Juicing

Juicing is the process of improving the feel of a game using animations, special effects, sound effects, and generally any visual or auditory improvement that supports the gameplay.

How you experience a game does not only depend on the game's rules. Everything contributes to making the experience more engaging or immersive: the art style, the quality of the writing, the absence of bugs, the level design, and what we call "juice."

Juicing can include:

• Adding tween animations.
• Improving the spacing and timing of hand-made game animations.
• Using particle systems.
• Implementing shaders.
• Adding screen shake when collisions occur.

Juicing typically involves combining and layering these techniques to create a more engaging experience.

Here's a popular talk that shows a game with and without juicing applied, breaking down all the different layers the developer adds to improve the feel: