Game Fun

"Gaming" - Pixabay

For this reading, I did a lot of research through different articles that talk about what makes games fun and also why.

The first article I read is "Natural Funativity" by Noah Falstein. The article quotes an old saying "we may not be able to describe fun, but we know it when we have it". Although this quote used to be very accurate, it is now thought that game designers are getting better and better at discovering the meaning of "fun". There is a theory created from "Natural Funativity" that is broken down into three basic areas.

1. Physical Fun
2. Social Fun
3. Mental Fun

Some examples of physical fun in games include anything involved in survival as our primary urge is the survival instinct. Anything that directly threatens our survival automatically commands our full attention. The majority of games that people enjoy the most are actual survival games as they usually keep peoples attention for much longer. The games are usually challenging but also very entertaining and rewarding. 

Social fun includes cell phones, instant messaging, and GPS-based games that put people in contact with each other in the real world are likely to further the social aspects of video games. For many years video games had limited opportunity to exploit that dynamic and prowess at games has not exactly been known for attracting mates but that has definitely changed over time.

There is an entire set of entertainment activities including quite a few video games which focuses primarily on mental fun. As our brains develop, games do too. Games continue to get more and more difficult as we become smarter and get more experience with challenging games, there is always another level to be achieved. There is a lot of mental fun in recognizing patterns as it is a workout for the brain.

The second article I read is "HEARTS, CLUBS, DIAMONDS, SPADES: PLAYERS WHO SUIT MUDS" by Richard Bartle. This article had a lot of useful information on MUD's (MMO's) and goes in depth on what they are. There are four things that people typically enjoyed about MUD's.

1. Achievement within the game context.
2. Exploration of the game.
3. Socializing.
4. Imposition upon others 

Are MUDs

• games? Like chess, tennis, D&D?

Yes - to achievers.

• pastimes? Like reading, gardening, cooking?

Yes - to explorers.

• sports? Like huntin', shooting', fishin'?

Yes - to killers.

• entertainments? Like nightclubs, TV, concerts?

Yes - to socialisers.

An Article on the MDA Framework has some great examples of what makes a game fun, they include

• Sensation
• Fantasy 
• Narrative 
• Challenge
• Fellowship
• Discovery
• Expression
• Submission

There was much more in each article that I found really informative and it was great to learn more about each topic.