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Chapter 2.1
Understanding Fun
What is Fun?
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Dictionary: Enjoyment, a source of
amusement – but that doesn’t help
Important to consider underlying
reasons
“Funativity” – thinking about fun in
terms of measurable cause and effect
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Evolutionary Roots
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We must look to our distant past
Young mammals play to learn basic
survival skills
Games are organized play
Human entertainment is also at its
heart about learning how to survive
Mating and social rules also critical to us
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Education == Entertainment
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Life is all either work, rest, or fun
Fun is about practicing or learning new
survival skills in a relatively safe setting
People who didn’t enjoy that practice
were less likely to survive to become
our ancestors
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Hunting and Gathering
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For most of our species’ history we
were tribal hunter/gatherers
Current popular games reflect this
Shooters, wargames = hunting
Powerups, resources = gathering
Sims, MMO = social, tribal interaction
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Natural Funativity Theory
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Basic concept is that all fun derives
from practicing survival and social skills
Key skills relate to early human context,
but often in modern guise
Three overlapping categories
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Physical, Social, and Mental
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Physical Fun
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Sports generally enhance our strength,
stamina, coordination skills
Exploration is fun
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Both of local area and knowledge of exotic
places
Hand/eye coordination and tool use are
often parts of fun activities – crafts
Physical aspect to gathering “stuff”
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Social Fun
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Storytelling is a social activity
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A way to learn important survival and
social lessons from others
Gossip, sharing info w/friends popular
Flirting, showing off, finding mates is a
key interest in social fun
Language has become paramount
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Mental Fun
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Our large brains make humans unique
Pure abstract reasoning practice is fun
Pattern matching and generation
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Music, Art, and Puzzles all pattern based
Gathering also has mental aspect,
categorizing and identifying patterns
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Multipurpose Fun
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Many fun activities have physical, social
and mental aspects in combination
Games that mix these aspects tend to
be very popular
Incorporate ways to practice these skills
to increase the popularity of games
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Definition of a Great Game
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A great game is a series of interesting
and meaningful choices made by the
player in pursuit of a clear and
compelling goal
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A Series of … Choices in
Pursuit of a … Goal
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Must have choice, or it is not interactive
Must be a series of choices or it is too
simple to be a game
Must have a goal or it is a software toy
With Sim City and The Sims players
may bring their own goals
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Interesting and Meaningful
Choices
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Choices may be dull and uninteresting
because it was easy to code that way
Or it may be the reflection of a lazy
designer
Meaningful choices are perceived by the
player as having significant
consequences
May not have actual consequences…
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Clear and Compelling Goal
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Clear goals
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Because it is not fun to flounder aimlessly
Avoid the “protagonist with amnesia”
cliché
Compelling goals are goals that follow
the concepts in Natural Funativity
Survival is always a compelling goal
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A Series of Choices
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No choice
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A Series of Choices
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Meaningless choices
Obviously fold back into same path
Players discover this quickly
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A Series of Choices
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Infinite choices
Quickly become unmanageable
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A Series of Choices
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Choose wisely
Kill off player with any wrong choice
Better but frustrating (Dragon’s Lair)
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Classic Game Structure
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A convexity
Starts with a single choice, widens to
many choices, returns to a single choice
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Convexity Qualities
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Go from one to many to one
Can be a level, an act, an episode
Can be any kind of choice
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Geography, weapons, tools, skills,
technologies, quests
Examples
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Exploring an island
Technology build tree
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Fractal Structure
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Large scale structure repeated on
medium, smaller scales, like a coastline
In the case of convexities, each circle is
not a single choice, but a convexity
Age of Empires example
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Take a defensive stance, create squad to
defend left flank, collect resources to build
a legionnaire, etc.
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A Series of Convexities
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Many games are chains of convexities
B
B
B
A
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A
A
B
A
A
Points of limited choice (A) alternate
with points of many choices (B)
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A Series of Convexities
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Many overlapping convexities in great
games
Examples include Halo, Zelda games,
Civilization, Diablo II, many others
Player can be starting one task or area,
in the middle of another, and at the end
of a third, all simultaneously
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Why Is This
Structure So Good?
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Give the player choice but not an
infinitely expanding set of choices
Mix of some “any order” choices (B)
and some in fixed order (A), blending
freedom with linear storytelling
Can be structured so players see most
of the game, minimizing waste
Can have difficulty go up in new levels
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Psychological Advantages
of Classic Structure
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Alternating intense learning (A) with
time to practice (B) is the best way to
master new skills
Gradual learning and introduction of
new skills at the heart of fun game play
“Easy to learn, difficult to master”
“Simple, Hot, and Deep”
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The Concept of Flow
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U of C professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
One of his books is “Flow: The
Psychology of Optimal Experience”
Flow is a state of exhilaration, deep
sense of enjoyment
Usually when a person’s body or mind is
stretched to its limits to accomplish
something difficult and worthwhile
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The Flow Channel
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Start with relatively low level of
challenge to match starting skill levels
Gradually increase challenge
Fast enough to prevent boredom
Not so fast as to induce frustration
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The Flow Channel
Too Hard (Frustrating)
Increasing Difficulty
gress
Gam
Ideal
Pro
iculty
io n
f
e Di f
Too Easy (Boring)
Increasing Time (and Player Skill)
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The Flow Channel
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Flow state is common while developing
same Physical, Social, and Mental skills
noted in Natural Funativity
Best to introduce skills one at a time,
let player master them, move on to new
This results in staggered increase in
difficulty (wavy difficulty line)
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Difficulty Increase Varies
Ideal Game Difficulty Progression
B
B
B
A
A
B
A
A
A = Rapid Difficulty Increase, B = Slower Increase
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Typical Game Mechanisms
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High difficulty increase: Boss monsters,
climactic battles, quest resolutions
Low difficulty increase: Bonus levels,
new resource- and treasure-rich areas,
series of easy “minion” enemies
Overlap introduction of new skills, areas
to explore, tools, enemies
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Story and Character
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Back to “interesting choices” and
“compelling goals” – how to achieve?
Story and character can add emotional
association, strengthen reaction
Storytelling has long history, but
interactive storytelling can differ
critically from traditional linear modes
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Interactive Storytelling
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Blend storytelling with design early
Use experienced interactive writers
“Do, don’t show” – let players
experience story through interaction
Make it personal by having players
make key choices, events affect them
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It’s All About Interactivity
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Don’t make choices for the player
Story should add emotional context to
the choices
Keep any cut scenes brutally short
Break up non-interactive sequences by
adding interactivity, even if very simple
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Characters
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Characters can make the game world
seem more real and exciting
Bold stereotypes may seem crude but
are better than colorless characters,
and can help avoid boring exposition
Bring out character through action, not
description or exposition
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Gameplay Trumps Story
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If you have a conflict between
gameplay or story, first look for a
compromise that favors both
Failing that, make sure that the
gameplay is good at expense of story
Always signal player clearly in narrative
to interactive transitions with visuals,
audio
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