8 steps
Combat that reads clearly
For: Action games where hits feel mushy or unfair.
Good combat is about information: the player must see what hit them, when they are safe, and what a big hit costs. Build the rules first, then the feel, then the enemies.
The steps, in order
- 1
Blueprint
Hitbox and Hurtbox
Fights feel fair when what hurts matches what the player sees. Keeping the shape of an attack apart from the shape of a body lets you tune each without changing how the characters look.
Why here: Everything else depends on this split: what can hit and what can be hit are different shapes, and the picture is neither.
- 2
Blueprint
Invincibility Frames
Protection after a hit gives the player time to get away, and it stops a character standing in a hazard from losing all its health in a fraction of a second. Done wrong it is either too short to matter or so long that danger stops feeling real.
Why here: A hit must count once. The short safe window after it is what stops a single enemy from draining a whole bar.
- 3
Code recipe
Hit pause
Stops the game's clock for a split second when a blow lands, which makes hits feel solid. The pause ends cleanly, so the game loses exactly that moment and no more.
Why here: Now feel: freezing the game for a few frames on impact is the cheapest way to make a hit heavy. Do it before any animation work.
- 4
Blueprint
Knockback
A hit that moves the target tells the player what happened, makes space after a fight and gives weight to strong enemies. Without the stun and the protection it is only a shove, and a fair game turns into one the player cannot escape.
Why here: Knockback shows direction and force; done wrong it stacks into a launch. Set it against gravity and the frame rate.
- 5
Code recipe
Screen shake
Makes hits and explosions feel heavy by shaking the picture. Hits add up and fade away by themselves, and the movement is a smooth wobble, so it shakes instead of flickering.
Why here: Shake last among the feel steps, and from trauma that adds up and fades, otherwise ten small hits shake more than one big one.
- 6
Blueprint
Stagger and Poise
Poise lets a big enemy shrug off light hits and a light enemy fall over at a touch. Heavy weapons then feel heavy, attacks need a choice of when to commit, and a fight has moments where the enemy is open.
Why here: Enemies: poise decides which hits interrupt. Without it every hit staggers and combat becomes button mashing.
- 7
Blueprint
Status Effects
Status effects give attacks a lasting result beyond the damage: a hit can leave the target hurt, slowed or helpless for a while, which lets fights be won by setting things up.
Why here: Effects over time add depth only once direct hits are right; stacking and refresh rules are where they go wrong.
- 8
Blueprint
Boss Phases
Phases turn one long fight into three shorter ones, each with something new to learn. They also give the player a clear sign of progress, so a long fight keeps its drive.
Why here: A boss is a story told in phases. Build it last, from parts that already work, and it will be the fight people remember.
At the end
Hits land where they look like they land, every hit is felt once, and a boss fight has shape.
What this rests on
- Juice It or Lose It
Shows live how small effects such as particles, shake and sound make a plain game feel satisfying, which is the basis for hit stop and screen shake.
- Vlambeer co-founder shares advice on building better action games
Summarizes Jan Willem Nijman's talk 'The Art of Screenshake', where tweaks like shaking the screen against the direction of fire make an action game feel stronger.
- Designing Game Feel. A Survey
A research survey of over 200 sources that sorts game feel into physicality, amplification and support, explaining why effects like shake and hit pause make hits feel good.
- Combat Canceled: God of War & Action Game Design
A former God of War combat designer explains how timing windows around the moment of impact decide when a move can be interrupted, and why that is balanced for risk and reward.
- The Secrets of Brutality: God of War's Combat Design
Lead combat designer Jason McDonald explains how extra time on a kill adds weight and why enemy and boss attacks must be readable so players can react.
- Evolving Combat in 'God of War' for a New Perspective
A GDC session on how the team rebuilt God of War's combat around a close camera while keeping its identity, relevant to making fights readable.
Say this to your AI
Follow the Spielerando learning path "Combat that reads clearly" (get_path combat-that-reads-clearly) for my game, step by step, and tell me at each step why it comes now.Or skip this and connect the MCP: your AI then finds all of this by itself.Connect the MCP