Designing for happiness
I read this article: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3675/the_pursuit_of_games_designing_.php?print=1
I'm not sure his conclusions are the greatest, and making the happiness vs fun distinction is maybe a bit counter productive, designers usually talk about different types of fun, and what he describes as happiness is usually one of them (or a combination of them). e.g. http://www.xeodesign.com/xeodesign_whyweplaygames.pdf
But the topic, and what he's trying to figure out, is really interesting.
In particular I found this kind of fascinating:
"Big gory deaths in your typical FPS stimulate the nucleus accumbens, the part of our brain that gives us dopamine-powered orgasms, and it also happens to be activated by the anticipation of pleasure. Stimulating it can prime players into accepting more risk. "
I love the idea of the anticipation of pleasure. I think that's a really interesting thing to design for.
I mean, the key is making the reward seem desireable, and making it possible to plan for that reward, but also providing a space from which to reflect on that reward. I guess it's also about setting goals that the player can expect.
And for me this explains why players are willing to wait around in stealth games instead of getting bored... their brains are filling with dopamine in the anticipation of beating the puzzle.
And it also explains Peggle :)
I often tell people during game prototyping (including myself) it's not a game until it has a victory condition. This is true semantically, but maybe, in some circumstances, designing for the anticipation of pleasure is a better goal.
What do you think? (Any other thoughts triggered by the article?)
I'm not sure his conclusions are the greatest, and making the happiness vs fun distinction is maybe a bit counter productive, designers usually talk about different types of fun, and what he describes as happiness is usually one of them (or a combination of them). e.g. http://www.xeodesign.com/xeodesign_whyweplaygames.pdf
But the topic, and what he's trying to figure out, is really interesting.
In particular I found this kind of fascinating:
"Big gory deaths in your typical FPS stimulate the nucleus accumbens, the part of our brain that gives us dopamine-powered orgasms, and it also happens to be activated by the anticipation of pleasure. Stimulating it can prime players into accepting more risk. "
I love the idea of the anticipation of pleasure. I think that's a really interesting thing to design for.
I mean, the key is making the reward seem desireable, and making it possible to plan for that reward, but also providing a space from which to reflect on that reward. I guess it's also about setting goals that the player can expect.
And for me this explains why players are willing to wait around in stealth games instead of getting bored... their brains are filling with dopamine in the anticipation of beating the puzzle.
And it also explains Peggle :)
I often tell people during game prototyping (including myself) it's not a game until it has a victory condition. This is true semantically, but maybe, in some circumstances, designing for the anticipation of pleasure is a better goal.
What do you think? (Any other thoughts triggered by the article?)
Comments
http://fora.tv/2011/02/15/Robert_Sapolsky_Are_Humans_Just_Another_Primate
Go to chapter 8 from the chapter selection, the chapter on gratification and anticipation. Enjoy! :)
This also in a way ties to fun and pleasure (as with the FPS example) horror activates another area of pleasure in the brain. That aside now, it explains why certain games that focuses more on this expectation ends up being much scarier than others that constantly throws the player with scares and gore.
@bigbadwofl You have a sharp wit sir!