The motivations of the player inform how a player moves through a level. Moment to moment and beat for beat. It compels the player, dissuades the player, it pushes the player, pulls the player, it inspires the player, maybe it confuses the player -I think some level designers underestimate how much influence they have.

Beyond the empty shells that are greybox levels that have no context and no mechanics to design around. More than just a space to move the player from point A to point B. A good level maintains a relationship with the player; narratively, emotionally, contextually, mechanically. Invisibly they engage back and forth facilitated by us.

We like to think we are rational creatures but really we're just monkey-brain animals. We respond to stimuli, positive and negative reinforcement, our minds can play tricks on us, etc. Don't believe me? Go to a casino and see hundreds of people mindlessly staring at a screen and robotically tap the same button over and over and over again. Its not much different than what we do buuuut hopefully a little more ethical.

The best level designers are illusionists and magicians. Their job is to conjur emotion out of thin air. And like a magician the player might not know how you did it. And like a great illusionists they might not even notice your hand in it.

And why must it be invisible? Because emotions are authentic -at least for the player. The suspension of disbelief. It has to be evoked within the player. The moment the illusion is broken the game is up and the emotion is lost. The easiest way to illustrate this is how you react to a new awesome song you discovered versus when someone sents you a spotify link? The key here is implicit and explicit rewards. The goal that you chose or the one that was chosen for you. And like the movie inception its essential to plant these ideas in their unconcious psyche.

The ultimate measure of a level is whether or not it evokes an emotion. And in identifying the emotions we want to illicit our levels are going to be all the more impactful. So what might that look like?:

• Anxiety and stress. In the Last of Us resources are precious and almost always in short supply. And you'll often find yourself wishing you had just one more molotov, or just one more shiv, or just one more bandage. Levels are designed around this; survival. In an encounter you might find some resources that come in clutch when you're low on health. A feeling only made possible by scarcity. You might try to stay in stealth longer and take more goons out rather than going in guns blazing. Youre constantly rewarded for scavenging. But sometimes resources are hard to get to or are out of the way. Perhaps youre weighing the risk/reward of going into the "danger zone". Ironically the danger zone is the fun zone. The thrill of just barely slinking past a clicker or the heart stopping moment when you wonder if they've been alerted to you. What sort of difference would it make if resource were less frequent or if they were everywhere? How does where you put the resources inform the actions of the player one way or another? Forcing the player into the danger zone, constraining space, open spaces to be spotted, enemy positions and patrols. They all inform their movement and illicit an emotion. Stress and anxiety. It also makes alternate routes and branching paths actually interesting choices. Every extra room you explore is one more chance you dont make ot out a live -but maybe there's supplies in there and it'll actually end up saving you. This dynamic makes the choice interesting. Not choice for choice's sake. The fulfillment of fear is asking the player to do something brave. \

• Necessity and survival. In Doom you might see some resources that you dont need right then but youre constantly mentally mapping out your movement loop. It gives significance to spaces; where you move and when you go there. And youre always paying attention to natural cover, the air boosts and hazards like lava.

• Satisfaction. Sense of completion. Think wumpa fruit in the Crash Bandicoot series. Or the insatiable desire to pick up every single shiny in a Dark Souls. There's something to be said about the fear of missing out.

• Relief and hope. It might seem counterintuitive but fear elevates the thrill of the reward state. You've probably played a game at some point that was so easy that any sort of tension was dissipated and you just sped through the levels. Now this doesnt apply to all games. I dont think Animal Crossing needs to have high stakes or anything. But then there's Dark Souls, how the levels stretch on and on and you're short on estus. Every corner you turn, every door you open fills you with dread. You look down and you have 3 levels worth of souls. You cant afford to lose that. You could always turn back? But there might be a bonfire right around the corner. You decide to keep going and then you see it. A bonfire. If you've played these games you know that ecstatic sense of relief. And it is elevated because you have something to lose. Your souls drop on death and you lose aaaaaall the progress you had made up until that point. Hades operates similarly. Each room branching off from the one you're in presents a sometimes difficult decision. Its a gamble. One room offers the potential for an op buff you need, or maybe you need to access the shop, or there's a challenge room but youre also short on health. Fear, it seems, can also dissuade players from going certain ways. So in a way this relationship between fear and hope justifies branching paths and choices in our levels.

• Fulfillment. A test of skill and self challenge. Taking the harder route. Like maybe you forgo the stealth mechanics at a bandit camp and go in guns blazing. Or you only do stealth and reload a checkpoint if spotted. Jedi Survivor just straight up has just designated challenge areas with a timer. I think its also worth noting that the timer doesnt determine the award just that you complete it. As opposed to the challenjuiceges in Spiderman which were times. This is an exhausting feature to interact with more than just a few times. This is a great example of an implicit motivation and how explicit can ruin the fun. There were a few challenges in Jedi: Survivor that I completed but wasnt satsified with the time so I did it again. Of my own volition! You dont always need to reward the player. Sometimes the challenge itself is the reward.

• Creativity, experimentation and self expression. Age of Empires as an example. Every resource node, every geographical feature, and ever enemy placement changes how you respond and play the game. If there is a valuable resource you might build a tower next to it to dissuade or slow your opponent. If there is a narrow pass you might use it to clump enemies together. If its an open plains biome you might play as the Huns and use hit and run techniques. Hitman levels also feel like this. The map is like a playground and toys are scattered across the map. And the game doesnt tell you HOW to kill the target. And usually there are several ways to do it.

• Mystery and intrigue. Sense of mystery or intrigue. Elden Ring has an atmosphere brimming with the promise of something around the corner. I never felt the need to be motivated to do content. Checking behind every waterfall, climbing every tower, delving into every cave. Seriously Ubisoft, I dont need an icon to convince me to climb the radio tower. The fact that its there is incentive enough to climb it. Each point of interest pulls you deeper and deeper into the exploration loop. But it only works because of the level design. In order to be able to explore there has to be things hidden to discover. Sightlines become very important.

• Fulfilling the fantasy. Steve Lee one of the level designers on Dishonoured 2 has some great thoughts on that. He tried to create levels with a lot of vantage points. Looking down from above and plotting out your next move while the hapless soldier patrol below is such a cool feeling. Or the intimacy of creeping past an enemy up close and personal. The levels itself lean into the fantasy of being a badass assassin.