1. “Dopamine Squirters”
Melda M. Washington
Information Culture, October 8, 2012

2. Overview
 Introduction – Why Dopamine?
 Definition
 Salience
 Games
 “Dopamine Squirters”
 Mashup Games
 Conclusion

3. Introduction – Why Dopamine?
 Conversation with fellow student
 Behavior:
 Anxiety
 Depression
 Relaxation
 Dopamine

4. Definition
 Primary neurotransmitter (chemicals in the brain
that help communicate messages from cell to cell)
found in the brain that is responsible for
happiness and other emotions.
 It is essential for the normal functioning of the
central nervous system.
 Provides feelings of enjoyment and reinforcement
that motivate a person proactively to “feel good.”
 Sometimes referred to as the:
 “reward chemical”
 “pleasure molecule”
 “anti-stress” molecule

5. Salience
 Wikipedia states that Dopamine may also have a role
in the salience or „noticeableness‟ of important stimuli,
such as sources of:
 Reward
 Danger
 This hypothesis argues that dopamine assists
decision-making by influencing the priority, or level of
desire, of such stimuli to the person concerned.
 It has been argued that dopamine is more associated
with anticipatory desire and motivation (commonly
referred to as "wanting") as opposed to actual
consummatory pleasure (commonly referred to as
"liking").

6. Games
 A study in 1998 monitored changes in dopamine
levels from subjects who were playing a video game.
 Noted that dopamine levels increased during game play “at
least twofold” or doubled
 Games that are challenging or competitive increases
dopamine level.
 Stimulation provokes excitement, in its absence,
people feel bored.
 Patterns of intermittent reinforcement over time can
release dopamine squirts.
 This “intermittent reinforcement” is the addictive
quality of games and it affects people at the core
level.

7. “Dopamine Squirters”
 Many popular games are “dopamine squirters”
by:
 Deliverdopamine in small, frequent doses
 Give periodic, positive reinforcement
 Have achievements and leaderboards
 “Nags” (come play me alerts)
 Measurable, identifiable, frequent progress
 Give users a reason to come back to your game
 Players will play anything if they can advance,
compete, or compare.

8. Mashup Games –
programmableweb
Programmablewe
b lists 173
mashups tagged
games.
Most poplar are
FlickerSudoku
and Wii Earth.
APIs used
include: Flicker
MicrosoftBingMap
sGoogleMaps

9. Mashup Games - localiz.me
An online
treasure hunt
game on Google
Maps.
APIs used
include:
GoogleStreetVie
wImage,
GoogleMaps.

10. Mashup Games -
musicpopquiz.com
Guess the artist from
a song clip or a
picture.
Questions are
randomly generated
from the 7digital*
catalogue and get
more difficult as you
progress through
levels.
Compare scores with
others.
APIs used include:
7digital.
*7digital is a digital
media delivery
company.

11. Mashup Games - Climatecraft
A Minecraft mod
that adds tracking of
carbon emissions
using the AMEE
API.
APIs used include:
AMEE.
http://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=L0DfI
98DuDM

12. Conclusion
 Mining the dopamine center for all it's worth
 If you are aware:
 of the patterns of intermittent reinforcement
 that over time, this can release dopamine squirts
when people use your game
 anyone can be conditioned with the help of this
pattern.
 YOU can design a game that fits into this pattern and
take advantage of it.
 Marketers are testing that this dopamine-rush
moment is the perfect time to reach out with a
brand message.

13. References
 http://blogs-
images.forbes.com/insertcoin/files/2012/03/gaming-
graphic.jpg
 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/technology/07brain.html?
pagewanted=all&_r=0
 http://gamertherapist.com/blog/2011/11/08/dopey-about-
dopamine-video-games-drugs-addiction/
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dopamine
 http://www.nrc-
iol.org/cores/mialab/fijc/files/2002/120402_koepp_nature_199
8.pdf
 http://www.kotancode.com/2010/12/30/dopamine-squirts-
intermittent-reinforcement-and-mobile-apps/