by Design: A Game Designer Explains the Counterintuitive Secret to Fun
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Date: 2022-07-06
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Comments and reviews: 9
MrEkShun
Has anybody else here ever sat in front of a blank sheet of paper with some intention of drawing only to be paralyzed by the endless options? In contrast, has anybody else had a friend draw a random line on a totally blank piece of paper, and then have to try to make some sort of object, animal, or landscape out of it?
You start with the dauntingly endless possibilities of a blank sheet of paper, create -meaningless obstacles- for yourself, and then make something of it. You overcome them. You have many options to overcome this obstacle, perhaps similarly endless options to what you had with the blank paper, but you have a clear obstacle: turn some random mass of scribbles (because the friend is a jerk) into a coherent and often hilarious depiction of something we can identify with.
I wasted so much time in elementary school with this.
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Has anybody else here ever sat in front of a blank sheet of paper with some intention of drawing only to be paralyzed by the endless options? In contrast, has anybody else had a friend draw a random line on a totally blank piece of paper, and then have to try to make some sort of object, animal, or landscape out of it?
You start with the dauntingly endless possibilities of a blank sheet of paper, create -meaningless obstacles- for yourself, and then make something of it. You overcome them. You have many options to overcome this obstacle, perhaps similarly endless options to what you had with the blank paper, but you have a clear obstacle: turn some random mass of scribbles (because the friend is a jerk) into a coherent and often hilarious depiction of something we can identify with.
I wasted so much time in elementary school with this.
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felixccaa
He is so wrong on so many levels: playing is something all mammals have in common.
Games are always a simulation of certain aspects of life and so they train skills that help achieve better results in real life.
Compare cats:
they play with wool, just to train how to hunt and kill.
The fun is just a chemical reaction in our brains which happens, when we are successful with tasks that are just as difficult that an individual can solve them, but not to easy to get bored.
So fun happens when we are -in the flow-.
reply
He is so wrong on so many levels: playing is something all mammals have in common.
Games are always a simulation of certain aspects of life and so they train skills that help achieve better results in real life.
Compare cats:
they play with wool, just to train how to hunt and kill.
The fun is just a chemical reaction in our brains which happens, when we are successful with tasks that are just as difficult that an individual can solve them, but not to easy to get bored.
So fun happens when we are -in the flow-.
reply
Quantum1000
While there's a lot of things he doesn't touch on, I think his main argument is sound. Fun is about learning and exploring, and that can't happen if you're constantly being distracted away from the main task. Sure, if an experience is innately unpleasant, you're probably better off being distracted from it, but in most cases, the experience isn't unpleasant, only boring. If you have room to learn about and explore the task, it can become fun.
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While there's a lot of things he doesn't touch on, I think his main argument is sound. Fun is about learning and exploring, and that can't happen if you're constantly being distracted away from the main task. Sure, if an experience is innately unpleasant, you're probably better off being distracted from it, but in most cases, the experience isn't unpleasant, only boring. If you have room to learn about and explore the task, it can become fun.
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Matt
Fun is like learning some practical skill that you want to learn. 1 short sentence vs 11 minute lecture with slides. The reason why gamification of routine tasks will never be fun is that routine tasks are just completing dull activities that you can do on autopilot. Want to have fun while doing them then listen to the radio or something. Yes, I'll charge a big fat consultancy fee for telling people with boring jobs to listen to the radio.
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Fun is like learning some practical skill that you want to learn. 1 short sentence vs 11 minute lecture with slides. The reason why gamification of routine tasks will never be fun is that routine tasks are just completing dull activities that you can do on autopilot. Want to have fun while doing them then listen to the radio or something. Yes, I'll charge a big fat consultancy fee for telling people with boring jobs to listen to the radio.
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Arjuna
PSA: Peoples, if you are here I assume you have interest in games and design. Therefore, check out this guy's - Ian Bogost is his name- academic writing around games. This dude has some of the most important, and I think well written, academic writings to have ever graced the games industry. He is constantly cited by every games professor/scholar I have ever worked with.
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PSA: Peoples, if you are here I assume you have interest in games and design. Therefore, check out this guy's - Ian Bogost is his name- academic writing around games. This dude has some of the most important, and I think well written, academic writings to have ever graced the games industry. He is constantly cited by every games professor/scholar I have ever worked with.
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Elijah
I really like this, and it resonates with me a lot. Maybe that's redundant. Anyway, this approach makes me think of Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec. He finds great pleasure in crafts like woodworking, and fixing radiators and stuff. He puts forth his best efforts and takes pride in the quality of the outcome.
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I really like this, and it resonates with me a lot. Maybe that's redundant. Anyway, this approach makes me think of Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec. He finds great pleasure in crafts like woodworking, and fixing radiators and stuff. He puts forth his best efforts and takes pride in the quality of the outcome.
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jakob
I started putting my finger into to the candle flame. In the beginning it was borring, a bit itchy, and smelled of bacon. But then a started to respect the activity and it suddenly became a lot of fun. The deliberateness, discoveries, seriousness, attention, and care just make it so much fun.
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I started putting my finger into to the candle flame. In the beginning it was borring, a bit itchy, and smelled of bacon. But then a started to respect the activity and it suddenly became a lot of fun. The deliberateness, discoveries, seriousness, attention, and care just make it so much fun.
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Nam
That was an amazing and inspiring talk! And I am so happy that you kept it concise, not dragging the audience through 20 min of talking to get a strong point across. Much respect for you sir Ian. Thank you again for the talk!
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That was an amazing and inspiring talk! And I am so happy that you kept it concise, not dragging the audience through 20 min of talking to get a strong point across. Much respect for you sir Ian. Thank you again for the talk!
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Xsomono
I'd phrase it a little easier: There is joy in progress which can be made by discovering, learning and then using your experience to grow. Then fun is the feeling you get when you watch yourself growing.
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I'd phrase it a little easier: There is joy in progress which can be made by discovering, learning and then using your experience to grow. Then fun is the feeling you get when you watch yourself growing.
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