theory of fun

  • Creative Place-Making

    Hours Categories Game talk
    Comments 2 Comments

    Via Bernie DeKoven comes this:

    What constitutes ‘a ground of play’? What are the universal conditions of a place of play?

    From the consilience of these sciences, let me suggest three rules for a healthy ground of play:

    1 It must have loose but robust governance

    2 It must ensure a surplus of time, space and stuff

    3 It must treat failure, risk and mess as necessary for development

    via The Play Ethic: The Play Ethic and Creative Place-Making: Doing What Comes Naturally?

    Sounds rather “magic circley” but it is a good prescription nonetheless. The article goes on to discuss this as a way of making more playful spaces in general — including workspaces:

    But I think a case can be made (which I hope I’ve begun to make tonight) that cultural managers could base their policies on the legitimacy of a play ethic, as the main characterisation of a productive, value-creating life in the 21st century, than a work ethic.

    The post author has a book, too.

  • Learning triggers the brain’s reward loop

    Hours Categories Game talk
    Comments 10 Comments

    Just yesterday my new editor at OReilly asked me “is there anything that has made the content of A Theory of Fun in need of updating?” And my response was “no, not really…”

    That’s because articles like this one keep coming out:

    Further experiments on their brains revealed that that the same neurons were signaling the expectation of both water and knowledge, and they were linked to the release of dopamine–a neurotransmitter chemical that’s connected to making you feel rewarded when you achieve a goal.

    And that’s incredibly revealing. Because it implies that the primal urge mechanisms that drive us to eat when hungry and drink when thirsty are also directly allied with seeking out new knowledge–it seems we’re actually programmed to gather information.

    — Reading Fast Company as Rewarding as Sex, Study Suggests | Technomix | Fast Company.

    Digging deeper to the source article shows that the key quote is this one:

    …information about a reward is rewarding in itself.

  • Game Design Concepts: free online class!

    Hours Categories Game talk
    Comments 8 Comments

    Earlier today I noticed that Theory of Fun was listed as “frequently bought with” Understanding Comics on Amazon. And also with Challenges for Game Designers, by Brenda Brathwaite and Ian Schreiber. I thought it was neat, I tweeted it, the end. Then I get replies piling in saying that it is because of Game Design Concepts, a cool thing that Ian is doing this summer: a free class in game design, conducted over the web by blog.

    This blog is a course in game design (specifically, non-digital systems design).

    • Tuition: none. This class is open to all.
    • Prerequisites: none. It is my intention to make this course accessible to all levels of experience, while providing useful additional resources for those who are advanced.
    • Schedule: Monday 6/29/2009 through Sunday 9/6/2009. Posts will be made twice per week. You can read them at your own pace. The course lasts ten weeks.
    • Audience: anyone with an interest in game design. This includes students who are interested in game design; faculty who teach courses in game design and would like to compare course material; game developers with an interest in design or a desire to see an example of what students are being taught these days; or relatives of game designers who are curious about what these people do all day.

    Course Description:

    This course provides students with a theoretical and conceptual understanding of the field of game design, along with practical exposure to the process of creating a game. Topics covered include iteration, rapid prototyping, mechanics, dynamics, flow theory, the nature of fun, game balance, and user interface design. Primary focus is on non-digital games.

    I am guessing this may be of interest to some who read this blog. 🙂 Not sure how I missed it before!

  • More on how the body & brain react to games

    Hours Categories Game talk
    Comments 8 Comments

    Gamasutra has a report from a GDC Canada session discussion the role of emotions in games — that is, a researcher who is not Nicole Lazzaro! And it sounds like a fun and meaty discussion.

    The counter is fear, which can cause physiological responses due to the “fight or flight” impulse. Many people love that sensation: “Look at the prevalence of the horror movie; it’s everywhere. Look at horror games.”

    “Surely there’s no harm in that? Well, actually, there is,” said Chandler: Scientists have recently determined that after sustained fear, bodies stop producing adrenaline and being producing cortisol, which begins to break down non-essential organs and tissues to feed vital organs, increasing pain, promoting heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity.

    So, here we have “games can cause heart disease!” 🙂 Though it should be noted, so can shock horror movies… or perhaps excessive rollercoaster riding.

    There’s also a bit bolstering the arguments I made not long ago about how we have unconscious predispositions towards people and things that looks like people (such as avatars).

    Speaking of which, there was a lengthy discussion on that topic on the latest “Shut Up. We’re Talking” podcast, which has led to even more debate and controversy.

    Unfortunately, I think the SUWT crew missed the point a bit by saying “well, maybe mature or experienced gamers learn not to have these subconscious reactions.” Unfortunately, I don’t think that is true — any more than informed and mature people sail through those tests of their reaction times with photographs of people of mixed races. This is not an easy bias to remove…