gamedesign.dev: Co-op play

So I picked up Donkey Kong Country Returns just the other day. Given that I spent almost a whole day with a friend of mine playing it, that says a lot of what I think about it. I really wish I had more opportunities to do co-op games, because there's a bunch of different philosophies regarding them that I don't think many people realize. A game designer needs to consider all of the players involved and how they want them to interact. I'll spend this post looking at each of the philosophies I know of in turn.

First off, the one presented in DKCR. Both players are active on the screen at once, they can't interfere with each other (except by triggering stuff in the environment, and this is kind of hard to malevolently use), and collectibles are shared between the two. The player controlling Diddy Kong (2P) can even ride on Donkey Kong's back, letting him carry both of them through and sharing health for as long as they like. The goal presented here is simple: the two players are meant to work together as often as possible, and very rarely throw each other under the bus. Additionally, the second player has a number of tools, like a weak ranged attack and hovering, to help them, which only makes sense considering the first player is likely to be the more experienced of the two. The atmosphere is one of friendly, but not vital, cooperation.

The next example people will probably think of is the one in Left 4 Dead. Each of the four players has their own health and weaponry and so forth, and must stick close together, lest one of the special infected ambush them where they can't be saved. That said, if one of the players should get to the level end and survive there, they win, and must wait there for the other players to win in turn or die. The players can harm each other through friendly fire and the like, so good teamwork is vital to survival. A player going lone wolf can cause major problems for the rest of the team, assuming they even bother to save the lone wolf at all. The atmosphere here is somewhat competitive, but very vital, cooperation.

A third example is the gameplay of New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Although the core gameplay is fairly similar to DKCR, NSMBW instead has each of the four players with the same moveset and a definite ability to interfere with the others. Players can't pass through each other, and you can also pick up and throw other players into hazards, or use them as footstools, or hog the powerups, or basically any amount of backstabbing you can imagine. There's no hand-holding for the newbie players, either: instead, only the first two players get the actual characters of Mario and Luigi, and the third and fourth players get nameless Toads. I would've liked to see Wario and Waluigi, but that's just me. Point being, it is very easy for a decent character to screw over the others, and the game very much rewards you for it. The atmosphere is very competitive and not-at-all vital cooperation.

One last example is the flash game Transformice. For those of you unfamiliar with it: a crowd of mice is in a level, all of them racing to get to the cheese and return to the exit as fast as possible. The highest scoring mouse is selected to be the shaman, who can summon objects to assist or interfere with the other mice. Despite the lack of ability for mice to interfere with each other, barring a few special levels, it's still very competitive, as the shaman effectively holds the life of the other mice in their hands/paws, not to mention the scoreboards for mouse performance and assorted cosmetic rewards for doing well. That said, as possible as it is for mice to screw each other over, it's equally possible to help them along. The atmosphere: fairly competitive, and fairly vital.

So, which of these is best? It really depends heavily on what kind of game you want. Personally, I'm a softie who likes to help out the other players as often as possible, so the first two are preferable to me. But if you want to rub your victory in the faces of your friends, the other games are valid as well. Honestly, as long as you have a clear goal in mind, any kind of co-op is better than none, because we all love to socialize, and what better way than working together to accomplish a goal? Or chucking people in a pit, that's social too.