Life, addictive game mechanics, and the truth hiding in Bejeweled

[zhai]

One of the occupational hazards of being a game designer is an obligation to play up-and-coming games, both to stay ahead of where the market is moving and to dig for signs of the One True Game Design, aka universal mechanics that move people. Lately there's been a lot of buzz around Bejeweled Blitz, so I dug in for a sample today.

Blitz takes the

Comments

[stoda]

Nicely thought and reasoned entry, I enjoyed reading it... and it certainly parallels my own thoughts and experiences as a game designer & player.

There are all these balancing acts to be maintained, as player and creator... and it's best when the respect, and enjoyment, is mutual.

I think quality matters a lot. The difference between a cup of sugar and a Snickers bar... you can provide an experience that is very enjoyable, and deeply feeds those reward patterns, but... which also provides exits, and stopping points. The distinction between providing encouragement and reward, and... just checking off the 'these are the keys to addictive gameplay' play list.

Addiction happens because we're wired for it. It's just how much we're wired for OTHER things that helps us resist (or break free from) the mindless 'press X for reward stimulus' loops.

[zhai]

Thanks for the comment. :) I agree, and I think that's how most game designers see the distillation of these compelling mechanics. They're tools, and how you use them is up to you. Jesse Schell has a lot of very interesting thoughts on this in The Art of Games.

[ext_111951]

I like to think that playing Travian non-stop for a month or so has vaccinated me against other 'passive' multiplayer games. They no longer hold me entranced, waiting for the moment I can do yet another action. The leaderboard really isn't that important to me.

This has extended into other games as well. Dokopon Kingdom, for instance - getting screwed over is part of the game, so meh if it happens. No use getting frustrated.

So yeah, there's a term for you. Subjective addiction vaccine. Or something.

[zhai]

Ah, yes, very interesting. And in the dangerous parlance of chemical addiction, into which we arguably should not go, are you saying that higher grade forms of a substance inoculate you to lower grade forms? ;) Maybe in safer terms: I am completely ruined for Foster Farms grade chicken because I've roasted and made soup from organic free-range chicken, and the cheap stuff just isn't even worth it anymore.

In games, what's interesting about this thought is that there is a "seeking" element present when we play. We are actually, I would argue, looking for an answer to a deep subconscious question. I think some games help us find those answers better than others -- there is actual multi-level comprehension going on. So once you've comprehended one form, or a higher form of a similar mechanic, the earlier form doesn't draw you anymore. This is a corollary, maybe, of the simple Introduce-Perform-Master progression, or what Raph says in A Theory of Fun about the core of fun being learning and mastering a skill -- the clear statement there

[las]

I really enjoyed this post. Thank you.

[zhai]

Thanks for the comment, I'm glad you liked it. :)

[haikujaguar]

I've been thinking a lot about this topic, as I've returned to WoW for just long enough to realize how much I dislike seeing the behaviors it inspires in people I otherwise like (and myself, at that). So thanks for writing this, you've given me a lot to think about. :)

[zhai]

Welcome, glad you liked it. :)

I think, and maybe it's worth a separate post, that WoW is a different issue. I'm not sure it can be framed in terms of addiction, even though it's currently being treated by health professionals in the same terms, and MMO "addiction" is probably the most common form of negative behavior disruption that we see in over-playing.

The thing is, though, WoW and Everquest before it are and were genuine online environments -- they are places. So a person who is "addicted" (and again you have that definition problem) isn't so much repeating a simple behavior as they are actually inhabiting a space. A person relinquishes their meat life to go and live instead in Azeroth, and that's a fundamentally different thing than imbibing a substance or playing Pacman over and over

[haikujaguar]

Ironically your response comes in right as I'm dealing with the lingering effects of a lot of guild drama

[alleycatsphinx]

I think the truth is there are a lot of activities that don't really benefit life, except that they keep us alive by passing our time