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Fourteen Forms of Fun Discovery"Finding something that wasn't known before." Scientists and explorers of all time have been listening to their desire of discovery. It is one of the most common tools used by designers to build games: new levels, new environments, new weapons, new enemies, etc. are all introduced as the game unfolds. Discovery is all about new things: seeing new things, doing new things. Introducing new things progressively in a game can make it more interesting and this has been used with great effect in many games. A good example of this is Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The main source of entertainment in this game is the exploration of the world. The world of the game is large and it is expanded slowly as the story evolves. Moreover, the exploration is encouraged by all means possible: ghosts must be hunted in the wilderness, tokens that contribute to getting new things are hidden in remote corners of the world, all of the game's dungeon contain a new weapon or tool to help the player, etc. The world is detailed, interesting and everything in it is there to make the player want to explore more of it. This is an excellent example of how discovery can help make a game more fun. It also shows that discovery is often closely tied with immersion (see above) as both forms complement each other. Immersion involves the player in the world while discovery keeps him interested and willing to keep going forward in the game. The mix of discovery and immersion is what constitutes exploration: going to a different environment to find new things. Discovery is not only tied to exploration, though. In a game like Quake, finding a new weapon and using it for the first time is an exciting moment. An even more gratifying aspect of discovery is finding a new, non-obvious, trick in the game. When a player finds out that he can jump much farther away by shooting a rocket at the ground beneath him (doing the famous rocket-jump), he feels particularly smart and good because of this discovery. Discovery is easy to include in a game: adding a new environment or a different weapon keeps the player interested. Finer methods can also be used, however: hiding something interesting (a new weapon, for example) in a hidden area can make the players who finds it feel special, while having a large game world with interesting things to discover (a small village or a sub-quest for example) outside of the game's main path encourage the player to explore more and makes him have more fun. Also allowing some non-obvious use of the game rules (like allowing the rocket jump) can make for some really interesting discoveries. Advancement and Completion "Going forward in, and eventually finishing, an activity." Playing a videogame is fun, however conquering a game is one of the greatest accomplishments of all. Actually, the simple act of going forward in an activity and getting closer to completing it, is something everybody enjoys. This is one of the reasons why being stuck in a game is frustrating. Advancing is fun, but finishing even more so: the act of actually "beating" a game is something some players always aim for. In this case, it's actually a form of competition with the player pitted against the game. Of course, finishing is also a sad moment for gamers who would like to experience the game again. A good example of using advancement as a way to keep players hooked is Deus Ex. In this game, most problems have multiple solutions (see above, under Intellectual Problem Solving). By doing so, not only is finding a solution more rewarding, but it also makes getting stuck lesslikely. It is much more likely that the player will find a solution to a problem that has five different solutions than if it has only one. Since the player rarely gets stuck, the he keeps advancing. He is less frustrated and enjoys the game more. Other examples of using advancement and completion to make a game more fun are arcade games and most notably fighting games like Soul Calibur or Virtua Fighter. In these games, the single-player experience is rather short: a few minutes at best. In this short period of time, the player advances through the game and eventually completes it. Beating the game makes the player happy and leaves a positive lasting impression. Of course, such short games wouldn't be nearly as interesting if it weren't for the huge replayability they feature. Since every time the player goes through the game, the experience is different (the enemies and their order is different from game to game, in the case of a fighting game), he can play play it over again and enjoy advancing through and completing the game another time. The vast majority of games involve, in some form or another, advancement and completion, but not all of them use it well. In many games, it is easy for the player to get stuck. As we have seen, this is not good and should be avoided. Since advancing is fun, we can conclude that if a game isn't fun by itself, making it easy will at least make it a bit better. Another conclusion of this is that short but highly replayable games are fun - yet they are relatively rare, especially on the PC. Application of a Skill "Using one's physical abilities in a difficult setting." Skill games have always existed in one form or another such as marbles, darts, basketball, tennis, golf, etc. All of these games require certain skills to perform a certain task. Often used in a competition setting, these activities are entertaining because they offer an interesting challenge.Videogames have pretty much exhausted all challanges of hand-to-eye cooridination . Action games are a whole genre based solely on this challange. As such, many examples of the use of the application of skills exist. First-person shooters like Quake or Unreal are based on the ability to move, aim and shoot correctly. Fighting games like Dead or Alive or Soul Calibur are centered on the ability of the player to enter complex moves correctly and to anticipate the opponent's moves. One common thread among all games is that the players ability must be used in a challenging situation. First-person shooters wouldn't be fun for long if they only involved shooting at motion-less targets, for example. The important thing about this form of entertainment is the challenge. If the application of a skill is not difficult then there is no fun in doing it. Because of this, it is important to avoid making the player use skills in trivial situations, like clicking repeatedly on a monster to kill it. In Diablo this was necessary but it wasn't really an interesting challenge. On the other hand, the level of difficulty should not be too high, or else the player will get stuck and will likely become bored with the game. Conclusion The description of these forms of fun is another tool in the designer's kit. Like any tool, it must be used when needed and not applied to everything. Creating a game that would use all of these types of entertainment would only create a confusing mix of different forms, which would not be as interesting as a game concentrating on a few of these forms and using them really well. However, trying to create a game, which only concentrates on a single form of fun would be lacking in the overall experience. Like in all things, the secret to success is balance. ______________________________________________________  [Back
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