OPERATIONAL

LEVEL OF WARAND STRATEGY GAME DESIGN

GUY ULMER, PLARIUM

About me

Work at PlariumWe (mostly) make social strategy games

About me

Early ChildhoodStarted tinkering with games

About me

C&C / Red AlertSpent more time on modding than I’d like to admit

About me

In the Army

Intelligence NCO at the IDF

The strategy video game genre

● Early ties to military board games

● Not necessarily military conflict

● Birth of new subgenres/spinoffs: RTS, Tower defense, Time management, MOBA…

● Define game vision

● Find the right audience

● Competitive analysis

● Arguing on the ‘net

HOLD MY CALLSSOMEONE IS WRONG ON THE INTERNET

Why classification is important?

“War is the continuation of politics by other

means”Carl von Clausewitz*

* 19th century military dude. Wrote the book “Vom Kriege”. Also coined the term “fog of war”

What is war?

LEVEL O

F W

AR Strategic: the art and science

of employing national power

Operational: the planning and conduct of campaigns

Tactical: the application of concentrated force to gain

objectives

Levels of war

Wikipedia definition:

“In the field of military theory, the operational level of war

(also called the operational art, as derived from Russian:

оперативное искусство) represents the level of command

that connects the details of tactics with the goals of

strategy”

Operational level of war

At the most basic level, a conflict is like a game of tug-of-war.

Offensive and/or defensive maneuvers are being carried by opposing teams, both trying to tip the balance in their favor.

Breaking Down Conflict

Level of war Defense Offense

StrategicBase and force

building

Choose best plan

to achieve goal

OperationalEconomy

management

High level combat

management

TacticalDefensive layout

and maneuvers

Individual unit

control

Plotting the level-of-war chart

Level of war Defense Offense

StrategicBase and force

building

Choose best plan

to achieve goal

OperationalEconomy

management

High level combat

management

TacticalDefensive layout

and maneuvers

Individual unit

control

“Classic” strategy game flow

Levels of war separation

Defense: Strategic level of war

Building your force/nation/stronghold, focusing on long term growth

Defense: Operational level of war

Collecting resources and managing economy to fulfill strategic goals. Sustaining your supply chain.

Defense: Tactical level of war

Using your available resources to defend and adapt.This is usually where s**t happens.

Offense: Strategic level of war

Choose the best available option to achieve your set goal and defeat your opponent(s)

Offense: Operational level of war

High level combat management: which units to utilize and when

Offense: Tactical level of war

Maneuver and individual unit control

Classify subgenres

● Where lies the “center of gravity”?

● 4X / Grand strategy games

● Tower defense games

● Real Time Tactics

● Food for thought: Are MOBAs even strategy games?

Level of war Defense Offense

StrategicBase and force

building

Choose best plan

to achieve goal

OperationalEconomy

management

High level combat

management

TacticalDefensive layout

and maneuvers

Individual unit

control

4X Strategy games

4X Strategy games

Level of war Defense Offense

StrategicBase and force

building

Choose best plan

to achieve goal

OperationalEconomy

management

High level combat

management

TacticalDefensive layout

and maneuvers

Individual unit

control

Godlike strategy games

Level of war Defense Offense

StrategicBase and force

building

Choose best plan

to achieve goal

OperationalEconomy

management

High level combat

management

TacticalDefensive layout

and maneuvers

Individual unit

control

Real Time Tactics?

Level of war Defense Offense

StrategicBase and force

building

Choose best plan

to achieve goal

OperationalEconomy

management

High level combat

management

TacticalDefensive layout

and maneuvers

Individual unit

control

Offensive tactical games

Level of war Defense Offense

StrategicBase and force

building

Choose best plan

to achieve goal

OperationalEconomy

management

High level combat

management

TacticalDefensive layout

and maneuvers

Individual unit

control

Tower defense games

Level of war Defense Offense

StrategicBase and force

building

Choose best plan

to achieve goal

OperationalEconomy

management

High level combat

management

TacticalDefensive layout

and maneuvers

Individual unit

control

Social strategy games

Gates of War: Gen-3 social strategy

Gates of War: Gen-3 social strategy

Platform limitations

Or just design decisions?

Why Clash Royale is interesting

Clash Royale Breakdown

Level of war Defense Offense

Strategic Base and

force building

Choose best

plan to

achieve goal

Operational Economy

management

High level

combat

management

Tactical Defensive

layout and

maneuvers

Individual unit

control

Level of war Defense Offense

Strategic Base and

force building

Choose best

plan to

achieve goal

Operational Economy

management

High level

combat

management

Tactical Defensive

layout and

maneuvers

Individual unit

control

Clash Royale Breakdown

Level of war Defense Offense

Strategic Base and

force building

Choose best

plan to

achieve goal

Operational Economy

management

High level

combat

management

Tactical Defensive

layout and

maneuvers

Individual unit

control

Clash Royale Breakdown

Level of war Defense Offense

Strategic Base and

force building

Choose best

plan to

achieve goal

Operational Economy

management

High level

combat

management

Tactical Defensive

layout and

maneuvers

Individual unit

control

Clash Royale Breakdown

Level of war Defense Offense

Strategic Base and

force building

Choose best

plan to

achieve goal

Operational Economy

management

High level

combat

management

Tactical Defensive

layout and

maneuvers

Individual unit

control

Clash Royale Breakdown

Level of war Defense Offense

Strategic Base and

force building

Choose best

plan to

achieve goal

Operational Economy

management

High level

combat

management

Tactical Defensive

layout and

maneuvers

Individual unit

control

Clash Royale Breakdown

Level of war Defense Offense

Strategic Base and

force building

Choose best

plan to

achieve goal

Operational Economy

management

High level

combat

management

Tactical Defensive

layout and

maneuvers

Individual unit

control

Clash Royale Breakdown

Influence Royale

Gates of War

Influence Royale

Smite Rivals

Influence Royale

Minion Masters

Influence Royale

Halo Wars 2

Influence Royale

Force Arena

Level of war Defense Offense

Strategic Base and force

building

Choose best

plan to achieve

goal

Operational Economy

management

High level

combat

management

Tactical Defensive

layout and

maneuvers

Individual unit

control

Are MOBAs even strategy games?

Closing remarks

● Analyze your game: where can you place it on the level-of-war model?

● Compare to the competition

● Do the game mechanics actually support the intended approach?

Closing remarks

… more what you'd call guidelines than actual rules

Thank you! Questions?

● On War – Wikipedia article:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_War

● Operational level of waren.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operational_level_of_war

● Plarium is hiringcompany.plarium.com/career/

Backup slides

Do I really need this layer?

Do I really need this layer?

Platform limitations

● Consoles/Gamepad● Web/Social● Mobile/Touch

● Make sure that your chosen levels of war blend is appropriate for the chosen platform and its associated input method. A real-time 4X mobile game with heavy focus on unit micromanagement? Perhaps that is not the best combination.

4X Strategy Games

Time management games

Level of war Defense Offense

Strategic Base and force

building

Choose best

plan to achieve

goal

Operational Economy

management

High level

combat

management

Tactical Defensive

layout and

maneuvers

Individual unit

control

“time management” games?

Tower defense games