What makes games fun?

What makes games fun?

I'm sure you've asked yourself this question multiple times. If you are getting into game design, then you should definitely be focusing a lot of time to the study of what makes games fun.

Interestingly enough, we actually play the specific games that we do based on our specific psychological needs.

According to Self-Determination Theory, we as human beings have three psychological needs: competency, autonomy, and relatedness.

These three needs are what drive us to make the choices that we do in our everyday lives, as well as in our long term goals and career paths.

Each of these three needs are broad, with many traits falling beneath their umbrella, but all of the traits are close enough that we can easily associate them with their specific psychological need.

The first need is competency. This psychological need is where we find the desire to master something, or to feel as though we are getting better at a specific task.

As it relates to gaming, this is where we find a lot of RPG elements like leveling, quests, unlocking items, upgrading items, etc.

However, this is also where we find our desires for difficult platformers, such as Mario and Super Meat Boy.

The need for competency can be described as both user progression (mastering the timing in order to complete a particularly difficult level), as well as character progression (applying stat points to increase a character's overall skills and abilities).

If you find yourself drawn more towards games that focus heavily on these elements, then you probably have a high competency need or desire.

The second psychological need is autonomy, which can be described as the need for freedom and meaningful choice.

This can be achieved in games like Minecraft, by offering the player endless possibilities with little to no path structure.

This can also be achieved through games that offer dialogue choices that imply to the player a meaningful choice is being made.

These choices don't actually have to be meaningful, or lead to a different outcome, but they have to make the player feel as though they do.

If you find yourself preferring vast, open world games, where you have total control over how you want to play the game, then you probably have a high autonomy need or desire.

However, if you find yourself getting bored or lost in games like Minecraft or GTA V Online, then you probably have a low autonomy need.

An example of a zero autonomy game would be the linear story structures of first person shooters like Call of Duty.

The final need is relatedness, or the need for social interactions.

This could simply be the ability to play online with friends in games like Borderlands, as well as the need to dominate other players in competitive games like Overwatch.

The important thing to remember when designing your own game is that you are not going to be able to appeal to everyone.

In keeping this in mind, you should try to focus heavily on two of the three psychological needs in a 50 - 40 - 10 ratio.

This will allow you to carve out the best niche audience for you game, where your players will be completely entranced and excited to play.

Trying to appeal to all three will result in a mediocre game that everyone thinks is just ok, with no one being all that excited about it.

Importance of Playing Games

If you want to make great games then you have to play games all the time!

Sounds easy and like a dream come true right?

However, this doesn't mean only playing good games or AAA titles. Instead, you should be trying to always expand your experience and knowledge base of the vast genres of games out there.

If you only play FPS or RTS games, then you are limiting what types of mechanics and level design concepts you can draw from when designing your own games.

As a designer, you should think of your knowledge and skills as your toolbox. Every time you play a new game, you are looking for new tools that you can add to your toolbox.

iOS Touch Controls Lagging

If you are making a game for both Android and iOS, then chances are that you've noticed a difference in usability.

This can be even more drastic in the Android market, as the number of devices and specs can range wildly from very good to paper weighty.

However, in terms of iOS devices, there is a known problem with touch controls in a Unity3D game.

I discovered this problem while working on Jumpy Blocks, a free mobile game that is now and available on Android and iOS.

I built the game for Android first, because it made testing each build easier due to not having to use Xcode, and then I ported the game to iOS.

On the Android side, the controls were perfect and there were no usability issues.

When I played the game on my iOS devices however, I got laggy and error prone responses from the touch controls.

This completely baffled me at first.

Android and iOS Developer Licenses

If you have your mobile game completed and ready to publish, then you are going to need to buy development licenses.

These licenses are what allow you to make your game downloadable from the Google Play Store and the iTunes App Store.

How to Place Ads on Mobile Games in Unity

If your game is finished with Unity and you are ready to place ads on your Android game, then this post will show you everything you need to know.

This is actually a fairly simple process, except that information on how to do it is scarce.

It took me over twelve hours of research, as well as trial and error in order to figure it out my first time.

Lucky you, because you now have this post to follow!

Jumpy Blocks Privacy Policy

In order to make this app entirely free for you, the user, non-intrusive banner ads have been placed along the top bar of the screen.

These ads are created by Google's AdMob program and any permissions asked at game start up will be given to AdMob and not the developer.

These permissions are simply to allow AdMob to create customized ads for you based on your personal interest that is found in your device usage data.

Again, none of your information is or will be provided to the developer.

These permissions are similar to the ones Facebook uses to provide you with relevant ads and videos on your timelines.

Acknowledge Your Limitations

When you are starting to think about what kind of game you want to make it is important to first acknowledge what your limitations are.

This is a mistake a lot of new game designers fall into, because they immediately start trying to make the game they've always wanted to play.

This will set you up for heart ache and failure.

Game Dev Competitions

Game development competitions can be extremely important when it comes to growing your brand, or expanding your resume to show AAA companies just what kind of skills you've got.

Most of the competitions have some sort of a time crunch that can be as little as 24-hours, or as long as 9 months!

If you are starting your game design career, then I would suggest you start with the shorter game jams.

Unity Game Orientation

If you are making a mobile game inside of Unity, then you may need to set a specific orientation for your game.

This is a very easy process, but very little is posted about it online, so I wanted to make a quick post about it.

By default, Unity will allow your device to switch between landscape and portrait while playing your game. If your game is built with this intention and correct scaling settings, then you are done.

If this breaks, or simply doesn't feel right for your game, then follow these steps:

About Jumpy Blocks

Available Free on Android and iOS in the App Store!!!

About a week ago, I found myself playing an endless runner mobile game and it got me thinking.

I was spending about twenty minutes on it a day, but the game wasn't really fun except for the quick twitch moments that would only occur at random points late in a run.

I discovered what I loved most about the game was the quick paced decisions that I had to make during these small moments.

With that in mind, I began working on Jumpy Blocks right away.

Your First Game

If you are trying to get started with your first game idea, then you probably already know just how daunting of a task it could be.

The biggest problem you will face is going to be you.

You are not going to make your dream game on your first go, no matter how much time you spend on it.

You are not going to re-invent a genre or a mechanic.

Your first game is probably going to be down right terrible.

But this is a GREAT thing!

Unity vs UDK

One of the biggest debates most beginner game developers get into is which game engine they should start with.

Right from the beginning there is an easy tipping point.

Do you know how to program in either C# or JavaScript? Unity.

Do you know how to program in C++ or not at all? UDK.

Unity Remote 5 Guide

 

If you are like me, then you have discovered the powerful tool that is the Unity Remote app, only to realize that it doesn't work.

Don't worry, you are in the right place!