Knockback/push
Attacks or effects displace a target's position, sometimes as pure crowd control and sometimes as a win condition in itself — Super Smash Bros.'s entire victory condition is knocking opponents off-stage rather than depleting health. Team Fortress 2 uses knockback (rocket jumps, airblasts) as both an offensive tool and a traversal mechanic. Designers use knockback to add spatial consequence to damage beyond a health bar tick, to create environmental kill opportunities (knock enemies off ledges, into hazards), and — in Smash's case — to build an entire genre around position as the stakes of combat. Key decisions: scaling (does knockback increase with target damage taken, as in Smash's percentage system, creating escalating stakes?), whether it can be used for self-propulsion (rocket jumping), stun or hitstun duration paired with the push, and how it interacts with terrain and hazards. Pitfall: knockback that's inconsistent or hard to predict (does this hit send me flying or barely nudge me?) makes positioning feel like luck rather than skill — clear, learnable knockback rules are essential wherever position is a stake.
- Dev effort: Small
- Timing: Real-time
- Common in: fighting, platformer, shooter
Seen in
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
- Team Fortress 2