GDC 2020: Three Teamfight Tactics design lessons

David Abecassis, lead designer of Teamfight Tactics, gave a design session at GDC 2020 earlier today. He discussed the lessons learned during the game's whirlwind 18-week production. Abecassis discussed the three main components of Riot Game's auto battler, the advances made in each, and the lessons learned about game creation from these advancements.

Naturally, auto chess served as a major inspiration for Teamfight Tactics, and many aspects of that genre were included into the game's design. Some of the nicest aspects of auto chess, according to Abecassis, include "relaxed pace," "non-confrontational play," and how they "represent heroes in a cool way." He also discussed their battle royale element, which refers to games with a low probability of success and, thus, much less pressure and cost in terms of failure, and their "roguelike arc," which allows players to develop a flawless roster.

With the primary objective of "delighting current and past League fans," Teamfight Tactic attempted to alter the auto chess formula in order to appeal to a wider player base.

Juggling

Abecassis started out by talking about "juggling." In order to create room for future unit purchases from the store, players must micromanage their troops both on the board and off it. This is a crucial component of auto chess strategy for maximizing your roster's capabilities in combat. However, Abecassis and the group felt that this was too stressful, so they restricted the number of champions that could be on the field at once. In order to provide room for additional units, they also let units of the same kind to merge into higher level variants.

Due of the need to make quick judgments on which troops to maintain that were essential to their present build, this gave the game a new tactical element. In addition to demonstrating how Teamfight Tactics was able to make the game more approachable, this simplification of traditional auto chess also embodies Abecassis' assertion that the game is all about "tough choices, not touch execution."

making matches

Teamfight Tactics experimented with a variety of matching techniques, including four pairs and four real-player battles, as well as eight players facing off against eight cloned armies in a pseudo-PvP mode. One of the finest things about auto chess is player isolation, which is exacerbated by cloned armies, as Abecassis puts it. However, Riot Games also understands the importance of cooperative in-game experiences. Ultimately, Abecassis and the group shifted their focus to four bouts and four pairings, while still trying to create a lighthearted and competitive environment.

Little Legends, the cute in-game characters that may roam about the battle-board's periphery, helped achieve this. The carousel, a type of market where 10 players gather to choose champions and gear before to a battle, was also used to do this. According to Abecassis, this modification taught them to embrace pivoting in game design towards the end of production, as that's when you typically have playtest data to support your decisions.

items

The last of Abecassis' three courses on design pertaining to Teamfight Tactics equipment. Abecassis and the team chose to simplify the item system, enabling players to get things from champions on the carousel and for any two components to combine into a final item, in place of the often intricate structure seen in most auto chess games. In addition to making the system far more approachable, this simplicity produced some very potent side effects and synergies when the game was released. And this was the main takeaway from Teamfight Tactic's last design lesson: always welcome the unexpected.

You can play Teamfight Tactics on Google Play and the App Store, and you can determine which players are worth utilizing by looking at our TFT tier list. Take a look at our list of the top auto chess games for mobile devices best games for similar games! Our additional coverage of GDC 2020 is available on the website.