Self Determination Theory and Game Design
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Self-Determination theory is a psychological model that deals with questions of human motivation and basic psychological needs. It is highly applicable to game design.
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Self Determination Theory and Game Design
- 2. Hello! I AM STANISLAV STANKOVIĆ I am a creative director at Tracktwenty/EA studio in Helsinki, Finland 2
- 3. 3 OUTLINE INTRODUCTION What is Self-Determination Theory HUMAN NEEDS Physical and psychological needs MOTIVATION Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation CONCLUSIONS Key takeaways and further reading
- 4. INTRODUCTION What is Self-Determination Theory 1 4
- 5. “ “It is by will alone I set my mind in motion” - P. De Vries 5
- 6. WHAT IS SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY? A theoretic framework A psychological theory of human motivation and innate psychological needs 6
- 7. HISTORY OF THE CONCEPT The idea originated in 1970ies Developed throughout the 1980ies and 1990ies 7 Edward L. Deci Professor of Psychology and Gowen Professor in the Social Sciences at the University of Rochester, and director of human motivation program Richard Ryan Professor at the Institute for Positive Psychology and Education at the Australian Catholic University and a research professor at the University of Rochester
- 8. WHY IS IT USEFUL? Deals with inherent psychological needs Discusses human motivation Provides framework for understanding player motivations Player Experience of Needs Satisfaction (PENS) 8
- 9. OTHER APPLICATIONS Psychotherapy Medicine Wellness and wellbeing Sports performance Workplace performance and job satisfaction 9
- 10. KEY IDEA All human beings share the same inherent psychological needs! 10
- 11. HUMAN NEEDS Physical and Psychological 2 11
- 12. HIERARCHY OF NEEDS Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Self-actualization Theory 12 ACTUALIZATION Desire to be the best version of oneself ESTEEM Freedom, self-esteem, recognition, status LOVE & BELONGING Friendship, intimacy, family, community SAFETY Personal security, health, property, resources... PHYSICAL NEEDS Air, water, food, shelter, clothing...
- 13. PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS AUTHONOMY Desire to be causal agents of one's own life and act in harmony with one's integrated self. COMPETENCE Seek to control the outcome of one’s own actions and experience mastery. RELATEDNESS Will to interact with, be connected to, and experience caring for others. 13
- 14. AUTONOMY Self-Determination Theory uses a very narrow definition of Autonomy Willingly doing what you're doing Endorse your own actions Denial of autonomy is why slavery feels so terrible 14
- 15. WHAT AUTONOMY IS NOT Autonomy is not freedom in a general sense ◦ Freedom is absence of constraints Autonomy does not imply lack of demands ◦ It is about response to demands Autonomy is not individualism ◦ It exists in cultures that are not individualistic in nature Autonomy does not equal independence ◦ In sense of relying on other people on help and guidance 15
- 16. AUTONOMY IN GAMES Games are interactive in nature ◦ Choice of interaction is upon the player Games consist of goals and obstacles Autonomy in games is about meaningful choices that player can make ◦ Which goals to pursue ◦ How to pursue those goals 16
- 17. DENSITY OF GOALS Different metagame types offer different range of goal choices Linear gameplay ◦ Goals presented in a sequence RPG mechanics ◦ Multiple parallel progression vectors Sandbox ◦ Almost unstructured gameplay 17
- 18. COMPETENCE All about actions and results of actions ◦ Seeing one’s actions produce intended result Need to feel able to achieve goals ◦ Each action takes you closer to your goal Desire to see one’s own skill improve ◦ Improving based on observed feedback 18
- 19. COMPETENCE IN GAMES Games are interactive ◦ Skill is ability to reach desired goals using means at player’s disposal Undesired results lead to frustration ◦ Related to the Theory of Flow, by Csíkszentmihályi Skill can reside on multiple levels ◦ Mastery of controls in action games ◦ Strategic planning in 4X, RTS, city builders, etc. 19
- 20. RELATEDNESS Humans are social animals ◦ We seek companionship of other people Relatedness is the desire to interact with other humans Denial of relatedness is why solitary confinement, and isolation feel so harsh 20
- 21. RELATEDNESS IN GAMES Relatedness is a part of the metagame ◦ Not all games address relatedness, explicitly ◦ Social features offer fulfilment of this need Players always seek relatedness ◦ Socialising on forums, social media, etc. Relatedness can be very rudimentary ◦ Extreme example: three letter signature on an arcade game leaderboard 21
- 22. HUMAN ACTIVITY Psychological needs are universal to all people People seek fulfilment of those needs constantly Some human activities offer more chances for fulfilment than others 22
- 23. KEY IDEA People play games in order to fulfill basic psychological needs! 23
- 25. WHAT IS MOTIVATION? Willingness to engage with an activity Drive to persist with the activity until a goal is reached Different activities satisfy psychological needs to a different degree People engage more with activities that better satisfy these needs 25
- 26. TYPES OF MOTIVATION Intrinsic motivation is doing things just because one enjoys the activity ◦ Intrinsic fulfillment of needs through the activity Extrinsic motivation is doing things for any other reason ◦ Promise of reward, fear of punishment, etc. 26
- 27. MOTIVATION CONTINUUM 27 AMOTIVATION EXTERNAL REGULATION INTROJECTION IDENTIFICATION INTRINSIC MOTIVATION INTEGRATION Quality of motivation depends on the degree of autonomy Lack of motivation Fully intrinsic Extrinsic motivation Less autonomy More autonomy
- 28. AMOTIVATION Total lack of motivation a result of total lack of autonomy Feeling of helplessness: ◦ One is feels not capable of acting ◦ One feels compelled to do a particular action regardless of his own opinions or intentions Lack of perceived value of the action or lack of context 28
- 29. AMOTIVATION IN GAMES It is surprisingly common in games: ◦ Chase the arrow tutorials ◦ Superfluous dialogues in narrative driven games ◦ “Push button to continue” in narrative driven games ◦ Grind without context in Free-2-play These patterns are detrimental to retention Player will reassert his autonomy by churning 29
- 30. EXTERNAL REGULATION Basic form of extrinsic motivation Proverbial carrot and the stick Motivation driven by external factors: ◦ Hope of a reward ◦ Fear of punishment The action itself has no particular meaning to a person 30
- 31. EXTERNAL REGULATION IN GAMES Typically based on rewards Usually a part of metagame Grind with the context: ◦ Whenever a player is motivated to grind some unappealing activity in order to gain some sort of appealing reward Very prominent in Free-2-play 31
- 32. INTROJECTED MOTIVATION Ego gets involved Motivation is based on approval: ◦ from others ◦ from oneself Still a type of extrinsic motivation 32
- 33. INTROJECTED MOTIVATION IN GAMES Bragging rights Social competitive gameplay Typical examples: ◦ Leaderboards ◦ Medals and achievements in multiplayer games ◦ Saga map with avatars of friends Pitfall: Boosting one player’s ego can come at expense of other players! There can be only one name at the top 33
- 34. INTERNALIZED MOTIVATION Extrinsic factors are becoming internalized Personal importance Conscious value of the activity Self-endorsement of the goals 34
- 35. INTERNALIZED MOTIVATION IN GAMES Can take many very different forms Taking one for the team Being a healer in a MOBA team: ◦ Activity is not directly beneficial to the individual player but regarded highly by others Building a replica of Taj Mahal in Minecraft: ◦ Laying down 10000 blocks is tedious but the result is extremely rewarding 35
- 36. IDENTIFIED MOTIVATION The participation in activity becomes a part of one's own identity Person identifies not only with the value of the activity but the activity itself Distinction between extrinsic and intrinsic gets blurred 36
- 37. IDENTIFIED MOTIVATION IN GAMES Whenever a player starts identifying with a game, a genre or a role: ◦ “I am a hard core Overwatch palyer” ◦ “I am a pro!” ◦ “I am a Redstone builder in Minecraft Game becomes a digital hobby Hobby becomes an obsession 37
- 38. INTRINSIC MOTIVATION Doing things for pure enjoyment Joy coming from the activity itself Activity satisfies: ◦ One or two basic psychological needs extremely well ◦ All three activities to a good degree What people instinctively mean when they say “fun” 38
- 39. INTRINSIC MOTIVATION IN GAMES Holy grail of game design Usually in the core gameplay Minute to minute interaction Most old school arcade games are examples of this: ◦ Pacman, Super Mario, Space Invaders, Arkanoid Modern examples include: ◦ FPS games, Match-3, Merge-3 etc. 39
- 41. 41 KEY TAKEAWAYS SDT is a framework for understanding psychological needs and human motivation Useful for understanding player motivation People play games to fulfill these needs Three basic psychological needs are: Autonomy, Competence, Relatedness Motivation can be intrinsic or extrinsic
- 42. FURTHER READING selfdeterminationtheory.org www.coursera.org/learn/self-determination-theory “Self-Determination Theory: Basic Psychological Needs in Motivation, Development, and Wellness”, book by Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan “Glued to Games: How Video Games Draw Us In and Hold Us Spellbound”, book by Richard M. Ryan and Scott Rigby WHITE PAPER: The Player Experience of Need Satisfaction (PENS), by Scott Rigby & Richard Ryan 42
- 43. Thanks! ANY QUESTIONS? You can find me at www.linkedin.com/in/stanislavstankovic/ stanislav.stankovic@gmail.com 43