Uncertainty in Games: Perception

It was hidden in plain sight, and you kick yourself for missing it. Maybe it was the last place you looked, or maybe your opponent just saw it first. Perception, it turns out, can be a stimulating mechanic for games.

All of our senses can be used for this type of uncertainty. You could have failed to spot the clue, heard the mumbling of an off comment remark, tasted the difference in the coffee, or felt the hidden key tucked away in the thief's pocket. In most tabletop or video games, this is generally limited to sight and sound, with maybe some feeling thrown in with rumble controllers. But such uncertainty has to be directly built in, and it's not common. Physical sports, on the other hand, have these perception uncertainties almost by default: watching the quickly moving ball. 

Roleplaying games rarely have any sort of real perception uncertainty, save for a few puzzles now and then. However, perception checks are one of the most common skills called upon by characters! It's not directly perception uncertainty; it's more like hidden information. But it's definitely an interesting link to think about while creating adventures for our characters.

Unlike quick thinking or strategic decisions, perception is a form of player skill and therefor uncertainty that not many game designers make use of. I'm not sure if this is because there's a limited scope of player types that enjoy these mechanics, or if this is a relatively untapped form of fun!