Design Problems: Kingmaker & Elimination
📋 What it is
Two classic flaws: a losing player who decides the winner ("kingmaker"), and players knocked out early with nothing to do.
🗣️ Coach says
Designers learn to spot bad experiences. The KINGMAKER problem is when a player who can't win still gets to choose WHO wins — unfair and unfun. PLAYER ELIMINATION is when someone is out early and sits bored while others finish. Good designs avoid both, keeping everyone engaged to the end.
🧠 Memory hook
Kingmaker = a loser picks the winner. Elimination = out early and bored. Avoid both.
😂 Giggle
Why did the board game designer go to therapy?
Too many unresolved kingmaker problems!
😲 Whoa!
Modern game design largely moved AWAY from player elimination — designers now prefer everyone playing to the end, because a bored, knocked-out player is a game's worst review.
✅ Quick check: What is the "kingmaker" problem in game design?
Say your answer out loud first — then reveal.
When a player who can no longer win still gets to decide WHO wins — an unfair, unfun outcome designers try to prevent.
A losing player shouldn't control the result; that's the kingmaker flaw.
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Think of a game where someone gets knocked out early. Invent a rule that keeps them involved instead.