We only touched on the arenas briefly in previous posts. An arena system allows the player to get right into the game, and it enables an effective risk-reward cycle.

Players are encouraged to choose their own pace and challenge level. Right now, six different arenas make up a zone. Each arena in a zone has a different sort of mission. Some of these are just straight up killing enemies, fighting a few waves of enemies, racing through waypoints, destroying asteroids under a timer, or taking out a big boss ship. Different rewards, in the form of new pieces for your ships, are earned at each arena.

At your option, you may fly to the next zone at any time. Each zone has more difficult challenges, but you unlock new sorts of items for your ship. For example, in the second zone, you unlock two new types of weapons, the thorium engine, the fighter cockpit, and a few new hull pieces.

If you find the game too hard, simply get a few more weapons in an easier zone. If it’s too easy, players will move on to advance more quickly. This isn’t too unique of a concept for games, but I do think it’s underused- it’s a very natural and effective means of difficulty control, and it’s certainly more elegant than a difficulty selector.