The Puny Paradox

The Puny Paradox

Numbers and video games go together like fighting prowess and wawa house employees. Even if your favorite game doesn't deal with numbers outwardly, values are dictating numerous aspects like how high you can jump, how fast you can move, and how much damage you can deal.

I've always been enamored by the choices developers make when deciding what numbers represent damage. In some games, the values are as low as single digits, while in others, you might encounter damage values that reach into the millions. Despite the purpose being to signify power, higher numbers somehow feel less impactful for some, a phenomenon I call the "Puny Paradox."

A 2013 study at the University of Richmond illustrated this concept where participants mistakenly placed 1 million halfway between 1,000 and 1 billion on a line, showing our misconceived uniform linear space perception. This paradox seems even more significant in video games where larger damage values somehow feel less powerful compared to smaller ones. This prompted me to delve into psychological research, anecdotes, and examples to understand what causes this paradox.

In games like Yu-Gi-Oh and Magic: The Gathering, life totals and damage values exhibit this paradox. For instance, Yu-Gi-Oh has you begin with 8,000 life points, making an 1,800 damage hit a quarter of your health pool. Yet, this feels less significant than a 4 damage hit in Magic, where you start with only 20 life points. Our human brains are conditioned to visualize smaller sets of numbers, making larger values harder to process and therefore feel less impactful.

Tangibility and specificity play crucial roles in this paradox. Our brains are better at comparing sizes than processing large numbers directly. This is exemplified in health bars in games; they translate abstract numbers into a visual proportion we can grasp. Multi-digit damage values lose their significance without appropriate context, making them feel like noise rather than substantial impacts.

One way to illustrate the grandeur of large values is through creative ways like breaking numbers into smaller chunks or using visual aids such as health bars. Games like Crosscode excel at this by using silly plot devices to amplify damage values, making numbers feel big even without tangible health bars.

The classic RPGs often didn't reveal an enemy's health bar, keeping the player in suspense and inadvertently magnifying the importance of each hit. Modern games can learn from this by ensuring numbers retain their impact through contextual clues and creative displays.

This phenomenon isn't confined to just RPGs; even in simpler games, displaying numbers through means that provide instant tangible understanding matters. For instance, games like Bat Hero multiply scores through different mechanics to add layers of context, making every point truly feel earned.

In conclusion, understanding and addressing the Puny Paradox is vital for game developers. Ensuring numbers are not just large but also made to feel significant can lead to better player engagement and satisfaction.

Keywords

• Puny Paradox
• Number perception
• Video games
• Health bars
• Damage values
• Tangibility
• Specificity
• Psychological research
• Crosscode
• RPGs
• Yu-Gi-Oh
• Magic: The Gathering

FAQ

Q: What is the Puny Paradox?

A: The Puny Paradox refers to the phenomenon where larger damage values in video games feel less impactful compared to smaller ones due to our brain's difficulty in processing larger numbers.

Q: Why do larger numbers feel less significant?

A: Our brains are evolutionarily conditioned to better understand smaller sets of numbers. Larger values become abstract and harder to comprehend, making them feel less impactful.

Q: How do health bars play a role in this paradox?

A: Health bars translate large numerical values into visual proportions, making it easier for players to understand the impact of their attacks.

Q: Can you give an example of a game that handles this paradox well?

A: Crosscode is a great example. It uses a plot device to exponentially increase your damage output, turning abstract large values into a tangible, impactful moment with the help of visual aids.

Q: How can smaller values be made to feel significant?

A: Providing context, like breaking larger numbers into smaller chunks or using creative displays, can help make smaller values feel significant in the game.

Q: Are big numbers always bad in games?

A: No, big numbers can be impactful if used intentionally and supported by contextual clues or visual aids that help players grasp their magnitude.