Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle turned out to be a very interesting game for me in terms of battle design and puzzles, which are implemented in a very original way. The developers constantly strive to surprise the player throughout the passage, adding new mechanics and interestingly reusing old ones. Let’s consider some points that we would like to analyze.

About levels

All the levels are kept small as it supports playing through battles to get maximum coins. To receive this prize, you need to fulfill the conditions of the level and with minimal losses in the character team. This design encourages thoughtful tactical decisions and replays to achieve the perfect score, adding replayability to the gameplay. Let’s consider the types of levels and some interesting points in the design of missions.

Destroy all enemies: Levels of this type are often built around a front vector, where the confrontation unfolds linearly or with small turns to make the battles more interesting. To make the gameplay more interesting, you can add verticality and a drop. Such breedings help create larger levels and make them more exciting by offering players different opportunities for maneuvers and cover. Another variety is introduced by the design of the opponents, which changes in each world.

Destroy a certain number of enemies: The first level in this format has a linear structure, which helps to “safeguard” beginners and give them time to get used to the game in a similar mode without complex maneuvers. An additional monster that takes over aggression on those who are closer to it, including the main opponents of the player, allows you to deal with enemies faster. A small number of targets also helps to finish the fight easier and faster. Also, the level layout doesn’t involve a lot of enemies to eliminate.

However, in later stages, the levels of this are built in an elliptical structure, which increases the freedom of movement. As a result, players can spend more time moving and chasing each other, especially when shelters become destroyed, which ultimately makes the gameplay more monotonous and drawn out. And some useful and interesting opportunities for the player become completely useless.

Mini-bosses: Mini-boss locations have a unique two-story structure that adds verticality and thus more tactical options. These levels are often looped and the front line is reduced to the middle of the map. These mini-bosses cannot climb to the second floor, forcing characters to be thrown to the upper floor, preventing the use of the lower one. This happens at the first level. In the future, this is fixed with large distances and AI enemies that will not come closer to the player above. Therefore, this forces the player to descend to the lower floor for a combat encounter.

Bosses: Levels with bosses differ greatly in planning and ideas. Each boss provides a unique battle that is directly related to its abilities and behavior. However, a key element in the design of these levels is the presence of multiple combat phases, each of which requires a change in the player’s strategy. All this keeps interest and tension throughout the fight.

Evacuation: These levels are a unique type of mission where the player’s task is to reach the exit on the map while avoiding or minimizing contact with enemies in order to bring one of the characters to the end. Enemies constantly appear on the map to keep the player on their toes, chasing and preventing them from reaching the exit point in a short time with all characters alive. Often, enemies are positioned to block optimal routes or force the player into a retreat situation. The first level, for example, is built so that the player literally goes around the enemy to demonstrate what distance is best to keep from the enemy and how to fight against them. The following levels have a more complex structure to make the player think about his actions.

Carry through: The main task is to help the character reach the exit point while trying to avoid collisions with opponents. The player must strategically plan each turn, taking into account not only the position of the enemies, but also their attack zones and possible movement routes. It is important to use the abilities of the heroes correctly, such as moving through pipes or jumping on allies, to reach the goal faster. Sometimes the player has to choose between a safe but longer route and a risky but fast one, which adds tactical depth to the process. The first level, as in the previous paragraph, forces the player to be at a distance from the enemy.

As you gain new characters or abilities, the game dynamically adjusts the difficulty, improving regular opponents or adding new enemies with similar mechanics. This helps maintain a balance between the player’s capabilities and the challenge that combat offers. This adds variety to the level and forces the player to use new characters available or combine existing ones for a successful strategy.

In locations with learning effects, enemies are located behind cover with a special effect to encourage the player to shoot at it and practically learn what effect this block has. This is a smart design trick that naturally introduces the player to the mechanics of interacting with the environment. For example, after shooting a block with a spring effect, the player can see the enemy jump back a certain distance. Only in this mission will the enemy fall into the abyss and die to demonstrate what can be achieved with such a move. This approach allows the player to intuitively learn the features of the environment through the game experience.

In the arena with the first boss in the game, the developers use enemy AI for the sake of interesting and more dynamic gameplay. This boss is a flower that periodically hides itself behind an explosive block. This provokes the player to attack, giving the opportunity to deal damage not only to the boss, but also through a block explosion that deals additional damage. This reduces the risks of damaging the player in the level and forces more use of similar blocks with certain effects.

A little about working with alternative and main ways of moving the player. There is an interesting point in the game where an alternative path is deliberately created in front of the player, which immediately attracts attention. To encourage the player to explore it, a coin is placed along the way, creating an additional incentive. However, this alternate route leads to a secret level and quickly returns the player to the main entrance without distracting them for long. At the same time, it specifically “rejects” the player as close as possible to the main path, so that he does not lose focus on the main path, but feels rewarded for his curiosity. The main task of the developer was to demonstrate the presence of secret levels in the game, which was done interestingly. This design helps keep the game flowing, encouraging exploration without breaking the pace and forcing the player to learn more about the objects of exploration.

After each level, the camera is automatically set so that the player can see the main path for further progress. This helps the player easily navigate the space and immediately understand where he needs to move next.

New world – new puzzles

Each new world in the game introduces a unique game mechanic that becomes the basis for creating puzzles in that world. At the initial stages, the player is presented with a new mechanic in a simplified form so that he can master it without unnecessary complications. For example, it can be moving blocks, as it was in the desert. Moreover, this mechanism is reported before the opportunity to use it appears. They appear before the introduction to motivate the player to pass the completed chapters.

This new mechanic gradually becomes more complicated: it begins to be combined with elements that are already familiar to the player from previous worlds. Puzzles become more multi-layered, requiring the player to interact with several elements of the environment at once to solve the problem. The gradual introduction and difficulty of mechanics helps the player to master the game while maintaining a progression of puzzle difficulty. As a result, by the end of the world, the player fully masters the new mechanics, which prepares him for new, combined tasks in the following worlds.

The game has an interesting puzzle, which demonstrates a well-thought-out design of advancing the player deep into the level and solving the invented task. The player starts moving in the direction of the arrow, and the floor suddenly rises in front of him, blocking the path. This causes it to start looking for a workaround. The right path means coins that lead the player in the right direction.

As you progress, the player first finds a cache that serves as a small reward for exploring, and then a button that unlocks access to the next stage. This approach follows the principle of “first imagine the problem, then propose a solution”, where the player is first shown an obstacle or difficulty, and then given a tool to overcome it. An additional activity related to the selection of red coins for a limited time develops here.

If the player accidentally gets into a dead end, the game still rewards him: when entering a dead end zone, a line of coins appears, which turns a possible failure into a small bonus and encourages further exploration. This design of the puzzle makes the process of passing more diverse, and the process of passing is as intuitive as possible.

One of the most interesting puzzles is a well-thought-out block-moving puzzle from another world. The first platform is arranged in such a way that the player easily remembers where to move the block. It is designed so that the player quickly remembers the sequence of actions that will need to be repeated often. Provided and feedback to the player on his actions. He always sees visually exactly how the second platform has changed. She first sets how much it will take to go to the first to solve the general puzzle.

After moving the first block, the player switches to a second platform, which is used to move another block that opens access to a new location. This structure of the puzzle allows you to keep the player at the same pace, providing a logical sequence of actions that is remembered quite quickly due to the small number of actions that must be repeated before completing the puzzle. This also supports the smoothness of the decision process.

In conclusion

The developers of Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle made very interesting locations in terms of mission and puzzle design. Each level and puzzle is designed to provide players with interesting and varied challenges. I especially liked the design of the puzzles, which are quite a lot in the game based on a small number of mechanics for their creation.

More on level design can be found here, or in the Telegram group: https://t.me/aboutlvldesign
Or in VK: https://vk.com/aboutleveldesign