Defining "Fun"

The notion of fun is one of the most debated issues in the field of game studies. Some scholars consider fun to be too fuzzy a concept to even consider for discussion. Others have ventured theories of those aspects they consider produce fun in games. In this topic, we review two perspectives on fun that have had substantial influence in recent years.

Engaging Players with Patterns

On perspective on fun is Raph Koster’s idea of discovering patterns (2005). In Koster’s view, the central characteristic that keeps a player engaged in a game is trying to discover the meaningful patterns embedded in it. The embedded meaning, then, allows the player to make accurate predictions as to what will happen next.

Increasing the replayability of a game, or the number of times a player will attempt to replay a game, is accomplished by making the pattern hidden enough, yet visible enough, that the player will feel they are constantly on the verge of discovering it.

Competition and Goals in Games

On the other hand, designers, such as Chris Crawford and Katie Salen, argue that balancing the challenge as a route to making the game fun. Other scholars argue that the idea of a game is essentially a contest between two forces for a common space (Squire, Jenkins, 2003).

As such, designers can keep players engaged by creating situations where this contest remains within, yet at the outer edge, of the player’s skills to keep the challenge at the optimal level. This zone of optimal challenge is reminiscent of Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development.

The zone of proximal development defines the optimal level of difficulty that a learner can accomplish tasks on his or her own versus with the aid of a more expert other. This concept will be explored further in a later topic.

Games as Emotional Experiences

A more recent and much less understood perspective on engaging players in a game is the designing the game in order to elicit specific emotional responses from the player (Jenkins, Squire, 2002). David Freeman has created a framework he calls emotioneering, certain plot twists produce emotional responses and, at the same time, deepen the players’ relationship with his or her identity in the game (Freeman, n.d.).