PAX Dev (2011) This session presented a validated model and specific strategies for designing mechanics, content, and features that are optimally designed to maximize the lifetime value and enthusiasm of players by sustaining their interest and engagement with your game. The key to this model is understanding basic motivational needs - specifically needs for competence/mastery, autonomy, and relatedness - that we are all deeply motivated to satisfy on an intrinsic level. The fundamental nature of these needs means that games can either (1) facilitate their satisfaction through design and reward structures that are optimized for intrinsic motivation or (2) thwart their satisfaction through structures that data show will undermine intrinsic needs (and push players away). During this session, we reviewed the principles of intrinsic needs and then had a more interactive discussion with the audience around what "supports vs. thwarts" these basic needs - looking at traditional reward structures and mechanics alongside actual data on how these aspects of game design impact players' basic need satisfaction and sustained engagement. The take-away goal was to give folks an understanding of both the general principles critical to sustained engagement, as well as (i) ways to think about their application to the day-to-day work of game design and (ii) how to vet design choices through player testing.

GDC - SAN FRANCISCO (2009) Based upon multiple studies with over 15,000 gamers, this presentation defines and reviews three specific motivational needs that are directly related to sustained engagement and value. The Player Experience of Need Satisfaction model (PENS) focuses specifically on experiences of competence, autonomy and relatedness satisfactions. Game examples and strategies for maximizing these satisfactions are discussed.

AUSTIN GDC (2009) Rewards are a cornerstone of design and a critical element of a game’s ability to sustain relationships with players. This presentation covers in-depth motivational research on reward mechanisms in games, specifically highlighting the different kinds of motivations (extrinsic and intrinsic) that different strategies can support. Recommendations are made for focusing on the intrinisic motivation that longitudinal data shows is more strongly related with customer value, enthusiasm, and long-term engagement.

LOGIN (2009) Video games often involve violent themes and content. Even though this puts such games “in the crosshairs” of parents, teachers, and policy makers, developers keep turning them out because players love them. But interestingly, little research has been done regarding the actual value of violent content, either to player enjoyment or a game’s bottom line. This presentation for developers reviews research from six studies that examine the question of the “value of violence.”