Circulation Patterns

Straight-On

• High Level of Authorship
• Little Player Choice Available

One-Way Loopback

• Sense of Control (regional division)
• Can Seem Contrived

Branching Chokepoint

• Emphasis on Player Choice
• Create risk-reward routes
• Bigger Scope
• Choices can feel illusory

Swiss-Cheese Approach

• Emphasis on Player Choice
• Bigger Scope
• Less Design Control of early experience

Branching Fractal

Hub and Spoke

• Efficient: Highly Reused Hub Space
• Hub Can Become Dull/Repetitive

Gated Hubs

Level Reuse

• Power reversal

  E.g. Once the player captures a machine gun position, they can use it to fight back against enemies.

• Reverse traversal
• Level mutation

  e.g. Hollow Knight