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BehavioralGameDesign
byJohnHopson[Design]

5comments
April27,2001

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BehavioralGameDesign Page1 Page2

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Everycomputergameisdesignedaroundthesamecentralelement:theplayer.Whilethehardwareand softwareforgamesmaychange,thepsychologyunderlyinghowplayerslearnandreacttothegameisa constant.Thestudyofthemindhasactuallycomeupwithquiteafewfindingsthatcaninformgame design,butmostofthesehavebeenpublishedinscientificjournalsandotheresotericformatsinaccessible todesigners.Ironically,manyofthesediscoveriesusedsimplecomputergamesastoolstoexplorehow peoplelearnandactunderdifferentconditions. ThetechniquesthatI'lldiscussinthisarticlegenerallyfallundertheheadingofbehavioralpsychology.Best knownfortheworkdoneonanimalsinthefield,behavioralpsychologyfocusesonexperimentsand observableactions.Onehallmarkofbehavioralresearchisthatmostofthemajorexperimentaldiscoveries arespeciesindependentandcanbefoundinanythingfrombirdstofishtohumans.Whatbehavioral psychologistslookfor(andwhatwillbeourfocushere)aregeneral"rules"forlearningandforhowminds respondtotheirenvironment.Becauseofthespeciesandcontextfreenatureoftheserules,theycan easilybeappliedtonoveldomainssuchascomputergamedesign.Unlikegametheory,whichstresseshow aplayershouldreacttoasituation,thisarticlewillfocusonhowtheyreallydoreacttocertainstereotypical conditions. Whatisbeingofferedhereisnotablueprintfor perfectgames,itisaprimertosomeofthebasicways peoplereacttodifferentpatternsofrewards.Every computergameisimplicitlyaskingitsplayerstoreact incertainways.Psychologycanofferaframeworkand avocabularyforunderstandingwhatwearealready tellingourplayers. ContingenciesandSchedules Theconcretetranslationof"Whatareweaskingof ourplayers?"is"Whatareourcontingencies?"A contingencyisaruleorsetofrulesgoverningwhen rewardsaregivenout.Theanecdoteaboutthis discovery(aspassedtomebyoneofhisstudents)is thatonedayB.F.Skinnerranlowonthesmallfood pelletshegavetheratsinhisexperiments.Ratherthanriskrunningoutandhavingtostopworkforthe day,hebegantoprovidethepelletseverytenthtimetheratspressedtheleverinsteadofeverytime. Experimentingwithdifferentregimensofreward,hefoundthattheyproducedmarkedlydifferentpatterns ofresponse.Fromthiswasbornanewareaofpsychology,andonethathassomestrongimplicationsfor gamedesign. Thecontingenciesincomputergamesaremorecomplex,butthe analogyisclearenough.Forexample,playersinanRPGearnexperience pointstogainlevelsorcollectbonusitemstogainextralives.Inan arcadestylegame,powerupsappearatrandomintervals,oronlywhen certainconditionsaremet.Asinanycontingency,thereareactionson thepartoftheparticipantwhichprovidearewardunderspecific circumstances.Thisisnottosaythatplayersarethesameasrats,but thattherearegeneralrulesoflearningwhichapplyequallytoboth. RatiosandIntervals Thereareessentiallytwofundamentalsortsofcontingencies,ratiosand intervals.Ratioschedulesproviderewardsafteracertainnumberof Somecommontermsin behavioralpsychologyasthey applytogamedesign considerations: Reinforcer:Anoutcomeor result,generallyusedtoreferto areward.Examples:an experiencepoint,winninga level,abiggergun. Contingency:Aruleorsetof

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actionshavebeencompleted.Forexample,aplayermightgainanextra rulesgoverningwhen lifeafterkilling20opponents.Thiswouldbecalleda"fixedratio" schedule,becausethesamenumberofkillsisrequiredeverytime. Othertypesofratioswillbediscussedlater. reinforcersaregiven.Also referredtoasascheduleof reinforcement.Examples:a levelevery1,000experience points,abonuslevelthatisonly availableifyoukillacertain opponent. Response:Anactiononthe partoftheplayerthatcanfulfill thecontingency.Thiscouldbe killingamonster,visitingan Thedistinctpauseshownunderafixedratioschedulecanbeareal issueforgamedesigners.Havingaperiodoftimewherethereislittle incentivetoplaythegamecanleadtotheplayerwalkingaway. Additionally,thelengthofthepauseisafunctionofthesizeoftheratio (thenumberofactionsrequired),sothemoreactionsrequiredthe longerthepause.Thismeansthatiftheratioincreasesovertime,suchastheincreasingnumberof experiencepointsrequiredtogainalevelinDungeons&Dragons,sodoesthepause.Eventually,thepause canbecomeinfinite,andtheplayersimplydecidesit'snotworthitandwalksaway. areaofthegameboard,or usingaspecialability.

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Oneofthemostcommoncontingenciesfoundingames,fixedratio schedulestypicallyproduceaverydistinctpatternintheparticipant. Firstthereisalongpause,thenasteadyburstofactivityasfastas possibleuntilarewardisgiven.Thismakessensewhenoneconsiders thattheveryfirstactionneverbringsareward,sothereislittle incentivetomakethatfirstkill.Onceparticipantsdecidetogoforthe reward,theyactasfastastheycantobringtherewardquickly.

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Asinanycontingency,thereareactionsonthe partoftheparticipantwhichprovideareward underspecificcircumstances. Ontheplusside,duringthepauseother,lessrewardingactivitiesoftencometothefore.Forexample,if playersknowitwilltakethemalongtimetogaintheirnextlevel,theymighttakethetimetotestanew tacticortryoutdifferentaspectsofthegame. Therearealso"variableratio"schedules,inwhichaspecificnumberofactionsarerequired,butthat numberchangeseverytime.Aplayermightberequiredtoshootdownapproximately20enemyfightersto gainanextraship,buttheprecisenumberisrandomlygeneratedeachtime.It'simportanttonotethatthe playerdoesnotknowhowmanyactionsarerequiredthistime,justtheaveragenumberfromprevious experience. Undervariableratioschedules,participantstypicallyrespondwithasteadyflowofactivityatareasonably highrate.Whilenotquiteashigharateastheburstunderafixedratioschedule,itismoreconsistentand lacksthepausingthatcancausetrouble.Sinceit'spossible(thoughunlikely)thattheplayercangainalife forshootingdownonlyoneenemy,there'salwaysareasontogohunting.

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Killingopponentstogainexperiencepointsand gainlevelsisoneexampleofaratio

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contingency. Ingeneral,variableratioschedulesproducethehighestoverallratesofactivityofalltheschedulesthatI'll discusshere.Thisdoesn'tnecessarilymeanthey'rethebest,butifwhatyou'relookingforisahighand constantrateofplay,youwantavariableratiocontingency.

Ontheothersideofthecointhereareintervalschedules.Insteadofprovidingarewardafteracertain numberofactions,intervalschedulesprovidearewardafteracertainamountoftimehaspassed.Ina "fixedinterval"schedule,thefirstresponseafterasetperiodoftimeproducesareward.Forexample,the gamemightintroduceapowerupintotheplayingfield30minutesaftertheplayercollectedthelastone. Participantsusuallyrespondtofixedintervalcontingenciesbypausingforawhileafterarewardandthen graduallyrespondingfasterandfasteruntilanotherrewardisgiven.Inourpowerupexample,theplayer wouldconcentrateonotherpartsofthegameandreturnlatertoseeifthenewpoweruphadappeared.If ithadn't,theplayerwouldwanderoffagain.Graduallythecheckswouldbecomemorefrequentasthe propertimeapproached,untilatabouttherighttimetheplayerissittingtherewaitingforit. Asinthefixedratio,thereisapausethatcancauseproblemsforagamedesigner.Unlikethefixedratio, thereisnosharptransitiontoahighrateofactivity.Instead,thereisgradualincreaseastheappropriate timeapproaches.Thepauseremains,aperiodwhereplayermotivationislow. Therearealso"variableinterval"schedules,wheretheperiodoftimeinvolvedchangesaftereachreward.A counterparttothevariableratioschedules,thesealsoproduceasteady,continuouslevelofactivity, althoughataslowerpace.Asinthevariableratioschedule,thereisalwaysareasontobeactive.The powerupmentionedintheearlierexamplecouldreappearimmediatelyafterbeingcollectedoranhour later.Themotivationisevenlyspreadoutovertime,sotherearenolowpointswheretheplayers'attention mightwander.Theactivityislowerthaninavariableratioschedulebecausetheappearanceisnot dependentonactivity.Iftheplayerlooksforthepowerup1,000timesduringtheinterval,itwillappearno faster.Experimentshaveshownthatweareverygoodatdeterminingwhichconsequencesaretheresults ofourownactionsandwhicharenot. Thesearethebasicbuildingblocks,butthisisbynomeansanexhaustivelist.Eachcontingencyisan arrangementoftime,activity,andreward,andthereareaninfinitenumberofwaystheseelementscanbe combinedtoproducethepatternofactivityyouwantfromyourplayers.

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SethPriebatsch Greatarticle!Thanks!

8Mar2010at12:01pmPST

Isthereanyotherwaytoseeotherpostsbythesameauthor?Wouldbeacoolfeature. LogintoReplyorLike

GrtarHannesson

27Jul2011at12:46pmPST

Clickhisnameatthetopofthearticle.You'llgethisbio,includingallthe articleshehaswritten

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TimKofoed

23Apr2010at5:08pmPST

Iwouldliketouseyourargumentsinmyprojectforschool,butIhavebeenunabletofind anyempiricalresultsorgraphsfromeithertheoriginalSkinnerboxexperimentsorany relatingtothegameexperience.

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...granted,Ihaven'tlookedveryhardorforthatlong,butIwashopingyouhadsome referencesonhand,whichcansubstantiateyourclaimsdirectlywhichIcanuseinmy report.

Thanks.

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BrenoAzevedo http://wings.buffalo.edu/aru/ARUreport01.htm

18Jun2010at2:34pmPST

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TonioBarmadosa

31Aug2011at8:46pmPST

Veryinterestingindeed.Ican'thelpbutdrawananalogywithatotallydifferentfield,called PickupArtistry.Pickupartistspickuphotbabesinnightclubsusingmethodsfrom BehavioralPsychology.Theypushagirl'spsychologicalbuttonsinordertocreateattraction, qualification,comfortandeventuallyseduction.

Theyusetheexactsametechniques,forexample,beingunpredictableandpushingand pullingallthetime,whichisequivalenttovariableratioreward/punishment. LogintoReplyorLike

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