Fun, Game Loops & Flow

POP QUIZ! What do all of these games have in common? Here’s a hint: it’s also the answer to the question “what is the most important thing to have in a game?” The answer, of course, is that they are all fun!

Games should be fun Unless you are intentionally and specifically doing otherwise, it is crucial for your game to be fun, otherwise people just aren’t going to want to play! Much like a boring movie can put people to sleep, an unfun game is going to turn people off. A game can have very rudimentary graphics and no story, and still be fun to play. Alternatively, a game can have a gripping, impactful story, but if the gameplay is frustrating or not fun, many people won’t bother with it. Fun may possibly be the most important component of most games (‘games as art’ is a separate approach that rejects this, but gaming as a hobby generally relies on fun as the critical factor). An example of an intentionally less fun game done well is Firewatch, which specifically subverts the idea of fun and escapism in gaming.

How do you make a game fun? Easier said than done. Essentially, ‘fun’ comes down to one or both of two psychological experiences: Fulfillment & Reward Or ‘intrinsic’ and ‘extrinsic’ motivation. These can mean different things to different people, and that’s why we have so many different genres, but generally these are the two ways to create enjoyment Fulfillment and reward are the two most significant ways of creating enjoyment and fun out of a system or situation. An adrenaline junkie will find jumping out of a plane fun, because of the sense of adventure and the buzz of adrenaline in their brains. A more cerebral person may find fun in absorbing knowledge and learning new things. A hands-on, craftier type will find more fun in building something themselves, with the achievement of creation as the personal fulfillment, and the created thing as the reward (or the money they get for selling it, if that’s what they do)

What to add to make something fun The most basic way to make a game more fun right off the bat is making it fun to control. Simple actions, like movement, jumping, attacking, etc., if done properly, can make a game instantly more fun with relatively minimal effort. Controlling the game becomes fulfilling. Examples: Super Mario 64 movement and jumping, Skyrim shouts, Super Smash Bros ground-pound attacks, Portal momentum building with infinite loop, Rocket League boosting and flying, playing drums in Rock Band

On the flip-side... Similarly, having poor controls, frustrating controls, unintuitive controls, or controls that do not work will instantly make your game less fun, and may even be enough to make a player quit. When making a game, you should be making it as good as you can. Functional should be the absolute bare minimum. It should ultimately be much more than functional; it should be fun.

What to add to make something fun Alternatively, when something isn’t fulfilling by itself, you can add elements that make it rewarding for the player. The simplest and easiest example of such rewards are visual and audio cues of successful actions, like enemies flashing red and being knocked back when you hit them, or assassination animations when you perform a sneak attack

Bigger challenges, bigger rewards Bigger challenges create higher fulfillment, but also necessitate bigger rewards, like impressive animations for defeating a boss, or good loot for finding the secret treasure chest. The reward should be proportional to the challenge!

Bigger challenges, bigger rewards As with most things, moderation is best when it comes to the larger swings of the game. You obviously don’t want the game to be dull, but if it’s maxed out 110% intense all the way through, it will lose its edge too. You want highs and lows. This creates tension and drama, and makes the high points all the more impactful. The room to stock up on health and supplies right before the boss fight. The calm before the storm. It makes facing the boss more exciting. It makes defeating the boss all the more fulfilling.

What is a Game Loop? A gameplay loop is the collective set of actions that a player will be doing over a specific time frame. These actions make up the core of your gameplay mechanics. All games have a Core (or Primary) Game Loop. These are the actions will have to do on a moment-to-moment basis in order to play your game.

Core Game Loop of Call of Duty (or every other shooter ever) The core gameloop is made up of moment-to-moment action, or immediate player goals. They will always be doing one or more of these things in order to do anything in your game. When designing your game, one of the first things you need to consider is what your core game loop will be.

But Wait—There’s More! All games have a core game loop as well as a secondary game loop to add depth to the core mechanics and keep the player from getting bored. The secondary game loop is made of higher-level goals that utilize the actions of the core in order to complete them.

SECONDARY GAME LOOP Each of the goals in the secondary game loop are accomplished by repeatedly doing any combination of the actions in the core. The secondary game loop is also referred to as minute-to-minute gameplay.

And Even More! While all games have a core and secondary game loop, only larger scoped games will have a tertiary game loop. The actions in the secondary and tertiary loops are less like a feedback loop and more like long-term goals for the player.

TERTIARY GAME LOOP All of these loops feed back into the core.

Can you pinpoint the core gameplay loop of a game from another genre Can you pinpoint the core gameplay loop of a game from another genre? What is it?

Flow Flow (or cognitive flow) refers to the psychological state of total immersion within a task. Our goal as game designers is to design systems and mechanics that induce our players into a flow state and have them stay that way.

Flow While in this state, people experience: Extreme focus on a task. A sense of active control. Merging of action and awareness. Loss of self-awareness. Distortion of the experience of time. The experience of the task being the only necessary justification for continuing it.

How Do We Create Flow? Game developers need to consider these four characteristics if they want to increase the chances of having their players enter (and stay in) flow states while playing their games. Being mindful of these characteristics help to abate causing anxiety and frustration in players, both of which disrupt the flow state.

Breakdown of Flow Flow breaks down when players become frustrated, anxious, or bored. If the skill level of a player is too low and the task is too hard, this causes anxiety. If the task is too easy and the skill level of the player is high, this causes boredom. Consider the differences or similarities in design between Dark Souls and Portal. How do these games induce or break flow depending on their players? It is important for game developers to find a happy medium in attainable skill versus difficulty level when designing their games.