This post is part of a series of Blog Posts that I am writing for a class, Game Systems, at UC Santa Cruz.

Explaining Progression Types Using the Spyro the Dragon Series

Progression exists in many forms in video games, so much so that attempts to categorize types of progression in games can lead to a mess of trying to classify what can feel unclassifiable. Taking Game Systems this Summer has opened my eyes to a better method of classifying these many different ways that players can progress through games. A few of the main types explained to us in class were System, Stat, Spatial, Narrative and Mastery, and the goal of this post is to give you, the reader, an understanding of how these different types of progression function in game design, through examples featured in the Spyro the Dragon trilogy. Spyro as a franchise makes up many different games, but my examples will all stem from the first three games Spyro the Dragon, Spyro the Dragon 2: Ripto’s Rage, and Spyro the Dragon 3: Year of the Dragon and their subsequent remaster Spyro: Reignited Trilogy.

System Progression

System Progression is a method of progressing a player through a game by teaching the player about its systems. These methods of progression typically come in the form of tutorial sections, like characters and the game's UI explaining to the player how to use the tools that the games give them. A great example of System Progression that is featured in the Spyro the Dragon series are the Dragon Statues. In Spyro the Dragon, one of the player’s main objectives in each level is to free the community of dragons after they have been frozen into jewel statues by the antagonist Gnasty Gnorc. When these statues are awakened, they talk to Spyro and give him context-sensitive hints, like about the player’s toolkit of movement or hints about how to defeat a difficult enemy in a level. These context-sensitive hints help players solve puzzles, onboard new players to Spyro’s movement and through this, players feel more in sync with what the game is asking them to do. Players who already have experience with Spyro’s movement can choose to skip the dialogue, letting more experienced players play at their own pace.

Stat Progression

When trying to understand Stat Progression, think to yourself, “What numerical values do I want to change as I progress towards my goal?”. Stat Progression encompasses the many different ways that the player’s journey can be quantified. To use an example from the Spyro the Dragon series, Stat Progression exists in the form of the many collectibles that the player is tasked with picking up in each level. In Spyro the Dragon 2: Ripto’s Rage, the player can check their Stat Progression in each level by referencing a book in their inventory that lists the required Gems and Emeralds to collect in each level, having their Stat Progression easily listed on each page. As a game in what is called the “collectathon” genre, Spyro the Dragon is primarily a Stat Progression focused game in its design. Removing Stat Progression from Spyro would create a whole different game entirely.

Spatial Progression

Spatial Progression is probably the most well-known form of progression in game design. Locked doors, out-of-reach areas, the list can go on, and the point being, at many points in the game, a game will place something that the player wants in an area they cannot get to in order to create some sort of intended behavior, and that is where Spatial Progression comes into play. Spatial progression exists in a number of different forms in the Spyro the Dragon series, because of its use of a hub world system, which breaks apart the many levels of Spyro the Dragon into chapters that cannot be reached until certain conditions are met. For example, in order for the player to unlock the portal to the first boss in Spyro the Dragon, Toasty, you need to complete all of the other levels in the hub world, Artisans. The level’s completion requirement prevents Spatial Progression until the level is complete. This dynamic brings forth a great point that oftentimes Spatial Progression is tied in with other forms of progression when applied within game design. Spatial Progression combines with Stat Progression because players can only access further levels if they have collected enough of certain items. Spatial Progression ties in with System Progression because if a player is not experienced enough with Spyro’s movement, they cannot reach certain areas of the map that more experienced players can. Spatial Progression also mixes with Narrative Progression shown in the fact that in the Spyro the Dragon series, certain hub world bosses like Spike and Crush can only be fought if the player has progressed through the story enough to get to their respective hub worlds. Finally, Spatial Progression mixes with Mastery Progression because certain players with a lot of experience with Spyro’s movement can access certain areas in unintended ways using frame-perfect glides and special setup spots in levels that they can glide from to reach these areas.

Narrative Progression

Narrative Progression is a method of progression that video games share with the movie industry. Narrative Progression encompasses all of the story beats that the game lays out for the player, in some specified order, that the player completes until the game’s ending or multiple endings. If we apply methods of progression we have gone over so far to the theory of Self-Determination, then we could say that System, Spatial, and Mastery Progression relates to competence, Stat Progression relates to autonomy, and Narrative Progression provides the player with a sense of connectedness, not only to the game’s world, but to its story and characters as well. An example of Narrative Progression that is present in the Spyro the Dragon series can be seen in the order that the boss fights must be done in Spyro the Dragon 2: Ripto’s Rage. In Spyro 2, the player fights each of Ripto’s henchmen, Crush and Gulp, in previous hub worlds before fighting the final boss, Ripto. The order of these fights matter, and rearranging the order of these fights would make a mess of the game’s narrative. Using this order as a form of Narrative Progression, when the player finally reaches Ripto after having fought his two protectors, the player is better in tune with the journey of the main character and all of the effort that it took both of them to get to that final point.

Mastery Progression

Lastly, I am going to go over Mastery Progression, which is an absolute delight because I find it to be the most fascinating and important part of progression for games like those in the Spyro the Dragon series. Mastery Progression exists as a sort-of “meta-progression”, a progression system that exists outside of the programmed game and rests more within the player themselves. The idea of “mastery” can be very different depending on what game you are considering, and even games in the Spyro the Dragon series have multiple Mastery Progression arcs. These Mastery Progression arcs could be simply unlocking and mastering all of Spyro’s movement, or spending time cutting down your race time at any of the “Speedway” levels, or of course collecting all of the possible objectives within the game in order to unlock some special post-game bonus reward. These arcs of mastery depend on the player’s goal; is 100% something they are concerned about, or do they really like going through levels quickly? Some players can even focus their idea of mastery by collecting all of the “Skill Points”, a list of optional objectives included with the remastered version of the Spyro the Dragon trilogy that unlocks concept art for the player as they complete them.

Well, that’s it for this post. I know it got a bit verbose at times and you’ll have to forgive me, not only am I an unbridled nerd for game design, I am also pretty obsessed with the Spyro the Dragon series, so opportunities to word-dump like this come around rarely which is why I want to make the most of it as possible. Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed my thoughts.