Competition
With a history spanning from some of the earliest arcade games to the most recent esports clashes, competition is a core tenant of many games’ design. It relies on a profound psychological drive to succeed and survive. Numerous mobile games harness competitiveness, such as Fortnite and Clash Royale. With regard to retaining and engaging players, competition allows users to build status within a title. This status can be displayed via rank, on squad banners in lobbies, and so on. Having built a reputation or established themselves in a competitive game, players will come back to maintain and improve their status. Importantly, harnessing the psychology of competition. You need not only provide competitive gameplay, but also rewards and ways for players to communicate and share their successes in-game and beyond.
Achieving
Achieving relates to the psychology of making progress and leaving an impact. We are all motivated to achieve in various facets of our life, for reasons as varied as self-worth and survival. That is why achievement systems often compel players to stick with a given game long after any main campaign has been completed. While competition and skillfulness relate to very specific forms of achievement, ‘achieving’ as a category of motivation can include many forms of progress and accomplishment. The gameplay involves clearing levels and unlocking items. If you want to extend retention, it’s important to have something else a player can accomplish.
The psychological phenomenon of ‘loss aversion’ is also connected to achievement. This describes a cognitive bias in which players attach greater importance to negative feelings associated with the potential loss of previous achievements. than any positive feelings experienced when making gains of an equivalent value. Loss aversion could encourage players, for example, to invest in an IAP booster that allows them to overcome the finish line of a level. instead of losing all their progress until they run out of turns or lives to finish a level. A mechanic employed by Candy Crush Saga early on.
Creativity
Of course, there are many motivations for creativity. For some it is about expression, while for others it may simply be a pleasure to actually produce something through the creative process. Psychological motivations are typically related to expression and identity in games that allow players to be creative.
Customizable player avatars are highly valued by many players who care about how they look in a game. In other cases, there are motivations to create content that can be shared across a game and its community. That can assert status within a playerbase by linking creativity to the motivations of achievement, skillfulness, and socializing. Offering players ways to not only create and be expressive, but also share and display their creations can be vital in fostering and maintaining a particular kind of community.
Relaxation
Downtime is important. This is a chance to rest and rejuvenate. Games can be a source of respite and relaxation for many of us in this stressful world. There are times when we choose not to play games for thrills, challenges, fear, or excitement. Relaxation isn’t just about pleasure; it’s a need; and thus many players are motivated to pursue it. Even if they might normally be into particularly demanding fighting games or a similarly challenging genre. As seen with the success of idlers, mediative, tranquil experiences can not only offer creatively distinct experiences, but they can also be tremendously commercially successful.
Even if you’re not intentionally creating a relaxing experience, take into account low-demand modes, such as ones that don’t require scoring or time constraints. And remember that relaxing games are often very welcoming to inexperienced users, meaning they can have a broad hypercasual appeal. Being aware of accessibility can be beneficial here, as an accessible game is more welcoming to all types of players. Though, don’t assume that players who depend on accessibility only want relaxing games. That is not the case!
Social
The social category encompasses three subcomponents: socializing, relationships, and teamwork. The subcomponent of socializing refers to the enjoyment of meeting and becoming acquainted with other players. Relationship refers to the desire to form deeper and more meaningful relationships with other players, such as discussing personal issues and problems with them. Teamswork is a reflection of the collaborative environment in many games, where players prefer to work with a group rather than alone.
Immersion
The immersion motivation is made up of four sub-components. The discovery subcomponent of immersion refers to players’ desire to explore unknown or hidden things, such as characters, artifacts, and narratives. Role-playing describes players who enjoy immersing themselves in a game through the eyes of characters they design. Customization refers to the desire to alter or make changes to the appearance, accessories, or colors of their character. Escapism refers to using games to relieve stress and escape unpleasant realities or to avoid problems in the real world.
