Player progression

The sport of orienteering (which is based on land navigation) has been dubbed “the thinking sport.”

It’s a tough sport physically, but the true challenge is in being able to make fast, logical decisions while under physical and (often times) emotional stress.

There is nothing quite like being alone, lost in the wilderness, with no option to save yourself other than coming up with the best plan and acting on it. It builds character.

My challenge with LANDNAV now is in trying to make the game as engaging as possible while also keeping it true to the real-life experience.

I’ve had a lot of thoughts about how to best accomplish this. Initially, I took the easiest path. Just offer up a sandbox and people can pick what they want to do with zero restrictions. This may be suitable for the most hardcore enthusiast who only want a training aid, but it’s not much of a game.
A game should offer a journey. You will start somewhere, and by the end of the journey, have arrived somewhere new and different.

In LANDNAV, where you are start is “not that smart,” or maybe “a little smart.” Where you end is “smart” or maybe even “a goddamn genius.”

Any person who can go from no familiarity with map and compass - or maybe a little - to being able to complete the advanced exercises in this game is undeniably a smart person.

The sort of decision making you make in LANDNAV has broad carry-over to virtually everything else in life. If you can develop and master your own unique decision-making process that allows you to consistently succeed in LANDNAV, that same methodology will help you become a force multiplier in practically any other endeavor.

So, that is all to say that I think the sense of progression and reward is already baked into the LANDNAV formula. My goal then should be to design the game so that people who play it get funneled into journey that provides appropriate, incremental challenge and doesn’t pull any punches. This way, by the time they’ve crossed the final finish line, they can look back on what they’ve accomplished and be proud.

With that goal in mind, I’m scrapping the “everything is available all at once” sandbox style and going with a linear journey that the player must go through step by step.

You’ll start out with a map and a handful of stations are marked on it. Stations are organized by difficulty level. Harder difficulty is further away.

You will start next to the beginner station. Once you have completed those exercises, you should have the confidence to make the movement to get to the next higher difficulty.

Of course, somebody who already knows a thing or two about navigation might bypass the easier stuff and head straight for the advanced exercise station. If they can complete the hardest exercise, they’ll be able to unlock the next map where they can put their skills to test against a new, more challenging terrain.

Navigation is all about contending with challenges where your only options are limited and poor choices equal pain. A good navigator is observant, able to logically build out cause-effect chains from all the possible choices they can identify, and then make the best decision. Great navigators can do this very quickly.

So, my intent is that giving players a clear challenge with a start and plenty of challenges that, when completed, are like checkboxes marked towards a clearly defined goal - that this will give them the most rewarding experience possible.

Anybody who is able to finish the game should know beyond a doubt that they are a capable person. And anybody working towards that finish should have a clear sense that they are actually progressing towards something real and meaningful.