How Can You Make Backtracking Fun?

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It takes forever to make a location in most video games. It sure would be nice if we could reuse it. Maybe even a few more times… Careful! You might be falling into a backtracking trap. Excessive backtracking is so easy for a game to add in, but it can be so painful for players. Turning backtracking from a chore to something that players want to play takes some work, but it's totally possible. Let's talk about the game design approaches that can make backtracking fun.

Featuring:
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
A whole lot of classic Sierra point-and-click adventures
Radiant Historia
Devil May Cry 4
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk
Donkey Kong 64
Metroid (like, most of them)
Hollow Knight
Wario Land 4
Pizza Tower
Tunic
Outer Wilds

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