Play and pleasure blog # 4

“..Rewards and punishments shape a player’s sense of pleasure and overall play experience” (Salen K & Zimmerman E 2004)


Reward is a positive reinforcement and can take different forms. Reward can shape behaviour in everyday situations. For example, a young child could be bribed with a bar of chocolate to sit still; adults defer reward when working for later gain. In the context of games there are four different types of reward, one of which is ‘reward access’ which is when a player is able to reach a new level in the game.

In ‘Mango Quest’ the reward is to reach subsequent levels en route to getting the mango at the top of the tree. As you pass each obstacle, each level becomes more difficult. There were times I was not able to complete a level and would fall back to the previous level. This would frustrate me but knowing that if I kept trying to get to the top of the mango tree I would be rewarded, reduced my frustrations so I kept trying.

The pleasure of flow is when I am focusing totally on enjoying the game and am in an “emotional and psychological state of focus and engaged happiness” (Salen K & Zimmerman E 2004). There is a definite chance of failure, and I could tell how well I was doing. ‘Mango Quest’ incorporates two of Csikszentmihlyi’s descriptions of the components of flow in that there are: “clear goals and feedback” within the game. The game is “goal oriented” and it is possible to make “meaningful choices”.


The pleasure of iterative possibility in ‘Mango Quest’ occurred when I failed a particular level, and had to redo it. When doing it the second time around, I was more aware of how to avoid the obstacles, and this allowed me to get past the obstacle I had failed on before. This made the game pleasurable because I learnt from my mistake and was able to complete the game with better ability by changing my technique. It was iterative because I repeated the level, but changed my approach slightly. For example, getting past the eating Venus fly trap, the first time I didn’t know to use both the arrows keys simultaneously. When I did this on the second occasion, I succeeded. This type of motivation is “ludic” and involves the ability to move up a level in the game (Carr D, Buckingham D Burn A Schott G (2006)

BIB

Carr D, Buckingham D Burn A Schott G (2006) Computer Games: text narrative and play UK Polity Press

Salen K & Zimmerman E 2004 Rules of Play: game design fundamentals USA Massachusetts Institute of Technology