Optional Minibosses?

[noxyoursox]

I've been thinking of including some minibosses in my game that are avoidable, but the path to avoid them is a puzzle--basically, giving the player a choice between solving the puzzle or fighting the miniboss. I'm not sure if it's a good idea, though, and if I do implement it, whether I should reward the player for both routes (encouraging them to do both) or only for one (basically, you can skip the miniboss but you'll miss out on the goodies). Thoughts?

 

[Akod]

I would say make the minibosses avoidable, but reward them either way. Doing the miniboss should have a better reward, such as something that can only be obtained via the boss fight or maybe a large sum of money and a good amount of exp, but the non-boss route should be littered with various supplemental items that are also useful, such as potions, revival items, maybe a weapon or piece of armor, etc.. Whether or not it's a puzzle should vary from miniboss to miniboss. Maybe make some puzzles and others just a large area full of normal enemies.

 

[Nota]

I feel that the player should receive a reward for fighting the mini boss. In a way it's like getting through the stage either through a genocide or pacifist route. The pacifist route in this case would be the puzzle where the genocide route would be the mini boss fight.

Fighting causes you to gain experience as well as rewards from the dead enemy you slayed. The puzzle route should involve less risk to your life but require more brain power and less brute strength.

Both should have different rewards and affect what type of items or perks you receive. From fighting you should receive things that continue to encourage you to fight. If you're a puzzle solver, you should be able to receive rewards that encourage you to stay on the puzzle solving route.

An example would be for defeating the mini boss the main character gets a better armor or weapon. But maybe for solving a puzzle you receive something like an Enemy Book or a Flash Light (if anyone has made anything like this) that helps solving future puzzles that may have little light or be quite dark.

Just some ideas, but options always makes a player feel like they have much more freedom and mobility in a game.

 

[LordBones]

I really like the zelda tactic of having a mini boss and a normal boss because often the miniboss is what gives you the item for the rest of the dungeon and is the halfway point. You've passed a whole bunch of stuff you can't do much about and you maybe couldn't go to certain places however now you've defeated this mini boss you can. However they also make it hard even after you've got this item that helps a lot which just helps in the sense of transition from no so powerful to more powerful.

Provided you implement something like that where the power is increased or rather the abliity is increased a mini-boss is perfect.

 

[iblamevictoria]

I've been thinking of including some minibosses in my game that are avoidable, but the path to avoid them is a puzzle--basically, giving the player a choice between solving the puzzle or fighting the miniboss. I'm not sure if it's a good idea, though, and if I do implement it, whether I should reward the player for both routes (encouraging them to do both) or only for one (basically, you can skip the miniboss but you'll miss out on the goodies). Thoughts?

Defeating your miniboss should give rewards that more fit a player who likes to fight and earn experience while the reward for the puzzle should fit a player who likes that sort of thing. If a player isn't as interested in battling then they shouldn't be rewarded with tons of experience because they'll never want to put it to good use. Find a way to reward that player in a more intuitive way. Then if a player is dissatisfied with the reward they got from one path they can go try the other and thus will better optimize their character for the way they play. It adds a nice second layer of roleplaying this way.

 

[Jiriki9]

I think this is a very nice idea and, as most others, seemingly, I think both ways should be rewarded. But, I think, it should be NOT possible to do both, it should be a reall choice: either the miniboss OR the puzzle. For the rewards I think, exp should be gained through both paths and then there should be additional specific rewards.