Reviewing gameplay twists

Given all the aforementioned options available, it is simply a matter of personal preference which multiplayer game genre a player chooses. However, as a developer, you need to be aware of different types of gameplay and technologies to make your project work properly. In this section, I will present a couple of twists applied to regular gameplay.

Asymmetrical gameplay

In asymmetric multiplayer games, two or more teams of players compete in gameplay where the mechanics are different for each group. These games usually require players to set their strategy depending on their chosen side.

One of the best examples is Among Us (https://www.innersloth.com/games/among-us/), which is set on a spaceship where some player takes the role of an impostor whose aim is to let all other crewmates die in some “unexpected” accident before their true identity is revealed.

Hide-and-seek gameplay

There are some games that are meant to be open-ended, letting players explore worlds with considerable freedom and achieve more objectives compared to other more linear adventures.

In multiplayer games, this has led to some hide-and-seek variants, where players try to avoid each other (or the main storyline), whether the game officially supports them or not.

An example of this kind of twist is Secret Neighbor (https://www.secretneighbor.com/), a multiplayer social game where a group of adventurous kids is trying to sneak into their mysterious neighbor’s home to uncover evidence that suggests he is keeping children captive.

Asynchronous gameplay

An asynchronous multiplayer game will let players interact with each other without the need to be connected at the same time. These games are usually played in turns, where each player will make their move and will wait for the opponent to complete the next one.

And yes...online chess is an asynchronous game!

Now that you have a strong understanding of the main networked game genres, you may be wondering whether game engines’ multiplayer technologies are just for gaming. In the next section, I will provide some examples that demonstrate the opposite.