# Types of Challenges in Computer and Video Games
CSSE 290 – Computer Game Design
Winter 2010–2011

This list is taken from pages 19-20 of Fundamentals of Game Design, by Ernest Adams and Andrew Rollings. The challenge types are discussed on pages 261-275 of that book.

Challenge Type | Classic Example
--- | ---
Physical Coordination Challenges: |
Speed and reaction time | Tetris
Accuracy or precision (steering, shooting) | Need for Speed
Timing and rhythm | Dance Dance Revolution
Learning combination moves | Street Fighter
Formal Logic Challenges: |
Deduction and decoding | Mastermind
Pattern Recognition Challenges: |
Static patterns | Heaven and Earth, choosing an optimal layout for cards
Patterns of movement and change | Sonic the Hedgehog, behavior patterns of enemies
Time Pressure: |
Beating the clock | Frogger
Achieveing something before someone else | Indycar Racing
Memory and Knowledge Challenges: |
Trivia | You Don't Know Jack
Recollection of objects or patterns | Concentration
Challenge Type | Classic Example
--- | ---
Exploration Challenges: |
Identifying spatial relationships | Descent, navigating in three dimensions
Finding keys (unlocking any space) | Ultima
Finding hidden passages | Doom
Mazes and illogical spaces | Zork
Conflict: |
Strategy, tactics, and logistics | Warcraft, commanding armies
Survival | Pac-Man, avoiding being caught
Reduction of enemy forces | Half-Life, killing aliens
Defending vulnerable items or units | ICO, looking after a little girl who can't fight
Stealth | Thief: The Dark Project, avoiding being seen
Economic Challenges: |
Accumulating resources or points (growth) | Civilization
Establishing efficient production systems | The Settlers
Achieving balance or stability in a system | SimEarth
Caring for living things | Creatures
Conceptual Reasoning Challenges: |
Sifting clues from red herrings | Law and Order, solving crimes
Detecting hidden meanings | Planescape: Torment, understanding characters' motivations from vague hints
Understanding social relationships | Facade, reconciling a quarreling couple
Lateral thinking | The Incredible Machine, building a machine from limited parts
Creation/Construction Challenges: |
Aesthetic success (beauty or elegance) | The Sims, assembling a photo album
Construction with a functional goal | Mind Rover, designing a fighting robot