Riot Games’ League of Legends (LoL) is one of the most popular games in esports, and this week at Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, LoL’s lead designer Ryan Scott talked about finding the balance between depth, complexity, and fun in video games.

“Depth is something I feel very strongly about,” Scott said during a GDC session. “I think the paradox exists of wanting to make something deep while simultaneously wanting new people to feel they can enjoy it. As an industry, we analyze it in a way that is intuitive, but I don’t think it’s correct.”

Riot has its own manifesto in which it promise to focus on player experience “from a newb’s first game to a veteran’s thousandth.” A game that is easy to learn but lacks complexity will be popular in the beginning but will lose players over time because they feel there is no more game for them to master. On the other hand, a game that is incredibly complex and takes too long to learn the basics will drive many players away before they have a chance to enjoy it.

“Accessibility is great, but it cannot be your foundation”

“The real paradox is that if you try to make your game widely appealing first and then try to add complexity on top of that — it won’t work,” Scott said. “Because you’re building on a weak foundation. There’s nothing to hold up the house. Accessibility is great, but it cannot be your foundation.”

According to Scott, fun can make a game popular, but depth and complexity will give it longevity. LoL is relatively easy to pick up compared to some other MOBAs, such as Dota 2, but it has a high skill cap that allows players who practice and strategize to become exceptionally good at it. This is one reason the LoL has become so popular with the esports community.

Scott also explains that the concepts of depth and complexity are different. “Complexity and depth have a relationship, but they are not the same thing. Complexity is a cost, and you try to add the least amount of cost to get the most depth.”

He added, “The hardest thing that is pushing up against depth is fun. That’s what presents us with judgment calls that we often fall on the wrong side of.”

Image credit: Riot Games (c)