Creating Motivating Experiences: From Psychological Theory to Game Development Practice

- Self-Determination Theory (SDT) is a psychological framework for understanding human motivation and well-being, and one of the most widely researched motivational theories for game design. - SDT proposes that there are three basic psychological needs that people seek to satisfy: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. - Games can foster intrinsic motivation and sustained engagement by supporting these needs in their design and mechanics. - The experience of autonomy, competence and relatedness can be facilitated by, for example, providing meaningful choices, clear goals and feedback, and opportunities for social interaction. - Players' emotions during playtesting can reveal which basic needs are not being met, such as boredom or helplessness (lack of competence), conflict (lack of autonomy), or loneliness (lack of relatedness). - The key question is not how to motivate players, but how to create a game that enables players to be self-motivated (by satisfying their intrinsic motivation). - Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation differ in their source and type the motivation. Extrinsic motivation comes from external rewards or pressures, whereas intrinsic motivation comes from intrinsic interest or enjoyment. - Extrinsic incentives such as XP can undermine intrinsic motivation by reducing the sense of autonomy and shifting the focus from the activity to the outcome. - SDT can be connected to other concepts such as flow or player types, which can help design games that are engaging and meaningful for different players - The workshop will provide game developers with a solid understanding of the theory and its applications, as well as practical examples and guided reflection on their own game concepts.