10 Gaming Mechanics That Developers Should Have Fixed Years Ago

Levels in games can’t go on forever, so there has to be some kind of barrier stopping you from trying to go off into the distance that doesn’t exist, or from taking the easy route in a level. However, a lot of developers have gotten lazy with how they present these ‘invisible walls’ to players.

Nothing breaks your immersion in a game more than seeing your hero unable to climb over the knee-high wall between them and the rest of the city, or when they can break walls with their bare hands but can’t move the cardboard box that’s blocking the stairs in a building, or open the broken door that’s holding onto its frame by a splinter.

Obviously there have to be limits to how you can interact to the gaming environment, but there needs to be a bit of realism to it. Having a literal invisible wall stop you from going somewhere is like seeing a film character take a long detour when they could just go down one empty road – it’s just stupid.

Simply make sure every barrier is realistically explained and it’ll be fine. Large walls, barbed wire fences, an NPC physically stopping you: yes. Small fences, rubbish bags, thin air: no.