Understanding The Hook Behind Playing Video Games

The Innocent Hook

For those who do not understand the appeal, almost all popular video games have challenges to complete, obstacles to overcome, or string of tasks to do. Essentially, there are goals whether they be epic quests to slay mythical beasts, or simple tasks like planting crops and harvesting them. Given the spectrum of these goals, the difficulty level needs to be adjusted based upon what the purpose behind the game is.

Some video games mean to require immense amounts of energy and concentration. Although seen more as arcade games, Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero are video games requiring skill mastery. Their goal is to have the gamer practice the same songs (levels) over and over until the gamer can reproduce the actions back to near perfection. The reward is the acquisition of skills and the score obtained at the end of the levels based upon accuracy. And, when ready, the gamer can move to a song that is more difficult.

Other video games focus more on keeping a schedule throughout a day and night cycle. Games like Harvest Moon and The Sims require maintaining crops or personal stats (e.g. hygiene, energy, affection) during a limited time duration. The difficulty ramps up by adding more of these maintenance aspects for the player to add to their daily schedule. Rewards are obtained when the maintenance allows the gamer to build up and capitalize upon their acquired resource stores (e.g. enough affection to propose to their in-game significant other or selling crops to save enough money to “purchase” something in-game). In all games, there are challenges with payoffs relative to the difficulty that starts easy and ramps up to harder difficulties.

Imagine starting your life as a city boy/girl and being able to become a fully-fledged successful farmer with the only cost being time, reading (sometimes not even reading), and the energy required to push a series of buttons and pushing a mouse/joystick. Achievement and progression have never been this easy to feel, and yet so far away from to truly experiencing personal achievement. The next level only takes a bit more time (an hour) to reach, and the endurance of sitting is the only threshold to consider. The chase for the false achievement pushes everything outside of the screen out of mind, and it is so much easier and more satisfying than finishing a school assignment, or getting to work on time.

The Formula Exploitation For Money

Mobile game companies have found out how to exploit the “just out of reach” formula to keep gamers coming back to them:

1.    Provide small rewards daily.

2.    Create daily menial tasks with minimal rewards that require time investment from the gamer. This keeps the gamer coming back.

3.    Make the initial levels/challenges simple enough to complete but require some time and attention from the gamer.

4.    Make the challenges barely satisfying to complete and make them time limited. Time limited challenges create a feeling of scarcity for gamers.

5.    Have a visual display to show the gamer how far along they are in completing the challenge.

6.    Create exclusive challenges that are nearly impossible to complete without requiring tons of time investment and/or monetary investment. The gamer think, “Well since I’m this far, might as well keep going.”

Step 6 shows up after the gamer has invested a ton of time into the game. Gamers will get used to completing all of the simple goals. The unobtainable, time limited goals will feel like a thorn in their side. Eventually, these gamers will rationalize, and with motivation from their emotions, that it is okay to spend money to continue progressing through the game. Although, the game never really ends.

Unhooking Yourself

As someone who has been hooked, I found a way to dehook myself. Here is the process. Eventually, the excitement of getting the new level, achieving a goal, getting a new item to improve your character goes away, and starts feeling like a chore. The flash of the graphics loses its appeal. I got sick of “being required” to do the same damn thing repeatedly. It was more than feeling sick though. I felt disgusted with what I was doing and with myself. The thought ran across my mind, “Why am I doing this?” Don’t let the thought and feeling escape. Embrace it and sit with it. Realize there is more. The question will then become, “What more is there?”

What causes the gaming to continue is really the avoidance of pressure, responsibility, or any anxiety inducing thoughts. Unknowing people call it procrastination, but it is more than just avoiding responsibility. Gaming replaces the coping mechanisms that should come from within, and it is a terrible substitute. Depression, sadness, and lack of fulfillment follow quickly behind with gaming. I think on a subconscious level, the gamer knows nothing has really been accomplished. However, if there is no replacement for the coping mechanism, the gamer is going to come back to gaming. They may not play the same game. Probably, they will find a new game to start the cycle all over again. From excitement, to responsibility, to disgust. With so many games to play now, the cycle can go on for a lifetime and longer.

To further unhook themselves, the gamer needs to find something that fills them up emotionally, spiritually, physically, mentally, etc. Whatever feeling that pushes them away from the games, they need to have the opposite feeling towards a filling activity. Whatever it is, this activity needs to:

1.    Come from the gamer. They need to come up with this by themselves. This means its personal.

2.    Be unique, and purposeful to the gamer. The activity should not be pushed onto them.

3.    Require time, focus and energy from the gamer. This should NOT be an easy activity and should have a progression with long-term goals.

My Filling Activity

As an example of a filling activity, I run… a lot. This is an activity that fills me, requires my time, energy, and focus, and is purposeful to me. Purposeful in this context means that it affects the core being. I know it is healthy, and I can better myself and increase my skill every time I participate. I can consistently work at it, but the reasons I run go much deeper for me.

My grandfather placed 4th as a 1500-meter runner in the 1936 Olympics. His son, without going into too much detail, was also a respected runner. Running is not just an activity for me. It is part of my family’s history, and part of my history now too. Many people run, but no one runs for the reasons I do, and no one can take the reasons away from me. They are unique to me.

In this example, I feel a deep connection to my family, but YOUR unique reason doesn’t need to be your family. It took time for me to find my meaningful, filling activity. I will write about my running evolution in my next blog, but know that it wasn’t a single choice. It was an in-depth, involved process.

Ironically, running away only gets the gamer so far. They eventually need to run towards something or they’ll find themselves back where they were; in-front of a screen trading temporary excitement for lasting fulfillment. IF you find yourself in the same cycle, write down things you’ve always wanted to do no matter how outrageous you think they might be. You might find the filling activity you have always needed, and never knew it.