Games are vicious. Maybe not for everyone, but they really were created to entertain people and lock them to the act of playing. They are made to be “drugs”, they want you to come back and play again, and have fun again. To make that happen, there are tricks you may recognize in a lot of games. Tricks that we, humans, are very vulnerable to.
These tricks play with the human motivation, and it is not a surprise that you recognize them from books, films, or productivity topics.
1.
Competition
Social games are considered by old gamers as something impure. By social games I mean mostly facebook games. Not that they really are bad, but what they use to attract players, is making you compete with your friends. That is actually fun, and we gamers like it. But the so called social games are games that use this feature to its maximum, by always showing a rank in the side of the screen and always asking you to challenge your friends.
Nowadays it is also noticeable, that most games have an online mode. That allows you to test your skills agains not only your friends but with other gamers around the globe.
Points are the most traditional way to rise this competition. Since the NES and arcades you can see points showing up in the screen for every enemy you destroy, or a lot of bonuses if you are very fast. What happened, is that today that is more optimized in social games or in online modes.
2.
Uncertainty
Would you have in fun in a surprise party that you already knew would happen? Maybe… But you would surely miss the surprise element.
Gamers become fascinated whent their expectations are surpassed (and may get angry if the expectations show themselves worse). That means that sometimes when you play, you might get randomly a gold chest instead of a common chest, and that is going to make you eager to find out if you will be lucky again with the next chest.
The history must have a kind of thrill too, some climaxes or something that turns it all around (just like books or films).
The uncertainty rises expectations and thrills the player. Sometimes the player’s curiosity is risen to a point he can not wait to see what is next.
3.
Progress.
Your progress is shown in games normally by a progress bar, by experience or levels your character wins, or it is also shown as your quest log.
The classic about the RPG’s, is the level you can achieve when you play it. That is maybe the most devious tool used to keep you sit on the chair killing boring monsters.
When you a have a progress bar, you always remember your goal to achieve 100%, and it keeps you motivated to get one more percentage by the end of the day.
Your quest log represents also your progress, and if your quest is “save the world” it is boring. It is funnier when these quests are smaller and simpler, and you can make at least one of them when you play. It will be way funnier to “look for the sacred axe in the cave” before you can save the whole world. Players need tips too….
Reference:
https://www.scirra.com/tutorials/188/6-steps-to-play-with-players-mind
Viruses and Aliens 