History Main / AggressivePlayIncentive

* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' has employed many of these over the years, such as treasures that must be recovered before thieves can escape with them, villages that must be visited before bandits destroy them, and neutral units on the field that will be killed by enemies if not rescued quickly enough.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsFifthEdition'': Once a Barbarian has triggered their Barbarian Rage ability (which gives them bonuses to dealing damage and reducing damage they take), they must make an attack or receive damage at least once per round in order to prevent it from ending early.

Conflict-focused games often have to overcome the players' natural tendency to minimize risks to their positions, which manifests itself in common [[VideoGameTacticalIndex player tactics]] like FishingForMooks, HitAndRunTactics, TacticalDoorUse, and other forms of {{Whoring}}. All of these tend to be repetitive, keep the player in a single boring corner of a level, and ultimately "optimize the fun out of a game"[[note]]as Soren Johnson succinctly [[https://www.designer-notes.com/game-developer-column-17-water-finds-a-crack/ put it]] in 2011[[/note]], so to counteract such defensive strategies, game designers can instead reward and incentivize aggressive play that is more in line with the core fantasy they want their games to facilitate.

** D-nizer mode is this to a T. You play as the PurposelyOverpowered Azure Striker whose Fetters Gauge will gradually deplete if he doesn't do anything (moreso if he either gets hit or uses a skill); to replenish said gauge, he needs to tag his opponents and destroy them in a quick-chain while only reserving the use of skills to perform finishers on a mini-boss and stage bosses. If GV's Fetters Gauge is completely depleted, the game will be over.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Root}}'' encourages attacking other players over playing defensively by how its combat is resolved: players roll two UsefulNotes/{{dice}}, and the attacker deals the damage equal to the ''higher'' roll, while the defender takes the lower (the only exception are the Woodland Alliance faction, who take the higher roll even if defending because they are FamedInStory as guerilla fighters).

* ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami'''s scoring system rewards quick and opportunistic play, with extra points granted for being seen by the enemy and quickly switching weapons on the fly.

Conflict-focused games often have to overcome the players' natural tendency to minimize risks to their positions, which manifests itself in common [[VideoGameTacticalIndex player tactics]] like FishingForMooks, HitAndRunTactics, TacticalDoorUse, and other forms of {{Whoring}}. All of these tend to be repetitive, to keep the player in a single boring corner of a level, and ultimately to "optimize the fun out of a game"[[note]]as Soren Johnson succinctly [[https://www.designer-notes.com/game-developer-column-17-water-finds-a-crack/ put it]] in 2011[[/note]], so to counteract such defensive strategies, game designers can instead reward and incentivize aggressive play that is more in line with the core fantasy they want their games to facilitate.

* ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' attempted to steer the series' gameplay away from [[ResourcesManagementGameplay potion rationing]] by instead making enemies randomly drop red orbs that immediately restored HP. This change incentivized players to get into the thick of the enemies and to kill them quickly in order to get healed. Health Orbs can also trigger secondary bonus effects, depending on gear enchantments. Killing enough enemies in a short period of time also triggers orbs that grant double damage and an experience bonus, further incentivizing players to kill as many enemies as possible.

* ''VideoGame/CrazyTaxi'' can be played by taking minimal risks and simply dropping fares off, but a player will not rank up the arcade leaderboard that way. Utilizing risk-taking mechanics like Crazy Drifts and Crazy Throughs will rack up multipliers that are necessary for the highest scores.

* ''VideoGame/RedAlert3'': The Imperial faction can pump out refineries considerably faster than the Allies or Soviets, and can often have a revenue stream twice that of their enemies if the refineries are allowed to go unmolested. Against TheAllSeeingAI, it tends to backfire since they know erxactly where your units are ayt all times, and don't even need to have units in the vicinity as spotters for their support powers.

* ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'': Melee maps are dotted with NeutralHostile creeps that drop items and gold on death along with experience for the HeroUnit, meaning a player who gets their hero early and periodically heal/reinforce can gain an advantage over those who choose to wait and send out a larger force. Against the AI, it's also a good idea to attack their base directly before they can build up defenses.

* ''VideoGame/CryptOfTheNecrodancer'': Enforced with one of the playable characters, Tempo. He can OneHitKill any enemy, but he dies if he ever goes 16 steps without killing anything, picking up an item, or eating food (a limited resource).

* ''VideoGame/Doom2016'' and ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'' have famously utilized a number of mechanics to entice players to aggressively chase demon enemies throughout the levels instead of taking potshots at them from cover. These range from the obvious [[FinishingMove Glory Kills]], which require players to get into melee range but restore some of their HitPoints (or ammo and shields in ''Eternal''), to the subtle, like the ranged enemy AI typically backing off as the player approaches, putting the latter in a hunter mindset.

* ''VideoGame/HyperDemon''' has a score counter that ticks down when not killing enemies. The faster you kill, the more it goes up.

* ''VideoGame/RiskOfRain2'' is built around this, with enemies slowly getting stronger all the time, making blasting through the stage without caring about your safety the best option.

* ''VideoGame/Trepang2'': [[BulletTime Focus]] does not regenerate on its own, in direct contrast to the [[InvisibilityCloak Cloak]] meter - you have to go out and kill people to gain Focus. Kills also give you more stamina, allowing you to overcharge it to double its normal amount, allowing you to get one kill and quickly turn that into plowing through an entire squadron at high speed.

* ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'': The ''Disgaea'' games generally exaggerate the trope, encouraging LevelGrinding to beat back otherwise impossible odds and spending numerous hours in its Item World to perfect your equipment, gear, and Innocents. In most of the games, defense becomes useless after the main story; pumping stats to such points that OneHitKO becomes the strategy employed by players and their foes. ''Disgaea 5'' however averts this with its tweaking of the Evility system and its Carnage Dimension. Carnage Dimension maps/foes are tailor-made to discourage MinMaxing and will annihilate players too reliant on the old ways.

** Its sequel, ''VideoGame/{{XCOM 2}}'', adds a fairly strict time limit to many missions.

* ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'': The Lambent Plume, a trinket gifted to Zagreus by Hermes, gives Zag a small bonus to his movement speed and dodge chance every time he kills all enemies in an encounter in 30 seconds or less.

* ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'': In the UsefulNotes/GameCube version of ''Soulcalibur II'', equipping [[GuestFighter Link]] with the Soul Edge gives him absurd damage at the price of steadily draining his health over time, forcing him to get in the thick of it and end the battle as fast as possible.

* ''VideoGame/BlueWishResurrection'': Enemies drop cubes that award points when destroyed, however the further these cubes have to travel to reach your ship, the smaller they get. As such you are encouraged to get up close and personal to enemies to maximize your point gains.

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedOdyssey'' has an Amazon set of armor for Kassandra which, when fully equipped, heals the player for a percentage of any damage they deal. Ergo, if one low on health, just start pumelling the guy next to you.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', the Frontline PlayerVersusPlayer mode discourages turtling tactics with the "Battle High" system. Every takedown and assist fills a meter that increases damage dealt and health recovered from abilities the higher one's Battle High. This enables a coordinated and aggressive team to steamroll more passive and dispersed teams. The Rival Wings mode has a similar mechanic called "Soaring" that also increases the rate at which the LimitBreak gauge is filled.

* ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}: The Lambent Plume, a trinket gifted to Zagreus by Hermes, gives Zag a small bonus to his movement speed and dodge chance every time he kills all enemies in an encounter in 30 seconds or less.

* ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' attempted to steer the series' gameplay away from [[ResourcesManagementGameplay potion rationing]] by instead making enemies randomly drop red orbs that immediately restored HP. This change incentivized players to get into the thick of the enemies and to kill them quickly in order to get healed. Health Orbs can also trigger secondary bonus effects, depending on gear enchantments.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' was designed to counter the [[SoulsLikeRPG Soulsborne genre]]'s tendency to rely heavily on defenses while you wait for an opening to strike back. It achieves this by removing shields and most armor altogether, and replacing them with the Rally mechanic, which heals most of the damage the PlayerCharacter takes, as long as they inflict enough damage themselves in a short time window after taking a hit.

* ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami'''s scoring system rewards quick and opportunistic play, with extra points granted for being seen by the enemy and quickly switching weapons on the fly.