theory of fun

  • Rolighetsteorin: a theory of fun

    Hours Categories Game talk, Watching
    Comments 8 Comments

    I have search alerts set up on a variety of sites for “theory of fun.” Today this little gem popped up: Rolighetsteorin. It translates as “theory of fun for safety” according to Google, and it appears to be a Volkswagen campaign in Sweden that is trying to use fun for social improvement.

    This page is dedicated to the idea that something as simple as happiness is the absolute easiest way to get people to change. That it does not need to be more difficult than to make things a bit more fun to have to change for the better. Which does not matter as long as there is improvement. For yourself, the environment or whatever you want.

    An example of what they mean: getting dramatically more people to take the stairs instead of the escalator (which of course, provides more cardiovascular benefit).

    It is fun to see the expressions on people’s faces as they puzzle out why the stairs (or the garbage can that makes a whistling cartoon “falling from a great height” sound when you toss trash in it) are there. The stats seem to bear out that there is an effect.

    I would posit that the trash can would have diminishing returns compared to the stairs, because the stairs have expressive potential and are more of a toy; the trash can will get old since there is only one input and one output.

  • Twitter hurts your brain

    Hours Categories Misc
    Comments 3 Comments

    Dr. Tracy Alloway of Scotland’s University of Stirling, says her study shows using Facebook stretches our “working memory” our short-term or recent memory, while Twitter, YouTube and text messages tend to weaken it.

    Alloway studies working memory and has developed a training program to increase the performance of children – ages 11 to 14 – who are slow learners. She found:

    • Keeping up-to-date with Facebook improved the children’s IQ scores
    • Playing video games – especially those that require planning and strategy – and Sudoku also were beneficial
    • Using Twitter, YouTube and text messaging does not engage enough of the brain to be helpful, and actually reduce attention span.

    via HigherEdMorning.com » Blog Archive » Study: How Twitter is hurting students.

    which was via @Dusanwriter on… Twitter. 🙂

    At this point, it is completely unsurprising to see yet another validation of the ways in which games and puzzles can help the brain. It was interesting to see, however, that Twitter and the like may simply be more akin to the random reinforcement dopamine jolts of addiction.

  • GDCA: Games Are Math slides posted

    Hours Categories Game talk
    Comments 17 Comments
    Using isomorphic graphs to analyze MMORPG combat
    Using isomorphic graphs to analyze MMORPG combat

    I have posted up the slide deck (PPT) and a page of images of slides for my GDC Austin talk, “Games Are Math: 10 Core Mechanics That Drive Compelling Gameplay.”

    This talk starts out with some game grammar stuff that may be familiar, then moves into looking at a definition of NP-complete problems, then provides ten examples of how they can be used to look at games, then finishes by examining cognitive bugs in the brain that many games exploit. Please note, I am not a mathematician nor even claim to be very good at math. 🙂

    As usual, this along with all my other talks can be found on the Gaming Presentations page, reached by clicking “Games” on the top bar of the site, then choosing Presentations from the sidebar. For those of you who never click the top bar and think all that is here is the blog — there’s a wealth of stuff available there. 🙂 I’ve recently updated it to include a few presentations that were buried and hard to find, such as the audio for my Games For Change closing address, the videos for Living Game Worlds IV and Siggraph Sandbox, and more.

  • AGDC: Games Are Math writeup

    Hours Categories Game talk
    Comments 3 Comments

    Xemu’s Long-Winded Game Industry Ramblings :: AGDC ’09: Raph Koster on Games and Math is a liveblog of the talk I gave a couple of hours ago here at GDCAustin.

    The talk was first a very brief intro to game grammar approaches, followed by digging into the math behind very common game mechanics that have stood the test of time, and then lastly a look at some of the “bugs” in human cognition that games tend to exploit. It was supposed to be an intermediate talk, not superadvanced, so I hope I hit the right levelof complexity for everyone!

    The room was pretty packed — 300 people, I am told! There’s also commentary on Twitter if you go looking.

    I will try to get the slides up soon.

  • Let the Children Play on NYT.com

    Hours Categories Game talk
    Comments 3 Comments

    There’s an editorial by Stuart Brown in the NYT advocating for more play time — physical, unstructured play time — during the school year for kids. Much of the argument is right in line with “theory of fun” principles…

    For most American children in the not-so-distant past, “going out to play” was the norm. Today, according to a University of Michigan study, children spend 50 percent less time outside than they did just 20 years ago — and the 6.5 hours a day they spend with electronic media means that sitting in front of a screen has replaced going out.

    Let the Children Play (Some More) – Happy Days Blog – NYTimes.com

    Tossed in amidst the article is the quote

    Physically engaging play is actually more fun than the virtual sort, and the enlivenment one gets from it can transcend the allure of sedentary life in a two-dimensional, electronic world.

    which I don’t think is really clear from the science — our brains seem to regularly get fooled into thinking that the screen is a real world. That said, assertion or not, I think it is fair to say that the many other benefits of physical play outweigh the quibble.

    The real entertainment, however, comes in the 9 pages (!) of comments, full of childhood reminiscences from people from all walks of life describing their playtime — stickball, bikes, splashing in creeks, roleplay, swings — and debate on “stranger danger.”