8 Types of Fun in Video Games
What makes video games fun?
So you are developing a video game, and you want to make it fun. It seems like a simple enough goal. We’ve all had fun playing games, we should know what’s fun or not, right? But how many of us have actually sat down and thought about what makes the games we play fun?
In 2004, game designers Robin Hunicke, Marc LeBlanc and Robert Zubek published a paper titled MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research. This paper outlines 8 different types of fun which can be found in games:
- Sensation
- Fantasy
- Narrative
- Challenge
- Fellowship
- Discovery
- Expression
- Submission
Let’s dive into each one:
Sensation
This type of fun is about engaging your senses. Until we have smell-o-vision, this is is mostly going to be about sights and sounds.
Some games, like Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, use the sensory type of fun as the main attraction, where others might use it as icing on the cake.
Most games should try to include sensory pleasure at some level. Designing great visuals and sounds can be what takes your game from mediocre to great. The best games use sights and sounds to make even the most basic of actions fun, like jumping or picking up loot.
Fantasy
Fantasy is about playing make believe. It is about loosing yourself in an imaginary world.
Many gamers love to escape by pretending they are someone else completely, immersing themselves in a world very different to their own, filled with lore, characters and quests.
RPGs like Baldur’s Gate II are most well known for this kind of fun, but many other games also include it as well. Whether it is swinging through a city as Spider-Man, or stealing cars in GTA, there are many ways to provide your player with the immersion they are after.
Narrative
Drama. Games like The Last of Us provide a story so good, it keeps us coming back.
Seekers of narrative love games which play like an interactive movie, games which are well written, provide tension and drama as the events of the game unfold.
AAA games are most well known for this type of fun, but many smaller games like Undertale, Celeste, Stardew Valley have shown that you don’t have to have a big budget to provide a great narrative.
Challenge
Some gamers love a good challenge. Games like the Dark Souls series take that to the next level.
Fun from challenge is often delayed fun. The player often doesn’t experience it until a goal is completed. But for some players there is nothing like the feeling that you really earned your successes.
Making a game hard doesn’t necessarily make it fun though. Most players are more likely to accept a challenge if the game feels fair. It is much more rewarding when a player can know why they lost, and formulate a plan to improve next round. If they feel like they lost due to randomness or forces outside their control, then that can be very disheartening.
Challenge can be tricky, different players have a different appetite for fun. If a game is too hard, some players will give up. Conversely, if a game is too easy most players will find it boring. The trick is to match the difficulty to the player base you are targeting.
Fellowship
For some players, games are just a vehicle for social interactions. Multiplayer games allow players to interact and socialize in new and exciting ways.
MMORPG Games like World of Warcraft encourages players to group up and work together to achieve goals. However any multiplayer game can provide this type of fun. These games often create emergent gameplay, where fun and story comes from the interaction between players rather than directly from the game itself.
Discovery
Discovery is the fun you get from finding new things. Old school “point and click” adventure games like the King’s Quest series were designed around this type of fun.
In modern times, open world games (such as the Grand Theft Auto series) capitalize on this type of fun. Generally these types of games encourage exploration.
Expression
Many games provide a way for us to express ourselves, whether it is customizing a character in The Sims, or creating a chicken farm in Minecraft.
Sandbox games are the best example of this type of fun, but many games can provide an outlet for us to be creative. Giving the player more options can provide fun through replayability, and allow the player to find their express themselves, by finding their own path.
Submission
After a long day of work or school, a lot of players just want to turn their brain off. The submission type of fun is about losing yourself in a tasks that you don’t have to think too hard about.
Just about any game can provide this type of fun, but mobile games like Plants vs Zombies tend to focus very hard on this type of fun. Activities which utilize this type of fun are normally low stakes, and don’t require too much from the player. Some other examples of this type of fun include grinding or farming.
So, how do I apply them?
So now I know about the different kinds of fun, how do I apply them?
Every game should probably incorporate most or all of these at some level, but you don’t want to go overboard. Different people prefer different types of fun. Trying to design a game for every type of player will leave you with a game for no one.
Pick a couple of the types of fun which might apply best to the game you are trying to make. Then think about the best way to really make sure you are providing those experiences in the best way possible.
Some examples from popular games:
- Quake: Challenge, Sensation, Fantasy.
- The Sims: Discovery, Fantasy, Expression, Narrative.
- Plants vs Zombies: Fantasy, Discovery, Challenge, Submission.
While this is a well recognized list of fun types, there are certainly others. If you have an idea for a different kind of fun, go ahead and apply that too.
