The objective of Gamasutra's regular Design Lesson 101 column, written by game designer Manveer Heir, is simple: play a game from beginning to end, and learn something about game design from the experience. This time around, the game in the spotlight is Massive Entertainment's World of Conflict.

Heir observed that most RTS games implement the same tried-and-true formula: "collect resources, build a base, pump out units, research upgrades, demolish enemy, win." Units are built, units are killed, new units are built, new units are killed, and so on ad nauseum. With WiC, however, Heir pointed out that resources are returned to the player after a unit dies -- but not immediately. "Instead, the resources trickle back in over time," Heir wrote. "Your resources aren't constrained by how well or poor you are doing in the game."

Such an initially peculiar design decision actually helps to avoid players easily achieve victory after gaining the upper hand in battle. "The death of one unit can be replaced, but not immediately," wrote Heir. "You may have to wait a couple minutes in order to be able to afford replacing that unit."

Of course, a consequence must exist for the player losing a unit. If they could simply be replaced, there would be no penalty for a platoon of units being slaughtered. The consequence, noted Heir, "is the time it takes to get a replacement. Having less units affects the player's ability to hold control points. Holding control points affects the drop-position of new units. If the player is forced to drop units further back from the front line of battle, it's more difficult to reinforce, take new control points, and make positive progress in the game."