Designing Delight: The Art (and Agony) of Level Creation

If building my first solitaire game was a crash course in mobile development, then level design was my master’s thesis in patience, creativity, and pixel-perfect obsession.

It’s one thing to come up with cool gameplay mechanics—but it’s something else entirely to build dozens (okay, hundreds)(and hundreds) of levels that are fun, fair, and just the right amount of frustration. Level design is where creativity meets constraint, and where ideas either flourish… or fall apart during playtesting.

This is the story of how I learned (and am still learning) the not-so-glamorous, surprisingly rewarding craft of making levels.

Starting with a Blank Canvas (and Too Many Ideas)

There’s a weird kind of freedom that comes with opening a new level in the editor. It’s like a blank canvas—but instead of paint, you’ve got cards, wilds, bombs, locks, and other gadgets I maybe shouldn’t have added all at once.

In the early days, my levels were overloaded. I’d cram every mechanic I loved into the first ten stages. It turns out that’s a great way to overwhelm players and make them quit. Who knew?

I had to unlearn the instinct to make levels "interesting" and instead focus on making them intuitive. Which brings me to the second, harder lesson…

Just a blank canvas staring back at you.

Difficulty Isn’t the Goal—Pacing Is

If a player fails a level, you’d think that’s a bad thing. But actually? Sometimes it’s necessary. The trick is finding that razor-thin line between challenge and frustration. The goal isn't to stump players—it’s to guide them.

That means thinking about when to introduce a new mechanic. How soon is too soon for a multi-stage combo move? Is it fun to blow up half the board in one move—or does that feel chaotic?

I’d spend hours tweaking one or two cards just to make the experience feel smoother. And knowing how many fancy new features to add in each level is another lesson learned the hard way. It’s easy to want to show off all your effort in creating new features but too many at once can quickly get in the way of the enjoyment and simplicity of the gameplay. It’s a delicate balance.

Playtesting and Iterating—A Designer’s Gym

Here’s what no one tells you about level design: most of it is editing. It’s testing a level, realizing its broken, and going back to tweak the corner case you didn't think of.

Building something in the editor often feels very different when it’s played on device in the real world. You can never assume you are done until you’ve tested it. And then tested it again. And not just for bugs but for gameplay. How does each level feel in the game? How is the pacing, the difficulty, enjoyment?

If location, location, location are the three most important things in real estate then testing, testing, testing are the three most important things in game development.

After all the testing has been done and you get to watch a player hit a challenging level and then get a hit of excitement at its completion, that makes it all worth it!

But you don’t get there without iteration. Lots of it.

Teaching Without Talking: The Invisible Hand of Level Design

One of the most fascinating challenges in level design is figuring out how to teach players without actually saying anything. No tutorials. No popups. Just the level itself, quietly guiding the player.

Good levels are teachers in disguise. You introduce a new mechanic in a safe way, let the player poke at it, then gradually increase the complexity. It’s a kind of design jiu-jitsu—nudging players toward understanding without them even realizing they’re being nudged.

I found myself thinking like a teacher:

• How do I make sure they discover this interaction?

• What’s the simplest version of this challenge?

• What’s the worst mistake they could make—and can I prevent it from being game-ending?

Designing with that mindset forced me to be more deliberate. I couldn’t just throw in a cool mechanic and hope for the best. I had to curate the experience. Build in small moments of discovery. Let the player feel clever, even when I’d set up the outcome from the very beginning.

It’s subtle, and it takes work—but when a level teaches something new without a single word, that’s when I know I’m doing something right.

Level design in editor

Final Thoughts

Level design is part art, part science, and part wild guessing. It’s a creative process that demands iteration, humility, and a weird willingness to delete things you spent hours perfecting.

But when it works—when a level lands just right—it feels amazing. Not just because it’s fun, but because you made it fun. On purpose. Eventually.

If you’ve ever cursed a level (I know, the timed ones, right?) or laughed at a clever trick mid-level, just know: someone behind the curtain probably spent way too long getting that moment right. And they’re smiling, too.

When the perfect level comes together in the game.

Thanks for playing! Now if you'll excuse me, I have a few hundred more level to make! 😉

Sarah Stokes

P.S. Got thoughts on level design? Or just want to vent about a level that drove you nuts? I’d love to hear it—drop a comment or reach out. Game design is better when it’s a conversation.