Reducing the role of pacing to simply manage difficulty would make us disregard a whole range of more complex aspects of video games. For example, most humans find great joy in exploring uncharted lands, experimenting with new tools, and diving deep into captivating stories. These types of experiences are unarguably useful in making our games more immersive and engaging, and thus should be paced accordingly.
To begin with, any part of the game that encourages thinking and decision-making can be considered as cognitively and mentally stimulating. Actions that stimulate our players include (but are not limited to):
- Learning and mastering gameplay mechanics and controls
- Analyzing new and unfamiliar content, building ...
