Key Principle
Designers do not need to give players true freedom — they need to give players the feeling of freedom. True freedom makes it impossible to shape the interest curve; the feeling of freedom preserves player satisfaction while enabling a designed experience.
"We don't always have to give the player true freedom — we only have to give the player the feeling of freedom." — Jesse Schell, Chapter 18
Schell identifies six methods of indirect control that guide player behavior without overt instruction:
- Constraints — Limiting options increases satisfaction. Offering "the popular six" from sixty flavors sold more candy than listing all sixty or offering open-ended choice.
- Goals — Once a goal is established, players self-restrict to goal-relevant behavior. The etched fly in Amsterdam urinals creates an implicit goal that controls behavior without instruction.
- Interface — The controller itself limits expectations. A plastic guitar eliminates thoughts of stage dives. The avatar constrains: controlling a dragonfly vs. a tank produces fundamentally different behavioral expectations.
- Visual Design — Where players look is where they go. Disney's castle ("weenie") draws guests to park center.
- Characters — If players care about characters, those characters control behavior. In Ico, the urge to protect the princess drives urgency without explicit instruction.
- Music — Fast music makes restaurant diners eat faster (measured effect on profit). Music shifts player behavior without conscious awareness.
Why This Matters
Without indirect control, designers face a binary trap: either the player feels railroaded (too little freedom) or the experience becomes shapeless and boring (too much freedom). Indirect control resolves this by steering players through invisible guidance, preserving the subjective experience of agency while maintaining the designer's intended pacing and progression.
This principle extends beyond games. Schell draws from theme park design, architecture, and behavioral psychology to show that the most powerful guidance is the guidance the person being guided never notices. Designers who master indirect control can create tightly authored experiences that players remember as their own choices.
Good Examples
The Red Line Experiment (Aladdin's Magic Carpet VR): Players ignored the Sultan (the narrative target) to fly freely. A single red line painted on the virtual floor guided 90%+ of players directly to the Sultan. In post-experience interviews, players said "What red line?" — it did not register consciously. The line was so visually dominant it also prevented players from noticing columns and chandeliers that would have inspired free exploration. (Ch. 18)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Buccaneer Gold (Collusion): Enemy ships attacked players then fled toward interesting island scenarios. Players, pursuing the goal of sinking ships, followed and discovered new content organically — never realizing the game world was conspiring to lead them. (Ch. 18)
Facade (Stern & Mateas): AI characters make decisions based on both character motivation AND a designer-encoded dramatic tension timeline. This is the advanced form of collusion: characters simultaneously pursue their in-world goals and serve the designer's experiential aims. (Ch. 18)
Counterpoints
Indirect Control Backfire (Alien Encounter): A circular theater with restraint chairs led guests to expect spinning — when it did not happen, the experience disappointed. Every design choice creates expectations. Indirect control that sets up expectations the design does not fulfill is worse than no indirect control at all. (Ch. 18)
The Red Line's Overcorrection: The same red line that guided players to the Sultan also prevented them from noticing columns and chandeliers — destroying potential moments of wonder. Indirect control that is too dominant collapses exploration rather than shaping it. (Ch. 18)
Too Much Freedom Without Structure: Without indirect control, players given true freedom produce shapeless, boring experiences. Freedom alone is not a design virtue — it must be paired with invisible structure to create meaningful experience. (Ch. 18)
Key Quotes
"We don't always have to give the player true freedom — we only have to give the player the feeling of freedom." — Jesse Schell, Chapter 18
"When the best leader's work is done the people say 'We did it ourselves!'" — Lao Tzu, cited in Chapter 18
"The primary purpose of architecture is to control a person's experience." — Jesse Schell, Chapter 21 (extending the indirect control principle to spatial design)
Rules of Thumb
- More options does not equal more satisfaction — curate choices to a meaningful few
- Where players look is where they go — use visual landmarks ("weenies") to guide movement
- If indirect control sets an expectation, the design must fulfill it or the backfire is worse than no guidance
- Collusion is the most sophisticated form: make the game world itself conspire to create good experiences while players believe they are acting freely
- Test whether players notice your guidance — the best indirect control is invisible in post-experience interviews
- Layer multiple methods (goals + visual design + characters) rather than relying on a single channel
Related References
- Story, Narrative, and the Story Stack - Story Stack designed bottom-up to preserve freedom
- Worlds, Characters, and Spaces - Spaces are a primary indirect control tool