A few weeks ago, I broke down some of the many ways that designers can classify their players. I purposefully kept that post broad and mainly focused on what some of the different typologies are. But this week, we’re going to focus in on how a game can appeal to different types of players using specific features and mechanics. For this case study, we’re going to break down Supergiant Games’ Hades using Nick Yee’s Motivations of Play. Keep in mind that this is not going to be an exhaustive breakdown of every single mechanic in the game, but rather a highlight on some of the game’s key features and their effectiveness.

Ready? Let’s go. In the name of Hades!