Natural Funativity
by Jay Barnson · in Game Design and Creative Issues · 11/10/2004 (12:16 pm) · 3 replies
Wow. I just read the article "Natural Funativity" by Noah Falstein over at GamaSutra... I highly recommend it to anyone who's serious about game design.
www.gamasutra.com/features/20041110/falstein_pfv.htm
Never quite thought of the 'fun factor' in those terms before. I think that might change the way I evaluate game design decisions from now on.
www.gamasutra.com/features/20041110/falstein_pfv.htm
Never quite thought of the 'fun factor' in those terms before. I think that might change the way I evaluate game design decisions from now on.
About the author
Jay has been a mainstream and indie game developer for a... uh, long time. His professional start came in 1994 developing titles for the then-unknown and upcoming Sony Playstation. He runs Rampant Games and blogs at Tales of the Rampant Coyote.
#2
11/10/2004 (8:52 pm)
One of the best game designers I've ever had the privilege to know was really into studying this a couple of years ago. I think it was after the study was published of the chemical reaction in the brain to Tetris. (Yes - you play Tetris to get high, kinda...) I should really ask him what he learned and what sources he managed to find. 
Torque Owner Jay Moore
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Yes, this an excellent article.
Knowing how and why we get 'addicted' to games is about understanding play - physical, social and mental fun as well as what attracts different people to different stimulus and makes us respond physiologically differently to different games.
I've been looking for more primary research on the chemicals released in the brain while playing different games - building on these principles of 'natural funativity' to measure and define when we 'know it because we feel it' and how and why subtle shades of fun rely more on basic responses to stimuli - like what are the levels of brain activity in different hemispheres when playing and what chemicals are being released in the body like adreneline, serotonin or dopamine.