“Range of Motion” is a type of delightful movement that gives the player various overlapping movement options within a limited sphere of maximum traversal. It is a way to rein in runaway movement speed, so that it doesn't weaken other aspects of a game like the experience of exploring a level.

Think of it like a "blob of potential movement" surrounding the player. The outside of the blob represents the furthest the player can travel from a move (or move combo) in a given amount of time. The volume inside of the blob is the place where all of the different types of movement and their combinations live.

Games that make movement inside of the blob enjoyable seem as if they have no blob walls at all! Games that do a poor job can have movement that feels restrictive and less analog.

Why Limit Movement?

When prototyping a game’s movement mechanics, the player's movement speed can easily run away from you. It is fun to move fast after all! But too much movement freedom can lead to other problems.

There are the obvious issues of having to design hazards around out-of-control movement speed and having to build huge levels, but it can also severely impact the fun of exploring a game environment. That cool cliff up too high and that cool route that is far off the main path become much less magical when the player can just fly or race to them in seconds. Sometimes, the player has just gotta do the work and climb that mountain.

Freedom of Movement

Range of motion gives players the freedom to traverse how they want. Let’s say there is a platform slightly too far to reach with a normal jump. Instead of limiting the player to only one option, have multiple moves available. For example, the player could:

• Double Jump
• Jump > Dash
• Long Jump
• Slide Jump

Complexity Overload Warning!

Be careful! The goal is to give the player a feeling of movement freedom and not to overcomplicate the moveset. Look to clever and intuitive uses of analog movement and context-sensitive movement. Find moves that mesh well with the game!

The Moove Radar

Dance Dance Revolution has the Groove Radar. Let's think about the Moove Radar. We may need a polygon with more sides though! Create a balanced variety of moves that have varying amounts of the variables below:

• Vertical Distance - How high can the player get?
• Horizontal Distance - How far can they move horizontally?
• Speed - How quickly do they get there?
• Control - How much control does the player lose?
• Input Complexity - How difficult is it to perform?
• Secondary Utility - Are there other benefits?
• Flow - Does this move flow into the next? Does it preserve momentum?

Think about how each of the player's move maps on to the Moove Radar. The moves don't need to be perfectly balanced, but a moove radar could expose issues with a moveset.

Range of Motion in Actual
Video Games

3D Mario games are the shining examples here. Below are a few moves from Mario 64 and their Moove Radars. Note: Input Complexity is measured in reverse, so that the easier a move is to input, the more area it occupies on the radar.

Mario 64's triple jump is a way to keep momentum and get lots of height.

Mario's backflip is a safe way to gain height from a standstill, but movement comes to a halt.

Mario's long jump has little left and right control, but travels far.

Stringing together Mario's moves requires more complex input execution, but allows for more speed and control. Shown below is a jump > dive.