It’s not uncommon for games to include as much content as possible in an attempt to keep you hooked for dozens, if not hundreds, of hours. But for most games, that well of content will eventually run dry, and that’s assuming the fun doesn’t wear off first. Many games try and fail to last forever, but procedurally-generated games will always be the timeless exceptions.
Procedural Generation Can be Chaotically Unpredictable
If you’re unfamiliar with the term, “procedural generation” refers to the process of using an algorithm to generate unique content by drawing from a library of pre-made assets. In the case of video games, this process is mostly used to create an endless variety of unique levels.
Let’s use the2D roguelikeDead Cellsas an example. At the start of every new playthrough, the game generates new levels for every part of its campaign. Although some enemy types and obstacles can only be found in certain areas, everything else about each level—from the basic layout, to enemy placement, to the items you find—is shaped by procedural generation.
In some playthroughs, you might discover a secret room or hidden shortcut to an area you’ve never entered. Other playthroughs may be less forgiving and force you to deal with cursed treasure chests and optional challenge rooms. Whether a playthrough ends in victory sometimes comes down to pure luck, but your skill and knowledge of the game’s tricks can help you turn the odds in your favor.
Most of what I’ve described aboutDead Cellsapplies to other procedurally-generated roguelikes. Randomized levels allow for your first playthrough of a game to be just as exciting and unpredictable as your fiftieth. Completing these games doesn’t always mean you’ve seen everything they have to offer, as there are often challenges that you didn’t encounter during previous runs or wouldn’t appear until after you beat the game once. Whereas most games become more predictable with subsequent playthroughs, procedurally-generated games consistently find new ways to surprise you—and that’s beforeyou add mods into the mix.
The same applies to procedurally-generated open worlds. Games likeMinecraftandValheimare at their best when you’re mapping out unfamiliar terrain and learning where to find resources. No matter how many hours you sink into these games, starting fresh in a new world always comes with the thrill of wandering into the unknown. That only becomes more apparent as you dig deeper into these worlds, where you’re guaranteed to find bigger rewards and greater dangers.
That’s not to say procedural generation is always perfect or that every game needs it. Procedurally-generated levels may be entertaining, but they’re often forgettable, and I’m sure that most roguelike players can’t remember even half the levels they’ve experienced in their favorite games. Meanwhile, I can still vividly picture the haunting Baker manor ofResident Evil 7and the gruesome sights of the USG Ishimura fromDead Space, despite not pouring nearly as much time into either of those games.Carefully-crafted game worldstriumph over procedural generation in many ways, but there are some experiences that thrive on the endless variety of randomized levels.
Procedural generation’s strength comes from its ability to keep a game’s moment-to-moment action feeling endlessly exciting and unpredictable. It’s the ideal gimmick for anyone who wants to constantly be challenged, surprised, and tested on their skills. Plenty of games grow stale once you memorize their levels and learn to anticipate their every surprise, but procedural generation is often the greatest remedy to predictability.
Most Procedurally-Generated Games Have Endless Replay Value
Besides their endless variety, most procedurally-generated games boast an absurd amount ofreplay value. Roguelikes often feature an assortment of unique items and characters that can be earned by completing specific goals across multiple runs, as well as offering a massive checklist of optional objectives to keep hardcore achievement hunters busy. Some roguelikes also feature meta-progression systems, allowing you to unlock new abilities or stat upgrades that make future runs easier. Combined with the brutal difficulty of the roguelike genre, you can expect to get hundreds of hours out of these games if you aim to see everything they have to offer.
Even if you’re not the type of person to aim for 100% completion, procedurally-generated roguelikes offer enough variety and substance to last for countless hours. Personally, I don’t always replay games, but procedurally-generated roguelikes are one of the few genres that I consistently find myself revisiting. Nearly every playthrough contains something I’ve never seen before, and most runs are short enough for me to talk myself into starting “just one more run,” only to burn through twelve more runs in a single sitting.
Once again, the same can also be said about procedurally generated open worlds. Games likeMinecraftandTerrariaoffer enough freedom and variety to play them however you want. It’s hard to fall into a repetitive routine with these games due to how much they can differ between each playthrough. It’s why these games have inspired thousands of self-imposed challenge runs and creative playstyles. Plus, theirmultiplayer supportmeans you may easily enjoy these experiences with friends, making for another reason to keep diving back into their endlessly varied worlds.
Best of all, procedurally-generated levels don’t always have to be completely random. Plenty of procedurally-generated open-world games let you determine the size of the map and disable specific regions or creatures from spawning. It’s also common for procedurally-generated games to provide unique seeds for every layout, allowing you to replay specific runs or share memorable worlds with other players. Some games likeThe Binding of IsaacandTerrariaalso contain hidden seeds which can be entered to unlock special game modes that are normally inaccessible through other means.
Even without any of these features, procedurally-generated games are simply fun to replay. Taking on a different challenge and discovering new things in every run makes these games a blast, and many of them have only gotten better after years of free content updates andpaid expansions.
Procedural Generation Is More Common Than You Think
Most procedurally-generated games fall into the roguelike orsurvival crafting genres, but there are some notable exceptions. Whereas those genres use procedural generation to create brand-new maps for each playthrough, some games have used this tool to bring ambitious ideas to life.
Back in 1984,Elitedelivered an expansive open world that let players fly through space and visit hundreds of different planets across multiple galaxies. Even by modern standards,Eliteis a stunningly huge game, but it achieved its grandiose scope through procedural generation. Rather than hand-crafting every single locale in the game, the developers behindEliteused procedural generation to populate the game world with randomly generated planets. Unlike most modern procedurally-generated games, the planets will always have the same layout and fixed locations across each playthrough, but it’s still an impressive feat, even by today’s standards. Years later,The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfallfamously used a similar form of procedural generation to shape its similarly massive setting.
Neither of these early attempts was perfect—both games are filled with vast stretches of nothingness in many parts of their maps—but they paved the way for later games to refine the concept of procedurally-generated worlds. One of the best examples of this isNo Man’s Sky, which not only fully realizesElite’s vision of a grandiose universe filled with hundreds of diverse planets, but also used procedural generation to give each of these planets their own unique flora and fauna. Likewise,Elite Dangerous—the most recent entry in theEliteseries—featuresbillions of explorable star systems, including locations from its predecessors and brand-new systems created through procedural generation.
Shenmue IIfeatured a similar example on a much smaller scale. At one point in the game, you visit a fictionalized recreation of the real-world city of Kowloon. Most of the area is filled with apartment buildings, all of which have multiple floors wherein you can freely explore hundreds of uniquely decorated apartments created through procedural generation. Some apartments contain neatly decorated living spaces, cramped offices, seedy hideouts, or a room that seems innocuous until you notice a revolver resting on the table. It’s an absurd amount of attention to detail for hundreds of rooms that most players will never see, yet it gives the quiet apartments of Kowloon a lived-in feeling that few other games have ever captured.
It’s not just minor details and entire universes that the procedural generation has handled. Many RPGs use procedural generation to create their seemingly endless varities of loot, though theBorderlandsseries boasts the most impressive version of this, with each entry containing millions (or, in the case ofBorderlands 3, over a billion) of different guns that each look and play differently.Sporetakes this idea even further by incorporating procedural generation into nearly every aspect of its gameplay and presentation, allowing the game to create randomly generated worlds, distinctive creature animations, and even unique music.
Procedural generation isn’t perfect, and there are some experiences that can only work as tightly crafted experiences. However, when it’s done right, procedurally-generated games can be impossible to put down. If you’re the type of person that values challenge and replay value in games, you’ll be happy to find that procedurally-generated games have both in spades. While some players are understandably tired of seeing every modern indie game use randomized levels and roguelike mechanics, there’s a lot to love about these unpredictable experiences.
If you’ve been meaning to get into these genres, but aren’t sure where to start,the best place to begin is with the classics. Roguelikes such asThe Binding of IsaacandDead Cellsare brimming with exciting unlockables and endless variation, while iconic survival crafting games likeMinecraftandTerrariaare still the undisputed kings of their genre.
