Today we’re going to be taking a look at why the human mind enjoys playing games. Come find out why tabletop games are so appealing to us, psychology.
Hi all, Dr Greg from The Plastic Crack Blog here. I thought it would be interesting to do a mini-series using my knowledge as a registered psychologist to apply psychological theory to the tabletop. Today I’m going to be discussing why we play games.
We all are familiar with the feeling of having a great day of gaming and today I’m going to be talking about why we get those feelings and how games can be designed in a way that we get more out of them. Everyone has needs which range from basic needs for survival such as food, shelter and safety all the way up to social needs such as love. Part of these needs inself-actualization where we need to be the best we can be, cognitive needs such as to feel excited and experience new things and transcended; helping others reach their potential.
Humans and animals are built in a way that positive behavior that ensures these needs are rewarded with the neurotransmitter dopamine which is associated with feelings of pleasure. This could come from something as simple as having a drink when I am thirsty and as a result, it feels good. This is simple at lower levels, but the further up we get in the pyramid, the more complex these needs get. An example of such would be respect. We might have different subjective outlooks on what constitutes as respect as well as how much of it we need. Regardless this does not matter objectively, as long as someone perceived they are getting what they need and enough of it then dopamine will be released.
Overall we are trying to get a pay off in our gaming where pleasure outweighs the possibility of failure or pain. The way that we can judge these is based on three concepts:
- How much have I learnt, and was it interesting to me?
- Our own subjective view on the game itself
- How successful was I when playing that game?
It gets difficult in modern society to judge this because there are so many choices, and the with that the boundaries between doing something right and wrong are not always clear. Therefore, choosing the activity or game or hobby related activity can be difficult. Also knowing whether we have done well can be challenging because we are always comparing ourselves to other hobbyists. This makes feeling successful harder because there will always be a more talented painter, someone more tactically sound, or just a nicer person to game with.
In order for games to be more appealing to people they need to include the following;
- Competition – Where pleasure comes from outmaneuvering our opponent
- Chance – Pleasure lies in finding ways to minimize the impact of the element of chance and it gives people the opportunity to be in control or guess the future
- Make Belief – It’s exciting to assume various characteristics and abilities that we do not possess in the real world
- Sense distortion – like with roller coasters, games that can distort sense in a particular way such as vertigo can also be appealing
To ensure that games have a flow it helps to be matched with an opponent of equal skills. It’s much more fun playing a tight and close game rather than trashing someone or being stomped on yourself. Also when a game has such a deep involvement that requires considerable concentration this absorbs us and gets us away from everyday worries, in doing so it distorts our perception of time making hours feel like minutes.
Furthermore, a game or hobby that has clear goals shows us how we are progressing, this can be climbing the tournament ladder or becoming a better player and constant feedback helps with this both in the community but also in-game. For instance, if your models are dying you know you are not doing so well. Finally, the ability to exercise control is something that people get pleasure out of that they might not have in their day to day lives.
