Why is a game fun?
What makes a game fun? And what is it about that mechanic that’s unique and revolutionised?
What is it about a game that makes the player WANT to keep playing more?
I understand there’s a few questions here, haha. But the last is the most important, I believe
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/162218-what-do-you-think-makes-a-good-indie-game?
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/164339-What-makes-a-good-puzzle-side-scrolling-game?
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/159243-What-makes-a-game-addicting-(Single-Player)?
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/134563-What-makes-a-great-game?
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/122261-What-makes-a-good-looking-natural-environment-in-a-video-game?
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/119192-What-makes-a-good-science-fiction-horror-game?
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/89047-What-Makes-A-Game-Fun?
Fun games come from fun people? You gotta have a fun state of mind to come up with fun stuff. And fun is usually not too far from funny, as in doesn’t take itself too seriously, but some people also enjoy being serious and intense.
Two-player games are also fun due to the social interaction and competition between friends.
I think a compelling goal helps too. You have to have a reason to want to play.
Rewarding Progress makes a game fun for me. I dont like playing games that never saves my progress, feels like im wasting time.
Other than that, Coop is fun, good visal feedback is fun, make the player feel like the game rewards for beeing curious,to me, is fun.
Very opinionbased topic tho, i like exploring in games, other people like shooting people in the head.
How long is a piece of string? What makes a game fun is 100% subjective. I might find something utterly tedious that you find the best game in the world.
haha, short answer, no one knows.
Long answer, it takes time, test and lots of iteration and PATIENCE to find the “fun” and exploit it. That’ s why we have so many generic FPS’s, because someone made one and people found it fun, so now we have hundreds of those games around. There is no definitive answer to “what makes a game fun” as we all have different tastes and expectations.
Fun comes with interaction and a reward. My game is a 4 player, 2d, side scrolling, co op rpg that rewards the player a lot. I have a random item generator so they can brag about the sword they just found from that hard boss you just beaten. I make all the players on screen at once so that they are either helping each other or only helping themselves, which gives a lot of replay value and competition, thus making my game very fun.
For the type of people that enjoys THAT kind of game, yes. Im in there with u, i like RPG’s, i love exploring and discovering secrets and finding rare loot. My bestfriend hates those, he just wants to hop in and out of online games and shoot people even tho theres no progress involved. When u exit the game, it means total restart, no stats saved. thats just human nature, some like it simple, some like to invest time.
This topic is very divided and there is no answer to it, its impossible to define “fun” in games.
I think that what makes you want to play it more is the progress, you must feel always progress… think on those simple games, that you look at them and say what a dumb game, but when you place your fingers in them you start thinking okay i’m gonna stop and when you finnaly stop it passed at least one hour… With this said… challenge and reward are the most addictive things to a game… (and real life in general :P)
Your friend probably isn’t that different from you. Every time he starts a new game over, he EXPLORES a new way of playing it better. He IS making progress, at being a more efficient killing machine! This is basically what you’re trying to be, isn’t it?
haha no trust me, this guy JUST wants to get in there and unlaod that shotgun into someone else forehead, nothing more:P he knows there is nothing more to it, and thats what he enjoys. If he sees words like “level up, statpoints,XP” he freaks out,doesnt wanna deal with it. And he ofcours eplays with his friends who think just the same, while i play with my buddies who enjoy RPG’s and enjoy spending hours in caves looking for loot:P
I mean people are diffrent, some like red, some like blue, i guess its the same for games. thats why we have Genres and stuff like that.
Fun in games is not something u can define, fun in games means diffrent things for almost every player.
You spend hours in caves looking for loot, so you can take the axe you found and stick it into a monster’s forehead.
basicly yes, not all people like those hours,they just want the axe to forehead part.
How about this then… Why did a lot of you choose to comment on this thread so quickly? Why did I get more feedback on this thread than maybe some of my others?
I think it’s because it’s a simple idea that’s open to lots of discussion. Minecraft really looked like a simple game, but offered so so so much to the user, because it was (is) a sandbox, and look at it, it exploded!
What if games didn’t necessarily have lore and a storyline, and just focused on some core mechanics… Like just running around and killing stuff, WITH the feature of advancement by only obtaining better weapons and armours and skills through quests and exploration… No ability points and stuff, so it’s kinda a different part of the game
I saw a documentary on Minecraft and it seems it exploded because it was something that hadnt been seen before, not in that scope. Me personally, dont play minecraft,tried it and thought it was extremly boring, still a great game for what it is. Starbound is the game u just described, running around killing stuff for better gear with no skilllpoints, maybe even Terraria. I think theres something in this “sandbox buld wahtever u’d like” thing that appeals to people…basicly freedom,i guess? Minecraft is, still, an extremly simple game, but everyone loves Legos.
Why some games are popular i will never understand tho, theres so many weird titles that has a huuuuge fanbase and i just cant figure out why.
And then u have games that i think are faaaaaaaaantastic and i can play over and over and over and they never get the same traction as some of these casual “globetrotters” do. Simple is often better in many cases, look at candy crush and the likes. The concept is as easy as it gets, match 3 items,done. Fun? i dont think so but over half the universe obviously does right?
But why not play some other game, where you go exploring for gems, or cookies? Why are you playing a game where you search for weapons and armor?
I think possibly a good control system, intuitive learning, good pace, interesting challenges and ‘a good fight’ can be fun
oh that doesnt matter, i was talking about RPG’s in general, the typical forumula. If one required me to go look for cookies to level up and progress my character id be doing that if the game was fun for me, wich ofcourse relies on other things like Imaginaryhuman just talked about.
I think there’s a very big difference between simple and simplistic, for me, the formula is something like this: simple + freedom + good controls, and you pretty much have something where the player can excel in their OWN way, not something that is just dictated by the game, for instance, leveling and killing stuff. that’s why minecraft is amazing. probably the best sandbox ever made in my opinion