Greg Lobanov

small game design thing I've been learning: giving the player a ton of things to do and making them figure out how to progress sucks. good "open" design still shows a clear objective, and then also lots of other fun/intruiging things to do that distract from the critical path

it feels like giving the players lots of stuff to play with directionlessly will let them appreciate all the elements at their own pace, but usually it does the opposite. it's frustrating cuz they don't know what they're supposed to do and that can be where the game loses them

when the player knows what they're "supposed" to do, they get to make a fun choice. if they're enjoying the game, they'll really enjoy getting to decide for themselves to take the long way and explore where they dont need to/where they werent asked to