When 1+1 does not equal 2: Synergy in games
Joshua Kritz, Raluca Gaina
TL;DR
The paper addresses the lack of a universal, precise notion of synergy in games and proposes a strict, general definition of synergy as a set of two or more elements whose combined value deviates from the sum of their individual values, with the value notion tailored to the game (e.g., score, cost‑effectiveness, or creativity). It then presents a mixed‑initiative methodology to identify and measure such sets: define the objective, select interacting elements, specify a value function, enumerate candidate sets, compute their synergy, and iteratively refine. The approach is demonstrated across Chess, League of Legends, and Magic: The Gathering, illustrating how synergy analysis can inform balance and strategy, with MTG highlighting the formidable combinatorial space of roughly $10^{115}$ possible sets. The work aims to empower designers and researchers to analyze synergy systematically and adapt it to diverse games, with future efforts centered on integrating the process into design workflows and validating it across additional genres.
Abstract
Although synergy is an important concept that is strongly ingrained in games, it has not been widely discussed by the games community. This is due to the vagueness of the concept and the fact that there is no clear agreement on what it means. To solve this, we present a strict definition of what is synergy. Then we propose a methodology to use this definition to analyze synergy in games. Applying this definition to various games (Chess, League of Legends, and Magic: The Gathering), we illustrate how it can be used to solve many of the practical problems related to synergy.