Alley:
Alley level design basically is the design that the player will go through a level going through from one point to the next to progress through the story. Most games that are alley try to disguise this fact by designing the world around to give the illusion of an open world to make the game or fun, interesting and immersive to the player as they play. Examples of games that follow the alley level design are: The last of us, Bioshock and uncharted
Some pros of the design are that the player is able experience the story as the designer intended and is able the guide the player to see the world the way the designer sees it. Also it keeps the game interesting instead of the player getting lost and the game becoming boring or broken. Some cons is that the most of the time alley levels can become boring and liner as the player cant explore much in the level.
Maze:
Maze level design is a puzzle like design where the player had to explore an area with multiple paths the player can choose, leading them to dead ends or the exit aka the end. Games that feature maze designs are either not disguised or very disguised as some game will feature a hedge maze or something similar for the player to escape from while games that disguised it usually have a player explore a city or dungeon. Examples of games that have a maze level design are: Binding of Isaac and Heroes of Hammerwatch
The positives of a maze level design is that it allows the player to use their head and work out for themselves how to exit the maze. Also the games difficultly is easy to change and as such can be made increasingly difficult as you continue through the game. Some cons of the game is that it can take a lot of time to put together mazes and for some players mazes can get very boring and repetitive over time.
Hub:
A hub level design is level that branches off into other levels. It’s the area that the player spawns in and explores to gets access to the other areas of the game. A hub level design can have 2 forms there’s in my opinion the spider where the hub world is the main area and the other levels branch off from it or there’s the bus hub which the player can access occasionally throughout the levels and the hub can give the player access to other parts of the game. Examples of the spider hub is Spyro and the Lego games. Examples of a bus hub would be Poptropica and
Positives of hub level design are that for the player you can take more time and exit a level if you need to while in most games you can’t. For the designer it allows the opportunity to add more levels if you want to expand the game further you can do. Also it’s easier to implement collectables into a hub design because the player can replay levels to get all of them. The cons being that it’s hard to stop levels becoming repetitive because the player is playing them again and again to get items. And the designer has to put together an extra area compared to other level designs.
Island:
An Island level design is a level that is a level that is to an extent open world however the level is a limited area. Often portrayed as an actual Island or as a city with barricades so the player can’t venture further. A lot of the time these levels are used in quest based games as the places you have to go to are spread out so the player can freely explore and complete the game in their own time. Games with an example of this level design are fortnite and assassins creed.
Some positives of having an island level design is that the player is free to explore the way they want so it won’t become repetitive because the player will find more things in an area that they didn’t notice before. Also the designers only usually need to put together one area however this can be a con because it means it has to be detailed and anything that doesn’t fit in will be picked up by the player.
Path
A Path level design is a level like an alley because both follow a linear story however a path layout is a bit more free that a liner layout because a path layout allows the player to take different routes to reach the goal. Path games are usually used in choice based games in recent years. It takes longer to make these types of games because while the designers of alley games have to put detail in one area, path level designers have to detail each path. Games that use the path level design include; Hitman and Until dawn
With a path design the postitives include; the player isnt likely to get bored and still get the plot of the story if there is one. Also its easier to create different player experiences depending on what the player chooses to do. Some cons is that it can take longer to create path levels in games and they still require a lot of detail so it doesn’t become repetitive at time. Also designers need to create multiple paths the player can take while an alley design only has 1 path, so you have to try to avoid running out of ideas.
Pullectus 