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[RainblowDash]

Three umbilical cords to ascend to squidhood…

 

[DelireMan7]

 

[Dr. Suchong]

"Free" to play

 

[darth.shrimp]

Rule of Three - TV Tropes

Sometimes called trebling, the Rule of Three is a pattern used in stories and jokes, where part of the story is told three times, with minor variations. The first two instances build tension, and the third releases it by incorporating a twist.

tvtropes.org

 

[TheSHEEEP]

Just remember: It ain't gay if it's a threesome.
Wait - we're talking about gaming?!
Oh, alright...

I really think this is more of a subconscious thing. Symbols consisting of three parts have inherent symmetry. Our brains loooooove patterns and symmetric things - and will do their best to fill the gaps if it ain't so but will be very relaxed if it won't have to.
Symmetric things are just pleasing to perceive for us.
So that's the explanation for symbols and the like.

Other things are more related to practical or mechanical considerations.
Like Boss phases:
First of all, I think we've all fought bosses with only one phase, or two, or (rarely) four. So this is much less of a "rule".
Every different phase to implement for a boss costs more resources, a boss with only one phase is the cheapest to put into a video game.
With each phase added, you increase the development cost while not gaining that much more gameplay time. It's an investment that should be done reasonably and rarely.
In addition to that, two phases make things more interesting/memorable, another one adds to that, but after that? At 4+ phases I'd say it starts to become annoying from a gameplay/mechanical viewpoint. Imagine a boss with 10 phases, it would be quite absurd - and how long would that take to beat especially if you had to start from zero each time?
So, two or three phases just seems to be that sweet spot where it adds to the gameplay without being annoying, while also not increasing development costs too much.

 

[sigmaZ]

Because triangles have three sides

 

[AgatonSax]

The power of one, the power of two, the power of MANY.

 

[Randall365]

Japanese games tend to go off 4:-

1. 4 abilities in many games (I guess linked to face buttons.

2. 4 levels in each world of mario bros.

3. 4 areas in most worlds of Demon Souls

4. 4 boss characters in Streetfighter 2

5. 4 races to a grand prix in Mario Kart

Etc etc

 

[Humdinger]

It has to do with design principles. Ever heard about the rule of thirds and the rule of odd numbers? The rule of odd numbers says that using odd number of elements in a design is a good way to make it look and feel balanced but also interesting.

The rule of thirds is used in film, games, photography, painting as a a grid of interesting points. Often, important objects/figures are placed/guided to these points which makes the shot/scene a lot more aesthetically pleasing. It's used in many other creative fields, all from architecture, landscaping, lighting to home décor etc. It's important to understand that the rules can be applied in many different ways, not just as a grid or numbering of elements. Another thing, these are more like guidelines, not strict rules per se.

I also use the rule of thirds and the rule of odd numbers all the time, in my game and in my art. It just works. Also important --- breaking these principles can give amazing results too, depending on the artist's goal and intention.

Image source

Ah, interesting. I figured it had something to do with design but wasn't familiar enough with the area to know. Gracias.

Rule of three (writing) - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Very good. I wasn't aware of that. Thanks.

Japanese games tend to go off 4:-

1. 4 abilities in many games (I guess linked to face buttons.

2. 4 levels in each world of mario bros.

3. 4 areas in most worlds of Demon Souls

4. 4 boss characters in Streetfighter 2

5. 4 races to a grand prix in Mario Kart

Etc etc

Yeah, there's a symmetry to 4 as well. 4 quadrants, 4 directions on the compass, that sort of thing. 4 might be the next most common non-randomly chosen number. 2 is probably a common choice as well, given how often that is found in nature (two eyes, two ears, two genders, etc.).

 

[Rivdoric]

Cause a triangle has 3 sides, obviously.

 

[samoilaaa]

Three is The Magic Number | WNO

Three is The Magic Number

wno.org.uk

Throughout human history, the number 3 has always had a unique significance, but why?

The ancient Greek philosopher, Pythagoras, postulated that the meaning behind numbers was deeply significant. In their eyes the number 3 was considered as the perfect number, the number of harmony, wisdom and understanding. It was also the number of time – past, present, future; birth, life, death; beginning, middle, end – it was the number of the divine. Three is often the magic number in fairy tales and this certainly rings true in our ‘visually sumptuous’ (Wales Arts Review) production of Mozart’s beloved The Magic Flute.

Our prince charming Tamino is rescued from a big orange lobster by Three Ladies – servants of the Queen of the Night - dressed as nannies or governesses, marking the beginning of his journey of self-discovery and enlightenment. During his quest he is guided by Three Boys who lead him to Sarastro’s temple (the spirits only appear in Sarastro’s kingdom).

The number 3 is also associated with the Freemasons, of which Mozart and his librettist Schikaneder were members, and the theme of 3 appears repeatedly in the piece – both on stage and in the pit.

The opera’s opening overture is written in Eb Major, which has 3 flats, and it begins with 3 chordal gestures, imitating the secret knock that masons would have used in Vienna at the time to gain access to their Lodges.

Our irresistible production was designed by Julian Crouch and he emphasised the magical number by having 3 doors in each of the set’s 3 walls. Strength, beauty and wisdom also symbolize the 3 great pillars of the Lodges. Inscriptions upon the 3 temples refer to Nature, Reason and Wisdom, also of Masonic origin. To the Viennese of that day, political symbolism was easily and broadly interpreted; they saw the opera's Queen of the Night as no one other than their own Empress Maria Theresa, the hero Tamino was seen to be the “good” Emperor Joseph and the heroine Pamina was the Austrian people itself.

Pythagoras believed that the number 3 stood for good fortune and following recent reviews for our revival production, we agree. Described by the critics as ‘an unabashedly entertaining evening of operatic pantomime’ (Bachtrack), don’t miss our re-telling of Mozart’s coming of age story at a theatre near you this Spring Season

Three ( 3) – OCCULT WORLD

The number three plays a prominent role in myth, mysticism, the mystery traditions, folklore, alchemy, Ritual and Magic.

Three is the numerical vibration that opens the gateways to the higher planes, the realm of the gods. It is the number of bringing something into manifestation in the material world.

Pythagoras said that three is “a triple Word, for the Hierarchical Order always manifests itself by Three.” All the great religions recognize the expression of the Godhead in trinities. For example, in Christianity it is Father-Son-Holy Spirit. In Hinduism the trinity is Brahman-Shiva-Vishnu. There are three pillars to Zen Buddhism. The ancient Egyptians’ holy trinity was Osiris-Isis-Horus. The Great Goddess of contemporary Witchcraft has a threefold expression of Virgin-motherCrone. In Jewish mysticism there are three pillars to the Tree of Life, which is a blueprint for the descent of the divine into matter and the return ascent to the Godhead. The top three sephirot, or stations, of the Tree of Life, are the mystical steps to unity: Understanding, Wisdom and Humility. In the Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Formation) of the Kabbalah, three is expressed in the Three mothers, Aleph, mem and Shin, which form the foundation of “all others.” Aleph, mem and Shin are letters of the Hebrew alphabet that mean, respectively, “breath,” or vital spirit; “seas,” or water; and “life-breath of the Divine Ones,” or “Holy Spirit.”

 

[winjer]

That's the highest number game designers can count to

Except Valve.

 

[trikster40]

I'd say 8 is more common than 3. Almost every retro game had 8 stages.

 

[Griffon]

I'd say 8 is more common than 3. Almost every retro game had 8 stages.

That's because it's a byte.

 

[PendekarRajawali]

 

[Gaelyon]

It's always 3 ! Everywhere, on any media, it's 3 :

The 3 Fantastics
Kojima's Triplet Snakes
Snow White and the 3 dwarves
The 3 Power Rangers
Half Life 3
The 3 senses (sight, hearing and the other one only women have)
The 3 continents of earth (North continent, South continent and Miami)
Technos Japan's Triple Dragon
The third Beatles !
The famous 3 wonders of the world (Super Mario Bros Wonder, Wonder Woman and the wonderbra)
Final Fantasy 1-3 (too bad they never made a sequel)
GoldenEye 003
The 3 colossus in Shadow of the (3) Colossus
3X games like Master of Orion or Civ

I could continue 3 hours long !

 

[alphachino]

Cos De La Soul said so



edit: beaten

 

[SHA]

3 is the new 1, means origin, roots, an end point to where 1 started, doesn't necessarily mean the ending.

 

[nowhat]

Random question: why does everything in gaming always (or almost always) come in threes? Three jewels to complete the puzzle. Three stages to the boss fight. Three crystals to configure the magic gem that unlocks the special whatsis. And so forth.

I guess it's just a matter of convention, by now people are used to "do $THING three times". Personally, if a game makes me "do $THING" more than three times, it easily becomes tiresome and unfun. As much as I liked the game overall, FF7:Rebirth is like a prime example of this.

 

[Little Mac]

What a great anime. Shame how it ended. Could've been a classic like Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo.

 

[Danjin44]

What a great anime. Shame how it ended. Could've been a classic like Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo.

Yup, I love that shows art style and the world, especially with that crazy looking moon.

 

[Alebrije]

Because 3 is better than 2 and 4 worse than 3.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

1 + 2 = 3

 

[Roman Empire]

Reminding me of Resistance 3 and KillZone 3. Two of the best shooters on PS3. The final entry into the Resistance franchise and the last good KillZone game.

How I wish Guerrilla ditched out the Horizon IP for a new Killzone game. We need a reboot for Resistance as well.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Except Valve.

This reminds me of this funny GabeN Dota 2 video from years ago (the video is timestamped but worth watching in full)

 

[BlackTron]

It's a good structure for a game challenge. In the beginning, find or learn the new item or mechanic. In the middle, gain experience.. In the end, test it with a final challenge. Then the pattern can begin again.

 

[Eiknarf]

Beginning, middle, end.
Or because 1 is the loneliest number and 2 can be as bad as one

I can’t
I’m dead

 

[DryvBy]

Fixed your typos.

i like the original better

 

[Kataploom]

 

[Eiknarf]

This, honestly.

Can anyone recall the “number of” whatever needed in all the puzzles in the last few Uncharted games?
I feel like there were some 5s

 

[Boglin]

i like the original better

I guess it's not for everyone.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

My interpretation is because 3 is the smallest number of sides (or vertices) for a closed shape in flat (Euclidean) space. It's also the number of spatial dimensions in the universe we live in.
And it's also the number of a lot of other things that have to do with how we (simplistically) interpret the world and organize it:
3 states of matter.
3 meals a day.
3 branches of government.
3 (main) sub-atomic particles.
3 quarks per nucleon.

etc.

I'd say 8 is more common than 3. Almost every retro game had 8 stages.

That's because it's a byte.

Actually, storing a variable in memory that signifies a particular stage out of eight possible stages, requires 3 bits of memory, not a byte.

So we're back to the magic number.

 

[John Bilbo]

Father, son and the holy spirit. The beginning, middle and end. People have two eyes, but the third has to be awaken. Leg, penis, leg.

 

[Humdinger]

Hm. I asked half in jest, but I'm learning a lot about the significance of 3.

Father, son and the holy spirit. The beginning, middle and end. People have two eyes, but the third has to be awaken. Leg, penis, leg.

I was with you until that last one, lol.

 

[John Bilbo]

I was with you until that last one, lol.

The fourth point is always too much.

 

[Humdinger]

The fourth point is always too much.

Haha, should've stopped at 3...

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Hōjō clan - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Triforce is based off of this though. lol.

 

[Drew1440]

Could be an Tetraphobia , apparently the number 4 has bad connotations in certain parts of Asia.

 

[Wildebeest]

You enter the hub area from the south. Then there are three directions to go to for quests. North, east, and west. If map tiles were hexagons you would have five directions to go to and five gems to collect.

 

[AngelMuffin]

Three’s Company

 

[Humdinger]

Could be an Tetraphobia , apparently the number 4 has bad connotations in certain parts of Asia.

Fear of four. Never heard of that. Interesting.

 

[Radical_3d]

I read this thread and I think to myself: “man, do I care not a single fuck if Half Life 3 would be announced tomorrow…” I guess it’s too late now.

 

[Bernardougf]

According to the conjuring is to spite the Holy Trinity... so ... gaming is from hell.

 

[AJUMP23]

Golden ratio.
1 is to little 4 is to much 5 is right out.

 

[ReyBrujo]

3 states of matter.

That's so 60s though.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

Hōjō clan - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Triforce is based off of this though. lol.

Interesting! Would that make the Gerudo and Ganondorf based on the Mongols?

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

That's so 60s though.

Like I said it's a simplification of reality, it says more about how we perceive the world and organize it in our mind.

 

[lestar]

That's the highest number game designers can count to

but Valve

 

[sono]

The repetition of the number 3 is believed to hold symbolic spiritual and phonetic meanings. Phrases, objects, and people in groups of 3 are considered prominent and divinely important. If something is complete, perfect, or whole, it’ll be in a group of 3.

Three is the number of dimensions that humans can perceive. Three is the number of elementary fermion generations according to the Standard Model of particle physics.