Why We Play Games: Four Keys to more more Emotion without story

Why do we play games? Well we play games to change or structure our internal experiences, these experiences create an emotional impact on ourselves as the player. Emotions are important to human beings as it is a way of expressing ourselves and to communicate to other human beings. Many games use tools in order to create challenges for player to overcome, as these challenges are attempted it can create a variety of emotions such as frustration and anger, but the reward of completing these challenges can be relief and happiness. This happiness can be that breakthrough people play to step into their own fantasy world and escape their everyday life. XEODesign are a company the specialise in player experience research and design for mass market interactive entertainment. Here they have constructed a field study upon 30 different players of many different games in order to find out what makes them tick and what makes them want to play games. Over playing a variety of games they came up with a set of Keys to emotion with story:

1. Like: What players like most about playing
2. Emotion: Creates unique emotion without story
3. Games: Already present in ultra popular games
4. Theory: Supported by psychology theory and other larger studies

The research carried out showed that each key is a reason why people these games.

Hard Fun:

Players mostly players as an attempt to overcome obstacles. Hard fun is a way of creating emotions by structuring the players experiences towards them pursuing a goal. This mainly focuses on the reward factor of the goal is achieved. This technique can amplify frustration and passion for completing goals, players enjoy the relief from frustration and this one reason why people play. Hard fun can attract people who enjoy a challenge and often say things like:

• I play to see how good I am
• I play to beat the game
• I play to have multiple objectives
• I prefer using strategy rather than luck

Easy Fun:

This type of fun attracts players who just play for the sheer enjoyment of the experience of playing the game. This enjoyment often uses the sense of curiosity which entices the player to delve deeper into the game world. The sensation of wonder and shock often lures these players into the game. They often have a short attention span so adventurous games keep them satisfied. These players often use these words to describe their reasons for playing:

• I play to explore new worlds with intriguing people
• I play for the excitement and adventure
• I play because I want to figure the story out
• I play because I want to see what happens in the story, even if I have to use a walk through
• I play because me and my character are one
• I love the sounds of the cards shuffling
• I play because of the growing dragons

Altered States:

These type of people play games that generate emotion with perception, thought, behaviours and playing with other people. A majority of people confess they play games because it makes them feel better about themselves, these games are used to move players from one mental state to another. Players who receive enjoyment from these mention that:

• They enjoy letting the game clear their mind by clearing a level
• They feel better about themselves whilst playing
• They play to avoid boredom
• Being better than someone at something that matters

The people factor:

These games create opportunities for player interaction and competition. These players often play just for the social aspect of the game. Players will even play games they dont like just because they enjoy socialising with the people who play. Tempers can flare and jokes can be thrown but its all part of the game. These players often feel that:

• It's the people who play that are addictive, not the game itself
• I want an excuse to invite my friends over for some games
• I don't like playing games, but its a fun way to spend time with my friends
• I don't play, but it's fun to watch.

Why some people no longer or never want to play:

Some people don't want to play games as they value other things in life with a higher valued responsibility such as jobs or raising families. Some never want to play again because they know that games can become addictive and develop bad habits. Some even regard games as against their morals.

"I won’t play his games, because someone has to take care of the kids!” –Wife of a Hard Core Gamer