Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-d8cs5 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-07T18:49:52.776Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 6 - Design Better Games

Flow, Motivation, and Fun

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2015

By
Curtiss Murphy ,
Dustin Chertoff ,
Michael Guerrero  and
Kerry Moffitt
Edited by
Talib S. Hussain  and
Susan L. Coleman
Curtiss Murphy
Affiliation:
Alion Science and Technology
Dustin Chertoff
Affiliation:
Intelligent Automation, Inc.
Michael Guerrero
Affiliation:
MOVES Institute
Kerry Moffitt
Affiliation:
Raytheon BBN Technologies
Talib S. Hussain
Affiliation:
Raytheon BBN Technologies
Susan L. Coleman
Affiliation:
Intelligent Decision Systems, Inc.
Get access

Summary

Abstract

During a 2010 Ted conference, Ali Carr-Chellman offered this criticism of our industry: “Most of the educational games that are out there today are really flash-cards. They are glorified drill-and-practice. They don’t have the depth and rich narrative that really engaging video games have” (Carr-Chellman, 2010). She concluded with this challenge: “We need to design better games.” This chapter addresses her challenge.

Introduction

We already know that games can be used to teach many things. Sailors in the U.S. Navy play the Damage Control Trainer as part of their boot camp training. Marines use games and virtual environments to train convoy operations (Hussain et al., 2009). In health care, you see games used to improve physical fitness, aid diabetics, and improve the lives of asthmatics (Baranowski et al., 2008). But what makes these games work?

In this chapter, we will explore l ow, motivation, and fun. We will dissect how the entertainment industry creates really engaging videogames. We will unravel the science of why people become engaged and learn guidelines that promote flow. We will explore how motivation works and what fun really means. Throughout this chapter, we will highlight some of the best examples and most effective techniques. By the end, you will know how to use l ow, motivation, and fun to design better games.

Type
Chapter
Information
Design and Development of Training Games
Practical Guidelines from a Multidisciplinary Perspective
 , pp. 146 - 178
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baranowski, T., Buday, R., Thompson, D., & Baranowski, J. (2008). Playing for real: Video games and stories for health-related behavior change. The American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 31(1).Google Scholar
Bartle, R. (2003). Designing Virtual Worlds. New Riders.Google Scholar
Beck, J., & Wade, M. (2004). Got Game – How the Gamer Generation is Reshaping Business Forever. Harvard Business School Press.Google Scholar
Blow, J. (2008). Montreal International Game Summit, November 19. Recording and slides available here: .
Blow, J. (2010). Video Games and the Human Condition. CS Colloquium: Rice University.Google Scholar
Bransford, J., Brown, A., Cocking, R., & National Research Council. (2000). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.Google Scholar
Bryan, T., & Bryan, J. (1991). Positive mood and math performance. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 24(8), 490–494.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bryan, T., Mathur, S., & Sullivan, K. (1996). The impact of positive mood on learning. Learning Disability Quarterly, 19(3), 153–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buchanan, J. (1999). Cost and Choice: An Inquiry in Economic Theory. Available in the Collected Works of James M. Buchanan from the Library of Economics and Liberty at .
Carr-Chellman, A. (2010). Gaming to re-engage boys in learning. Published January 2011 at .
Chen, J. (2007). Flow in games. Master’s thesis. Also published in Vol. 50, No. 4, Communications of the ACM, April 2007.
Chertoff, D. B., Goldiez, B., & LaViola, J. (2010). Virtual experience test: A virtual environment evaluation questionnaire. In Proceedings of the IEEE Virtual Reality 2010 Conference (pp. 103–110). Waltham, MA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chertoff, D. B., Schatz, S. L., McDaniel, R., & Bowers, C. A. (2008). Improving presence theory through experiential design. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 17(4), 405–413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Choney, S. (2011). 80 video games head for Smithsonian art exhibit. Published on MSNBC on May 9, 2011. Available online at .
Cialdini, R. (2001). Influence: Science and Practice (4th Edition). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.Google Scholar
Clarke, D., & Duimering, P. R. (2006). How computer gamers experience the game situation: A behavioral study. ACM Computers in Entertainment, 4(3), 1–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Harper Collins.Google Scholar
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life. Basic Books.Google Scholar
Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Csikszentmihalyi, I. (1992). Optimal Experience: Psychological Studies of Flow in Consciousness. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Deci, E. (1995). Why We Do What We Do. Penguin Group.Google Scholar
Duckworth, A. L., & Seligman, M. P. (2005). Self-discipline outdoes IQ in predicting academic performance of adolescents. Psychological Science, 16(12), 939–944.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dweck, C. S. (1996). Implicit theories as organizers of goals and behavior. In Gollwitzer, P. M. & Bargh, J. A. (Eds.), The Psychology of Actions: Linking Cognition and Motivation to Behavior (pp. 69–90). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Falstein, N. (2005). Understanding fun – The theory of natural funativity. In Introduction to Game Development (pp. 71–98). Boston: Charles River Media.Google Scholar
Finn, J. D., & Rock, D. A. (1997). Academic success among students at risk for school failure. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82(2), 221–234.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fredricks, J. A., Blumenfeld, P. C., & Paris, A. H. (2004). School engagement: Potential of the concept, state of the evidence. Review of Educational Research, 42(2), 59–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More than IQ. New York: Random House.Google Scholar
Greene, R. L. (2009). Repetition and learning. Retrieved January 2011 from .
Hayes, R. T. (2006). The Science of Learning: A Systems Theory Approach. Boca Raton, FL: Brown Walker Press.Google Scholar
Hecker, C. (2010). Achievements considered harmful? Presented at Game Developer’s Conference, San Francisco, March 2010.
Heeter, C. (1992). Being there: The subjective experience of presence. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 1, 262–271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hintzman, D., Curran, T., & Oppy, B. (1995). Effects of similarity and repetition on memory: Registration without learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition.Google Scholar
Hussain, T., Murphy, C., Bowers, C., Cannon-Bowers, J., Menaker, E. S., Pounds, K., Koenig, A., Wainess, R., & Lee, J. (2009). Designing and developing effective training games for the US Navy, 2009 Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference, Orlando, FL.
Johnson, S. (2009). Analysis: Asynchronicity in game design. Game Developer Magazine, March.
Johnson, S. (2011). The end of games? Or, will free-to-play swallow the industry? Game Developer Magazine, May.
Konradt, U., Filip, R., & Hoffmann, S. (2003). Flow experience and positive affect during hypermedia learning. British Journal of Educational Technology, 34(3), 309–327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koster, R. (2005). A Theory of Fun for Game Design. Paraglyph Press.Google Scholar
Koster, R. (2011). Social mechanics for social games. Presented at the Game Developer’s Conference, San Francisco, CA, March 2011.
Lazzaro, N. (2004). Why we play games: Four keys to more emotion without story. Proceedings of the Game Developer’s Conference 2004.
Lee, J. H. (1999). Test anxiety and working memory. The Journal of Experimental Education, 67(3), 218–240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKinney, F. (1935). Studies in the retention of interrupted learning activities. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 19(2), 265–296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, J., Westerman, D., & Lloyd, M. (2004). Are first impressions lasting impressions? An exploration of the generality of the primacy effect in memory for repetitions. Memory and Cognition.CrossRef
Mory, E. H. (2004). Feedback research revisited. In Jonassen, D. H. (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology (pp. 745–783). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Murphy, C. (2005). A low cost methodology for achieving joint objectives – ONR game. Published and presented at the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference, Orlando, FL, December 2005.
Murphy, C. (2010). How to create an award winning serious game. Presented at the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference, Orlando, FL, December 2010.
Murphy, C. (2011). Why games work – the science of learning, (in publication). Presented at Modsim World, Virginia Beach, VA 2011, available online at .
Peterson, S. (2012). Game industry legends: Will Wright. Interview retrieved from .
Pink, D. (2009). Drive – The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us. Riverhead Hardcover.Google Scholar
Ricci, K., Salas, E., & Cannon-Bowers, J. (1996). Do computer-based games facilitate knowledge acquisition and retention?Military Psychology, 8(4), 295–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rouse, R. III (2004). Game Design Theory and Practice – Second Edition. Wordware Publishing, Inc.Google Scholar
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55, 68–78.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schell, J. (2008). The Art of Game Design, a Book of Lenses. Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.Google Scholar
Schwartz, B. (2004). The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less. Harper Perennial.Google Scholar
Schwartz, B. (2006). The paradox of choice: Why more is less. Presented at Google and available as a Google Tech Talk at .
Shute, V. (2008). Focus on formative feedback. Review of Educational Research, 78(1), 153–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Teachman, B. A. (2005). Information processing and anxiety sensitivity: Cognitive vulnerability to panic reflected in interpretation and memory biases. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 29, 483–503.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
U.S. Department of Transportation. (2008). Aviation Instructor’s Handbook. Federal Aviation Administration.Google Scholar
Van Eck, R. (2006). Digital game-based learning: It’s not just the digital natives who are restless. EDUCAUSE Review, 41(2), March/April.Google Scholar
Vroom, V. H. (1995). Work and motivation (2nd edition). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Whitehall, B., & McDonald, B. (1993). Improving learning persistence of military personnel by enhancing motivation in a technical training program. Simulation and Gaming, 24, 294–313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, K., & Williams, C. (2010). Five key ingredients for improving student motivation. Research in Higher Education Journal.Google Scholar
Witmer, B. G., & Singer, M. J. (1998). Measuring presence in virtual environments: A presence questionnaire. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 7, 225–240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×