Letter grades (S/A/B/C)
Performance is scored and summarized as a letter grade — S, A, B, C, D — rewarding style, speed, or efficiency beyond mere completion. Grades turn 'finishing' into 'mastering': Devil May Cry rates combat flair, Resident Evil grades speed runs, and the chase for that elusive S rank drives replay long after the story ends. Designers use letter grades to add a skill-expression ceiling, to give a legible mastery target, and to encourage players to engage with systems more deeply than survival requires. Key decisions: what's measured (time, style, damage taken, resource use — this defines what the game values), grade thresholds and their tuning, per-level versus whole-game grading, and rewards for high grades (cosmetics, unlocks, or pure prestige). Pitfall: opaque grading criteria frustrate players who can't tell why they got a B — the metrics should be visible and teachable so players can deliberately improve, turning the grade into a coaching signal rather than an arbitrary verdict.
- Dev effort: Small
- Timing: Real-time or turn-based
- Common in: action, character-action