Levels describe the players growth as they overcome obstacles in the game. Every time they level up they become stronger and can fight more powerful enemies. This combat difficulty usually follows a step function, where fighting enemies becomes briefly easier only to become even harder than before.

In RPGs players are literally on a hero’s journey — their level indicates how far they’ve come from the starting point and hint how far is left to go.

Battle mechanics in RPGs are too complicated to be shown to new players all at once. Instead, mechanics are introduced in understandable chunks as players level up.

At level 1 players have only the basic mechanics available, and as they level up they unlock new abilities and spells.

This pattern applies to enemies as well. Early in the game enemies have simple behaviors and abilities, but as players level up and progress to new areas, enemies gain special attacks and advanced abilities.

Levels help control:

• how players navigate the world (e.g. players will steer away from an area with enemies that are too powerful for them)
• how quickly players can kill monsters, which in turn controls how fast players can advance to the next area