based Difficulty tends to operate in that manner, being heavily utilized through small mechanics but not the primary focus of something. This allows a game to reap the benefits of the difficulty type while not dealing with its more detrimental aspects. In that role, Luck-Based Difficulty has proven to thrive. And while few and far between, board games and the like have shown just how effective building around the difficulty type can be.

Conclusion

To summarize, there is a lot to the three types of difficulty. They may all strive to create catharsis in the player, but the way they go about doing so differs heavily. Skills, objective power systems, pure chance—these are all wildly different concepts that are used in many diverse ways to create difficulty. Each type has its benefits and drawbacks, but they’ve all produced incredible titles. Due to the unique way these forms of difficulty have been incorporated throughout the gaming industry, many legendary titles have been able to create an incredibly enjoyable challenge for players to overcome. They’ve been used in so many great ways, and new games are innovating the three types of difficulty every single day.