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Games as Experience Engines

Games as Experience Engines. Nikolaj Hyldig R&D Director OpenStory Group. MA Communication & Digital Media, AAU ½ PhD Interaction Design & Games, AAU Ericsson Research & Innovation Lab OpenStory Group. SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012. Evolution: Expedient behaviour.

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Games as Experience Engines

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  1. Games as ExperienceEngines • Nikolaj Hyldig • R&D Director • OpenStory Group

  2. MA Communication & Digital Media, AAU • ½ PhD Interaction Design & Games, AAU • Ericsson Research & Innovation Lab • OpenStory Group SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  3. Evolution: Expedientbehaviour • Evolutionary Psychology • Survival necessitates expedient behaviour SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  4. Evolution: Expedientbehaviour • Evolutionary Psychology • Survival necessitates expedient behaviour • Goal & Resource oriented • Learning from experience SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  5. Games as tools for learningexpedientbehaviour • Games as models of the world • Rules • Goals • Resources • Obstacles • Frame SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  6. Evolution: Expedientbehaviour • Evolutionary Psychology • Survival necessitates expedient behaviour • Goal & Resource oriented • Learning from experience • 3rd person perspective SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  7. Presence • We automatically project ourselves into fictional worlds SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  8. Presence • We automatically project ourselves into fictional worlds • Requires optimal challenge SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  9. Presence • We automatically project ourselves into fictional worlds • Requires optimal challenge • Game mechanics provide optimal challenge • Access to game mechanics need to be optimal • Ie: challenge from the game, not from interacting with it SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  10. Qualities of good games • Core Mechanics: the singular interactions with the game • ‘walk’, ‘pick up’, ‘aim’, ‘shoot’ • Core mechanics need to be fun! • Corresponds to good Interaction Design! • Content of the game should challenge the player • It should not be challenging to interact with the content • Example: walking • Realistic: tapping two buttons alternatively, one for each foot • Problem: effort without any meaningful impact on the game world • Bigger problem: it does not match the experience of walking – our natural mental focus is on navigating environment, not on moving feet • Better solution (simpler): map walking to analogue stick, emphasizing directional navigation of environment • Running however does take a bit of effort, implemented in GTA as the need to tap a button in order to accelerate to maintain running speed SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  11. Qualities of good games • Organisation of information SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  12. Qualities of good games • Clear goals • Specific • Measurable • Actionable • Realistic • Short & long term SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  13. Qualities of good games • Clear goal progress • Present goal • Tell why it matters • Tell where to go (actionable next steps, to get the player going) • Tell how to achieve it (actionable next steps) • Give proof of completion [feedback] • Give reward SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  14. Qualities of good games • Meaningful reward system • Meaningful within the fictional world • Comparable to the challenge overcome SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  15. Qualities of good games • Clear status • Progress • Spatial • Skills • Items SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  16. Qualities of good games • Excessive feedback: instant, continuous, meaningful • Numerical • Graphical • Auditory • Procedural feedback SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  17. Qualities of good games • Marc LeBlanc: Mechanics – Dynamics – Aesthetics • 8 Qualities (8 kinds of fun) • Sensation: Game as sense-pleasure • Fantasy: Game as make-believe • Narrative: Game as unfolding story • Challenge: Game as obstacle course • Fellowship: Game as social framework • Discovery: Game as uncharted territory • Expression: Game as soap box • Submission: Game as mindless pastime SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  18. Qualities of good games • World of Warcraft • Sensation: Game as sense-pleasure The graphics of WoW present the player with detailed exotic locations • Fantasy: Game as make-believe WoW offers a rich alternative universe to imagine walking around in and interacting with • Narrative: Game as unfolding story The gameplay in WoW is placed in a detailed narrative frame, giving deeper meaning to the actions of the player • Challenge: Game as obstacle course WoW is filled with challenges serving as opportunities for the player to exercise his creative problemsolving skills SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  19. Qualities of good games • World of Warcraft • Fellowship: Game as social framework The Multiplayer aspect of WoW makes it a highly social game, where the toughest challenges can only be overcome by teaming up with other players • Discovery: Game as uncharted territory The vast gameworld in WoW offers an abundance of opportunities for exploring diverse and exotic locations • Expression: Game as soap box The possibility to endlessly customise the player character forms the basis for expression of identity • Submission: Game as mindless pastime The repetition of “grind” and constant supply of new challenges makes WoW a game it is easy to lose oneself in SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  20. Qualities of good games • Desirable states, Professor Steven Reiss • Acceptance, the need for approval • Curiosity, the need to learn • Eating, the need for food • Family, the need to raise children • Honor, loyalty to the traditional values of one's group • Idealism, the need for social justice • Independence, the need for individuality • Order, the need for organized, stable, predictable environments • Physical activity, the need for exercise • Power, the need for influence of will • Romance, the need for sex • Saving, the need to collect • Social contact, the need for friends (peer relationships) • Status, the need for social standing/importance • Tranquility, the need to be safe • Vengeance, the need to strike back/to win SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  21. Qualities of good games • Aesthetic qualities, Abraham Maslow • Wholeness (unity) • Perfection (balance and harmony) • Completion (ending) • Justice (fairness) • Richness (complexity) • Simplicity ( essence) • Liveliness (spontaneity) • Beauty (rightness of form) • Goodness (benevolence) • Uniqueness (individuality) • Playfulness (ease) • Truth (reality) • Autonomy (self-sufficiency) • Meaningfulness (values) SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  22. EmotionalExperience • Emotion/motivation system (EMS) guides behaviour: Joy Condition: reaching goal, Motivation: keep doing it Anger Condition: intentional hindrance, Motivation: remove hindrance FearCondition: Goal threatened, Motivation: avoid threat SorrowCondition: loss of goal, Motivation: apathy SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  23. EmotionalExperience • Emotion/motivation system (EMS) guides behaviour: Joy Condition: reaching goal, Motivation: keep doing it Anger Condition: intentional hindrance, Motivation: remove hindrance FearCondition: Goal threatened, Motivation: avoid threat SorrowCondition: loss of goal, Motivation: apathy • Experience of emotion: 3 dimensions • The situation • Physical arousal • Urge to act SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  24. EmotionalExperience • Emotion/motivation system (EMS) guides behaviour: Joy Condition: reaching goal, Motivation: keep doing it Anger Condition: intentional hindrance, Motivation: remove hindrance FearCondition: Goal threatened, Motivation: avoid threat SorrowCondition: loss of goal, Motivation: apathy • Experience of emotion: 3 dimensions • The situation • Physical arousal • Urge to act • Emotional intensity • Urgency • Difficulty • Seriousness SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  25. Stories • Tool for learning through the experience of others • Goal-oriented structure SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  26. Stories & Games • Stories are focused on people: breadth of emotion • Games are personal: intensity of emotion • Video games: merging stories and games, but… SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  27. Stories & Games • Solution? SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  28. OpenStory Group • Game world of resources • Goals, plans, actions • Emotion process • Scenarios enable personal influence SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

  29. OpenStory Group contact nh@openstorygroup.com SpilBar Shareplay Aalborg 08.11.2012

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