What motivates players to keep playing games?

1 Goals and Challenges

One of the most basic and powerful motivators for players is the desire to achieve goals and overcome challenges. Goals give players a clear direction and a sense of purpose, while challenges test their skills and provide feedback and rewards. Goals and challenges can be intrinsic or extrinsic, meaning they can come from the player's own interest and curiosity, or from the game's rules and structure. For example, a player might want to explore a new area, or complete a quest, or beat a high score. To design effective goals and challenges, you need to consider the player's skill level, the game's difficulty, and the balance between risk and reward.

2 Progress and Mastery

Another key motivator for players is the feeling of progress and mastery. Progress means that players can see and measure their improvement and achievements, while mastery means that players can develop and demonstrate their competence and expertise. Progress and mastery can be expressed in different ways, such as levels, skills, items, trophies, badges, or leaderboards. To design meaningful progress and mastery, you need to provide clear and consistent feedback, offer multiple paths and options, and support player autonomy and agency.

3 Narrative and Immersion

A third major motivator for players is the attraction of narrative and immersion. Narrative means that players can engage with the game's story, characters, and world, while immersion means that players can feel emotionally and cognitively involved and invested in the game. Narrative and immersion can be enhanced by various elements, such as dialogue, voice acting, music, sound effects, graphics, animations, or interactivity. To design compelling narrative and immersion, you need to create a coherent and consistent game world, use effective storytelling techniques, and respect player choices and consequences.

4 Social and Competitive

A fourth important motivator for players is the opportunity to socialize and compete with others. Social means that players can interact and cooperate with other players, while competitive means that players can challenge and compare themselves with other players. Social and competitive can be fostered by different features, such as chat, voice chat, emotes, clans, guilds, teams, or multiplayer modes. To design engaging social and competitive, you need to facilitate communication and collaboration, provide fair and balanced matchmaking, and reward social and competitive behavior.

5 Fun and Flow

A fifth essential motivator for players is the experience of fun and flow. Fun means that players can enjoy the game's aesthetics, humor, creativity, or novelty, while flow means that players can enter a state of optimal focus, concentration, and enjoyment. Fun and flow can be influenced by various factors, such as the game's genre, style, theme, or mechanics. To design fun and flow, you need to appeal to the player's preferences and tastes, provide variety and surprise, and match the game's pace and challenge with the player's skill and mood.

These are some of the main motivators that can keep players playing games, but they are not the only ones. There are also other factors, such as curiosity, exploration, discovery, expression, customization, or altruism, that can affect player motivation. The key is to understand your target audience, their needs and wants, and how your game can satisfy them. By designing for player motivation, you can create games that are not only entertaining, but also meaningful and rewarding.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?