Regional Difficulty

Will: Regional difficulty is easily the most complex and varied topic in Rain World design, or even game design as a whole.

Will: The intended route for your game's regions may be completely subverted by your players.
They may even regard something you designed as the more difficult path forwards, as the easiest.
Often because of factors you cannot easily control, as well as individual variations in player skill.

Will: Players more acclimated to swimming may find Drainage System trivial, while others may find it infuriating, and refuse to enter it entirely!

Will: Providing alternative routes that explore different player skills was important when we chose to connect certain regions, or make new ones.

Will: This set of rooms under Industrial has always acted like a hub for the various paths to Shoreline.

Will: Garbage Wastes is the most direct, but the Scavenger presence might be frustrating for plays with poor luck, or experiences around them.

Will: Shaded is ahead, but many new players struggle in the region's darkness.

Will: Finally our own addition, Pipeyard, offers a difficult enemy laden path, before the player is given the choice of darkness or water.

Will: The water path follows a Drainage System like swimming challenge, at half the size. While
the darkness path gives access to Filtration System, and links up near to where Drainage System
does. This offers a safer path into Subterranean without a rough swim through Drainage itself.