Know Thy Enemy: Designing for Yomi in Games
Know Thy Enemy: Designing for Yomi in Games
Know Thy Enemy: Designing for Yomi in Games
February 8, 2019
By Caleb Compton
Summary
Sirlin has an extensive background in fighting games, and the concept of Yomi originally came from playing fighting games and having to predict your opponent's moves before they make them.
There is a lot more to Yomi than simply trying to predict your opponent's next move.
These players know which characters have an advantage in each matchup, they know which stages benefit them the most, and they know which items to use to exploit their opponents weaknesses and which moves will leave them helpless.
While level 1 players know how to counter their opponents, Yomi level 2 players go a step deeper by predicting those counters.
The deepest level of Yomi - you know what counters your opponent will use against you, and you know how they will defend against your counterattacks.
The first step to designing a game that supports reading the opponent is to adjust or get rid of overpowered items, moves and characters that have no counterplay, or add in appropriate checks and balances.
What do hard and soft limits have to do with Yomi? When designing for Yomi the goal is to create a game environment that allows and encourages players to predict and respond to their opponents.
Reference
Compton, C. (2019, February 08). Know thy enemy: Designing for yomi in games. Retrieved July 13, 2022, from https://remptongames.com/2019/02/09/know-thy-enemy-designing-for-yomi-in-games/