10 Awesome Video Game Mechanics The Industry Abandoned
3. Improving From Failure - Fallen London
Have you ever heard the saying "You learn more from failure, than you do from success"? Well, video games don't seem to agree. Lose a battle? Die. Win a battle? Gain experience. Fail to craft an item? Wasted your resources. Succeed in crafting? Get an item and improve your crafting skill rating.
Fallen London, a browser-based game from Failbetter Games, the developers behind Sunless Sea and its sequel, had a pretty nifty idea to the way it handled experience. Failing at a task netted you more experience than succeeding. Want to kick open a door? Kicking it off the hinges teaches you nothing you didn't already know, but kicking it in the wrong spot teaches where the wrong spots to kick are.
This is a feature that could be included, at least partially, in almost any RPG. From failing a cooking minigame in Genshin Impact to trying to shoot at a monster in a tactical game or even failing to pick someone's pocket in Elder Scrolls. Heck growing stronger from losing to a strong opponent, rather than winning, is a plot point in the Dragon Ball franchise, so how about in a fighting game? You learn more about fighting from getting hit in the face, than blocking.