What Exactly is a Game?

● Goals
○ Specific outcome that players will work to achieve.
■ A sense of purpose.
● Rules
○ Limitations on how players can achieve the goal.
○ Removing or limiting obvious ways of getting to the goal.
■ Unleash creativity and foster strategic thinking.
● Feedback System
○ Points, levels, score, progress bar that informs the player how close they are to their goal.
○ When the game is over.
■ A promise that a goal is achievable and gives motivation.
● Voluntary Participation
○ The willingness to accept the goals, rules, and feedback.
■ Establishes common ground for multiple players. Intentional stressful and challenging
work
Reality Fix #1
Unnecessary Obstacles
Reality is ‘too easy’
 Bernard Suits
● “Playing a game is the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles.”

Golf: Hitting a ball into a hole at 300 yards

Scrabble: Spell the best word with limited letters
Is Tetris a Game?
Golf?
Portal?
Goal?
Rules?
Feedback System?
Voluntary Participation?
How Games Provoke Positive Emotions
The opposite of play isn’t work. It’s depression-Brian Sutton-Smith
● High-Stakes Work
○ Fast and action oriented. Epic success or spectacular failure.
■ Gran Turismo
■ Left 4 Dead
● Busywork
○ Predictable and monotonous. Feeling contented and productive.
■ FarmVille
■ Bejeweled
● Mental Work
○ Rapid-fire and condensed or drawn-out and complex.
■ Age of Empire
■ Civilization
● Physical Work
○ Endorphin producing active movement.
■ Wii Boxing
■ Dance Dance Revolution
● Discovery Work
○ Active investigating unfamiliar objects.
■ BioShock
● Teamwork
○ Emphasizes collaboration, cooperation, and contributions to the larger group.
○ Special Duties: Tank, DPS, Healing
■ World of Warcraft
■ City of Heroes
● Creative Work
○ Creation via meaningful decisions. Proud of things we have made.
■ Sims
■ Minecraft
Eustress- The best stress you can strive for.

Fiero- Much more than pride

The Rise of Happiness Engineers
Jane McGonigal
-Author of Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They
Can Change the World
-New York Times Bestseller 2011
-Game Designer
-Designs games to “solve real problems”
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

-Born in 1934
-Most known for his “theory of flow”
-Pursued positive psychology
Flow
“The satisfying, exhilarating feeling of creative accomplishment and
heightened functioning.”
Flow Activities
-Performed for only enjoyment. Not for status, money or obligation.

Do you consider online games with leaderboards, or games with a

potential financial gain (ex: poker) flow activities?
David Sudnow
-Jazz pianist and sociologist
-Published first “video-game memoir”
-Discussed love of Breakout
Autotelic
self-motivating, self-rewarding activity
More Satisfying Work

Compared with games, reality if unproductive. Games give us clearer

missions and more satisfying, hands-on work.
Satisfying work
● Clear goal
● Actionable next steps towards that goal
Games and life
Kinds of work:

● High stakes
● Exploratory
● Busywork
● Teamwork
High Stakes
Exploratory
Busywork
Teamwork
Games and Time
● Wow players have collectively clocked in over 6 million years of
game time.

● Nick Yee claims “MMO’s are really massively multiplayer work

environments disguised as games.”
How many hours do you spend on
games?