Tony Ventrice曾在Gamasutra里提到社交游戏设计者必须认识到休闲型和硬核型社交游戏的区别，以便能设计出更多简单但不过于单纯的，容易入门但不易被掌控的吸引眼球的社交游戏。

Tony的主要观点是社交游戏必须既容易上手又具有挑战性，而且这个设计原则并不仅局限于社交游戏领域。当我们运用游戏思维来解决现实商业和社会难题时，我们必须设计出能够让人们感觉容易接受，并不断对其产生吸引力的解决方案。

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Tony提到社交游戏设计者应注意避免出现的6个使游戏过于困难的设计理念：

1. 难以操纵的控制系统（游戏邦注：例如需要玩家四处查找，并牢记于心的键盘快捷键）。

2. 包含太多信息不明的过剩选项。

3. 从其它游戏体验获取影响玩家游戏习惯的“常识”。

4. 包括键盘快捷键和游戏中非直观的物体行为等抽象记忆。

5. 迫使玩家在游戏中瞎摸的不清晰、宽泛的目标。

6. 不清晰的解决办法，甚至连寻找解决办法的思路也不明朗。

与此同时，社交游戏设计者还要掌握6个让游戏看起来困难，而实际并非如此的设计理念：

1. 挑战，让游戏简单易上瘾然而却很难精通，让玩家在征服每一个环节后都会有种新的成就感。

2. 不断摸索的模式，让玩家不知道具体的解决办法，但有找到这个解决办法的思路。

3. 策略，让玩家不断做出会带来积极结果的选择。

4. 主题，让玩家在简单的行为和游戏机制中拥有可以追寻的故事主题。

5. 重复，让玩家在反复的行为中学习提高速度，加快变化频率。

6. 有深度的目标，让玩家在不断发现新目标、抉择和战略中重新回到游戏。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

How to Design Social Games That Are Easy to Learn (Accessible) But Difficult to Master (Challenging)?

by Gaurav Mishra

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Tony Ventrice at Gamasutra says that social game designers should think about the differences between casual and hardcore social games in order to design more engaging casual games that are simple but not simplistic, easy to learn (accessible) but difficult to master (challenging).

Tony’s main argument that social games needs to be both accessible and challenging is also important in contexts beyond social games. As we use game thinking principles to solve real-world business and social problems, we’ll need to design solutions that let people in easily and keep them engaged over time.

Tony says that social game designers should avoid six design elements that make a game hardcore:

1. Difficult controls involving keyboard shortcuts that must be discovered and memorized.

2. Overwhelming options involving too many choices with too many unknowns.

3. Prerequisite knowledge “common sense” gaming conventions acquired from having played other games.

4. Abstract memorization involving keyboard shortcuts or non-intuitive behavior of objects in the game.

5. Unclear or open-ended goals which force players to figure out what’s expected of them.

6. Unclear solutions where not only the solution but also the method of finding the solution is unclear.

At the same time, social game designers should include six design elements that look like they make a game hardcore, but don’t:

1. Challenge, so that the game is addictively simple yet impossible to master, and players end each session with a new sense of accomplishment.

2. Trial and Error, where the solution is unknown, but the method of solution is known, so that players can test out their hypotheses with experiments and discover the solution.

3. Strategy, so that players can make consistent  choices that result in positive pay-offs.

4. Theme, so that players can follow a narrative beyond the simple actions and game mechanics.

5. Repetition, so that players can progress by repeating actions they have already learned, at increasingly higher speeds, or with increasing variations.

6. Depth/ Graduated Objectives, so that players discover new goals, choices and strategies and continue to return to the game.（source:gauravonomics）