Game Dynamics: What Keeps Us Interested?

How does one keep users coming back to your site?

One need only look at the science of behaviourism to understand how simple reward contingencies dramatically influence our behaviour. 

Pinsir. 8.3% appearance rate

Rewards are provided at fixed / variable ratios and intervals to keep you motivated. Classic RPG's provide a prime example of these principles at work. In Pokemon, for example, you are rewarded every time you engage your pokemon in a battle, regardless of how difficult the opponent is (this is a fixed ratio contingency). You are rewarded more for facing more challenging opponents, but your chance of success is decreased. Whichever opponent you choose, you are constantly collecting points, which serve to keep you motivated. As you accumulate more points, you unlock new levels, which provide you with new capabilities and mechanical benefits. You're able to explore new regions of the map and use your pokemon's new powers. Variable ratio contingencies are also at play. Pokemon types vary in their frequency of appearance, such that engaging in a battle with a some pokemon is much rarer than others. Seeing a rare pokemon is thus reinforcing. The pokemon Pincer in the Blue Version of the game, for example, only appears 8.3% of the time and is most commonly found in thick grass regions. 

I certainly remember when I was a kid with my Gameboy Pocket,  I would spend hours running my character through the tall grasses hoping to encounter rare pokemon. Note that reinforcement contingencies vary across the different layers of the game - some layers provide continual reinforcement which serve to maintain motivation, while others provide very infrequent and random reward, which serve to keep you interested.  The game mechanics of Pokemon are beautifully crafted. They are mathematical art. One is never rewarded infrequently enough to become overly frustrated, and never rewarded too frequently to become bored. We humans are fickle creatures!

Interested in understanding more about the science behind game mechanics? Read game researcher at Microsoft Game Studios John Hopson's article on behavioural game design. Here is a snippet:

"The application of general rules to a specific case is always tricky, especially in situations where there is more than one type of contingency operating. Most experiments in behavioral psychology are designed to illuminate a single phenomenon, like an X-ray revealing the bones of an arm. The skin, muscles, and so on aren't shown, so the resulting picture is incomplete. But even with just the bones, we can make a good guess about how the arm works, its limitations and flexibilities. The behavioral principles discussed here should be understood to have similar benefits and limitations. There are numerous other things that influence players, but the basic patterns of consequences and rewards form the framework which enable all the rest. By understanding the fundamental patterns that underlie how players respond to what we ask of them, we can design games to bring out the kind of player we want."

In future posts, I will explore the game dynamics of Reddit, Facebook and other social networking sites. It is these same concepts that make these sites so addictive. Can you highlight any behavioural principles at work on these and other services?

Contingencies must be perceived in context.