Why do we play video games?

Abstract

Making video games is a difficult task because of technical difficulties alone, however it is the crafting a pleasurable experience for the player that is the biggest challenge to tackle. Play is a nontrivial aspect of human nature that has been addressed numerous times in different scientific fields. Huizinga referred to play as something older that culture. A phenomenon, without which culture could not exist. In my work I have presented the two psychological approaches to play: behavioral psychology and cognitive psychology. The former provides an insight into what behaviors are related to the play activity. The latter dives into the mechanisms of rewards, motivation as well as basic human psychological needs according to the self-determination theory. People play video games because they feel play is fun. However, the psychological mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are quite complicated. Playing is a rewarding behavior. From the biological point of view, the feeling of pleasure is directly related to the reward system, a neurological structure inside the human brain. Play can provide both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. Extrinsic rewards are mostly related to reward granting systems implemented in video games by developers. In modern games, many such systems run in parallel to ensure a pleasurable experience for the player. A few examples are: feedback systems, experience points systems, or item gaining systems. Intrinsic rewards are related to the inherent fun of the play activity itself. In video games this means that playing the game can be pleasurable in it's own sake and playing it is not motivated by any extrinsic reward. Video games are also capable of satiating three basic human psychological needs, as described in the self-determination theory. This is due to the fact, that video games are designed to fulfill the needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness. Autonomy comes from the freedom of choice and the feeling that taken actions are in harmony with the inner-self. This need satiation is something that emerged with the introduction of RPG games, where the player's choices are less constrained. The need of competence is fulfilled when the player feels capable of overcoming the obstacles within the game. Competence has been the driving force of many early video games, as it is a direct consequence of interaction and conflict, two factors which are inherent to any game. Satiation of relatedness comes from one's feeling that he is needed in the group he interacts with, which in case of video games relates to his in-game teammates. Quite often, the need of relatedness is fulfilled outside of the game when people discuss situations they have experienced in games. Knowledge on the psychological aspects of playing can be useful in video game design, where thinking about the player should be the main focus of the developer. Understanding the emotions that games create and motivating players to engage, can not only help them experience the game and what it has to offer, but in the end make them feel accomplished.