Pacing

Looking into the pacing of games, I found an article on casual games which made to be 'pick up and play', the article discusses the uses of simplicity against complexity. The simpler the game (much like bejewelled) the faster pace the game will reach as the player doesn't need to learn a massive expanse of moves. If the player has a lot of possibilities the game will slow down.

This theory from casual games works well in games much like chess or bejewelled as they have a set pattern of moves etc however in my game as the levels develop I cant just give the player more moves to slow down their pace so I need to look into different methods.

The article does outline a helpful point that my game could use quite effectively.

'the learning happens as the game moves forward, and this type of game should not require the player to invest a considerable amount of time learning its patterns. It is supposed to be fast and organic' Rather than using this to make the player move quickly through the game I will use this to drop the player straight into the game without much time for instructions.

 'The reason why the gameplay slowed down is that players would now have a broader space of possibility' - The player will therefore be in the game with possibly limitless moves. The game starts off in a dark room, the player wont know the room they are in so they will need to explore to get used to the area they are in. This gives the player a broader space of possibilities. They will start off unsure of where to go. But after a short while they will pick up some pace.

Space of Possibility and Pacing in Casual Game Design 
Marcos Venturelli, 2009,Kranio Studio
http://wwwusers.rdc.puc-rio.br/sbgames/09/_proceedings/dat/_pdfs/artedesign/60345.pdf