Conceptualization and theory of flow

1. GDCV1845/SS1845 – Videogames and arts
Class 04
Conceptualization of a game

2. Class 04
Schedule
Ideas of flow and creativity
Best memorable events
Mind map exercise
Your game ideas

3. Dramatic elements
Why a game is fun to play ?

4. Dramatic elements
Dramatic elements in game
I. Challenge
II. Play
III. Traditional dramatic elements in drama & film
• Premise
• Character
• Story
• World Building
• The Dramatic Arc

5. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Challenge
Tasks that are satisfying to complete, with just the right
amount of work to create a sense of accomplishment and
enjoyment.

6. Challenge
Individualized
Dynamic – changes over time
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

7. Joy
How people enjoy themselves
Which types of activities make them happy
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

8. Confront tasks we have a chance of completing.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

9. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Must be able to concentrate on what we are doing

10. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Clear goal

11. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Immediate feedback

12. Deep but effortless involvement that removes from
awareness of the worries and frustrations of everyday life
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

13. Sense of control over their actions
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

14. Concern for the self disappears, yet the sense of self
emerges stronger after the experience is over.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

15. Sense of the duration of time is altered
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

16. Video, Flow Theory

17. i. Intrinsically rewarding
ii. Clear goals, and a sense of progress
iii. Clear and immediate feedback
iv. Match of challenge and skill
v. Intense focus on the present
Theory of Flow

18. i. Game playing experience is itself enjoyable
ii. Video games usually have clear goals and clear
progress
iii. Video games usually have real-time feedbacks
iv. Well received games usually have a well-balance game
play
v. People usually have in intense focus on the game they
are playing
Theory of Flow

19. An activity balances a person between challenge and ability,
frustration and boredom, to produce an experience of
achievement and happiness.
Theory of Flow

20. Theory of Flow

21. Flow occurs most often within activities that are goal-
directed and bounded by rules … that could not be done
without the proper skill…
For a person who has the skills but is not completely
assured of the outcome, a task is challenging.
Challenge vs. skill

22. Skills – Tony Hawk Pro Skater

23. When all of a person’s relevant skills are needed to cope
with the challenges of a situation, that person’s attention is
completely absorbed by the activity.
People become so involved in what they are doing that the
activity becomes spontaneous, almost automatic; they stop
being aware of themselves as separate from the actions
they are performing.
Action and awareness

24. Action and awareness – Metal Gear Solid 3

25. Clear goals and feedback – Bowling game

26. You are not aware of other problematic life situations. It
becomes a world unto its own, significant only to itself.
Once you are in the situation, it is incredibly real, and you
are very much in charge of it. It becomes your total world.
Concentration on the task at hand

27. Concentration – Asteroids

28. Only when a doubtful outcome is at stake, and one is able to
influence that outcome, can a person really know she is in
control.
Paradox of control

29. Paradox of control – Civilization

30. There is no room for self-scrutiny. Because enjoyable
activities have clear goals, stable rules, and challenges well
matched to skills, there is little opportunity for the self to be
threatened.
Loss of Self-Consciousness

31. Loss of Self-Consciousness

32. The Transformation of Time

33. And the Flow carry on

34. Exotelic: we do things not because we enjoy them but to
achieve some goal.
Autotelic: we do things only to enjoy the experience they
provide.
Experience becomes and end

35. Start grouping and start conceptualizing your game
Workshop