Tempo in Games

You've probably heard the phrase Tempo (rhythm in the game) many times, they act as the backbone to keep the game running smoothly, as well as bring the perfect feel to the player. . The rhythm in the game exists quietly but you can feel it wherever you are, although not everyone recognizes it.

The action or fighting genre is where the rhythm in the game works most clearly, especially the Souls-like series. Those who have played Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice or Nioh 2 will definitely feel it when the opponent moves forward and you block it, then look for gaps to slip in. This process happens smoothly and continuously until one is defeated, that's why it is called rhythm in the game.

The tempo in the game can be understood as the way that players interact on the real time line, when you do something, the AI ​​will also react. As the meme "life is like a tango dance, when I take a step back, you only take one step foward...". You can see the boss fights video clips in the style of "no dmg" with the players moving very fast and smoothly, that's because they remember the rhythm of the opponent, to know when to do what.

Successful action-style blockbusters must have proper implementation, such as when I play Nioh 2 and get defeated a dozen times with a boss, I can also experience its rhythm. When I go into battle, I can even count and count the steps of the boss before me, to make sure I never get hit, it's like a magic dance that when you "feel" it can give you some really satisfying experience.

In addition to action games, fighting games is also the place that shows the tempo of the game most clearly, especially when there are 2 players playing together. You will clearly see when a person loses that rhythm, they will be hit continuously, cornered by the opponent or even in the worst case, losing without even reacting in time. The fighting game's tempo is harder to grasp than the action, because the real person is fighting you, not the programmed AI.

Reading the pace in the game is somewhat similar to the psychological game, where both try to capture the opponent's flow and guess what he will do next. You don't need to be a high-level gamer, just know how to play and you can experience this feeling already. The reason why in fighting games legs-sweep or grabbing/wrestling is an effective move is because it is a way to interrupt the existing rhythm the opponent is building to reset it from the beginning.

Rhythm in the game also appears most clearly for the card game genre - which the usual term used is "Tempo". This is a crucial concept for whether the game is balanced or not, for example a game like Hearthstone has a spell card and a minion, and every time a monster card is placed on the table means that you are having an extra tempo to your opponent.

The reason why Hearthstone is always the # 1 card game in the world is because it knows how to balance the tempo in the game, when a Spell card has a smaller number of mana needed to use but has a greater effect. Moreover Hearthstone also allows the player with the latter turn to be awarded a free mana, to avoid being delayed leading to losing Tempo.

And finally, the rhythm in the game also affects the strategy genre or MOBA. With RTS games, the rhythm is expressed through the way the player manages and balances between buying soldiers or controlling soldiers directly. Take StarCraft as an example, if you memorize the available build orders, in the first 5 minutes, any novice can do it like a pro. Everything only begins to heat up when the tempo is pushed up, the player has to manage both the economy and the micro continuously, that's why esport games have the phrase "easy to play but hard to be good at". MOBA genres like League of Legends or Dota, the rhythm in the game is also important, in big tournaments commentators often use the phrase "team A is faster than team B", despite looking at the board number both team's money and net worth are equal.

The reason is because Team A is grasping the rhythm, such as LoL, a better moving team will change lanes faster, control vision and targets faster and make the opponent always have to follow them ... If this rhythmic rhythm goes on, it will lead to victory. In League of Legends, the Koreans are experts at capturing the rhythm of the game, so there was a long time when they dominated League of Legends until China and Europe changed to a new playstyle to beat them.

Any game and any genre has a rhythm in the game, they exist and develop for a long time to balance the gaming world. It can be said that if a game cannot build the rhythm of the game for itself, it is definitely a failed product.