Guidelines for Strategy Game Design
A functional and lightweight game design manual by Level 99's D. Brad Talton Jr,
on how to create tense, dynamic, decision-driven games.
A functional and lightweight game design manual by Level 99's D. Brad Talton Jr,
on how to create tense, dynamic, decision-driven games.
A destructive choice is one that damages the player or the game in such a way that it can no longer continue normally.
For example, giving away all your money and getting nothing in return, or building yourself into a corner where there are no legal moves, or sabotaging the game in a way that causes it to end early.
Put in simpler terms, a player should not be able to make a choice too early on that makes the game effectively unwinnable or unplayable, either for themselves or for others.