Game Fun

 

Image still from "A theory of Fun for Game Design"
Source : The Game Over analyser

Week 8 reading is all about gamification, I read a piece from "Gamification Design: What’s fun got to do with it?", which focuses on designing for fun, but what is fun in context? and can you design for fun? 

"Fun is a byproduct of good design. It is also not essential for a good gamified system"- Andrzej Marchewski. Fun in the context of game design, is described as pleasurable engagement, the image below best describes fun in terms of game design. The Mechanics, Dynamics and Aesthetics (MDA) framework is the design counterparts of three components of a game, Rules, System and Fun.

 Watching the video "A Theory of Fun for Game Design" by Raph Koster, which examines the core theory made by Koster that fun is about learning, providing a system for players to engage with indefinitely, training them on a variety of cognitive and dexterous domains. The fun of a game comes from the ability to provide players with a possibility space for learning, that grabs attention and challenges players, for example, Super Mario Bros. Games are concentrated chunks of activity for our brains to create dopamine from, and in turn teaches us information or lessons. In terms of types of fun games, there are many types. Type one games are about thinking and Type 2 are about reflex skills.A standard in every kind of game is difficulty escalation, which focuses our brains, keeps us learning new things, whilst also giving a sense of enjoyment. In Summary, fun is the feedback the brain gives us when we are absorbing patterns for learning purposes, our understanding of fun is just as important as our understanding of game design.