Case studies
How 48 games work, what makes their choices interesting, and what you can try in your own designs.
48 studies
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Among Us
Ordinary chores become evidence when someone is lying.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Shape an island and develop routines around its changing daily life.
Assassin’s Creed
Plan a route that accounts for patrols, height, and concealment.
Balatro
Combine poker hands with modifiers that change how they score.
BioShock
Explore Rapture while managing weapons, powers, and limited supplies.
Brawl Stars
Coordinate movement and attacks around a shared team objective.
Celeste
Precise platforming with quick retries and forgiving input timing.
Civilization VI
Plan where to expand and what to build with later turns in mind.
Clash of Clans
Build a village, plan attacks, and coordinate with a clan.
Dark Souls
Learn connected routes and unlock shortcuts that change the risks of travel.
Diablo III
Compare new equipment by how it changes your build.
DOOM Eternal
Use glory kills, chainsaws, and fire to recover health, ammo, and armor.
Elden Ring
Leave a difficult encounter, explore elsewhere, and return with a new approach.
Factorio
Find production bottlenecks and redesign the factory around them.
Fortnite
Choose a route through a shrinking battlefield, using building to change your options.
Grand Theft Auto V
Switch between story missions and self-directed exploration in one city.
Grand Theft Auto VI
Read the announced premise and identify what remains unverified.
Preview
Hades
An unsuccessful escape can still move the story forward.
Half-Life
Follow a story that unfolds around you during play.
Half-Life 2
Use the gravity gun to turn objects into tools and weapons.
Hollow Knight
New movement abilities open routes through places you’ve already visited.
Into the Breach
Plan around visible enemy attacks and decide what you can afford to lose.
League of Legends
Turn fights and map control into chances to take objectives.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Race for position while deciding when to use or save an item.
Minecraft
Use the same building rules for survival or projects of your own.
Nuclear Throne
Choose when to spend ammo and risk moving toward a pickup.
Portal
Use linked portals to find a path through a test chamber.
Resident Evil
Plan a route around limited inventory space and supplies.
Resident Evil 4
Standing still to aim makes positioning part of every attack.
Rock-Paper-Scissors
Choose among three moves while trying to anticipate another player.
Rocket League
Learn to control a car well enough to play soccer as a team.
Royal Match
Plan matches and power-up combinations within a limited number of moves.
Slay the Spire
Choose cards that help now without weakening the deck you’ll need later.
Stardew Valley
Fit farming, exploration, and relationships into the time available each day.
Super Crate Box
Collect crates to score, even when it means giving up a weapon you like.
Super Mario Bros.
Learn to judge a jump’s height, timing, and landing.
Teamfight Tactics
Choose and position a team before its battles resolve automatically.
Tetris
Plan each placement without leaving problems for the next piece.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Track how practising a skill affects both the skill and character advancement.
The Elder Scrolls Online
Combine character development with solo quests or group activities.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Follow quests or choose a destination and see what you find.
The Legend of Zelda
Use discoveries, items, and a growing mental map to explore further.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Choose a destination and experiment with the tools that might get you there.
Tic-Tac-Toe
Study how a small game changes once both players know the best responses.
Undertale
Choose how to handle an encounter, including whether to fight.
UNO
Manage your hand while other players interrupt your plan.
Vampire Survivors
Automatic attacks put the focus on positioning and upgrades.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Plan a squad’s moves around uncertain shots and lasting losses.