Bent Spoon Games Blog

I’ve ran across a very interesting phrase from a psychology lecture: Emotions are mechanisms that set goals and priorities. Furthermore, looking at the etymology of the word “emotion”: “This is based on the Latin emovere, where e- (variant of ex-) means ‘out’ and movere means ‘move’. The related term “motivation” is also derived from movere.” (wiki)

This makes perfect sense – a complete loop. The player has a choice and she makes it guided by her emotions. The action she takes will cause results, which will cause emotions, which will fuel the further choices. It’s a complete cycle. Therefore, I need to edit my original templates like so:

1) Pick an emotion. What actions can cause it? What choices does it lead to?

2) Pick an action. What possible emotions can it produce? What choices use that action?

3) Pick a choice. What is the action set? What emotions lead to this choice?

This explains one of the small frustrations I have with games: they start with a lot of backstory. Personally, I don’t care for it, so I feel bored. I want to jump into action, I want to choose. Both of these approaches solve the problem of the loop: where to begin? Most games try to generate emotions from presenting a moving/compelling story. This might fail because the player doesn’t care. I prefer to present a choice, which will then result in emotion. This might fail because the player doesn’t care about the choice, and if the designer is not careful the player might misunderstand the presented choice.

Just like the game engine cycles through the game loop (read input, update, render), so will the player cycle between the three states. Each state affects the next. In this way we can define flOw in the game by how easy it is for the player to cycle through this loop. Any interruption will decrease or ruin the immersion. The chain is only as strong as the weakest link, so we need to make sure every choice and every action matters.

The first emotion I want to explore is curiosity. I think it’s the most natural emotion to use to start up a game. Let the curiosity guide the player. Let her explore and get into the art at her own pace. Let’s plug it into the first tempate:

1) Pick an emotion. What actions can cause it? What choices does it lead to?

The player feels curiosity.

Actions leading to curiosity: Inaction – something happens by itself and the player becomes curious. Acquiring – the player will want to learn more about a new possession, whether it is an artifact or a piece of knowledge. Change – the player changes something, which might not have an obvious or foreseeable effect. More general: something with an unexpected effect/consequence – the player will wonder why something happened or how it was caused. (That also works when effects/consequences are unknown.) Most general: exploration/investigation/learning – player receives new information, which arouses player’s curiosity.

Note: it seems the best way to feed curiosity is by starting with something small, a bait so to speak, and then progressing to more interesting and deep things. If the player is hooked properly, then she will follow easily. (Vectorpark’s games are based around curiosity.)

Curiosity leads to the following choices: Pursue or not – should the player follow the curiosity, wait, or ignore it. Approach – how to pursue curiosity (type of observation or more direct action). (There is also a question of “where to start”, when the scope of the curiosity is big enough.)