Masahiro Sakurai discusses the importance of familiarity for players

Masahiro Sakurai is back with another installment in his game development video series, and in today’s feature we get to hear some content in the “Planning and Game Design” category.

It’d be a real inconvenience if cars drove differently every time you tried a new one. According to Sakurai, the same is true with games. It’s great to be able to make use of de facto standards, but Sakurai says you should also make sure players can adjust to their liking.

When you pick up a Smash Bros. game, there are just certain things you already know and expect. There’s a bit of muscle memory at play, which allows you to easily slip into the basics of gameplay. Of course, making sure players can adjust some of those aspects at their will only helps to lessen the barrier for entry and welcome players of all types.