Game Design Motivation: How to maintain engagement

Popular games have one very important thing in common with each other—they pique the interest of people, and they have a motivational element that keeps people interested and engaged.  Without these factors, there is little reason for people to play.

As outlined by Josh Bycers in Motivating Mechanics in Game Design,

“Progression is an important part of a game’s design and its purpose is to keep people motivated to continue playing. Each genre handles progression differently, for example beating a map in a strategy game or achieving positive growth in a city builder. There are two categories of progression: player based and game based. Player based is the player improving at the title, while game based is the designer providing hooks to keep the player invested.”

Without elements such as progression and challenges along the way, people will lose interest. One of the most popular video games of all time, Mario Brothers, is the perfect example of progression and challenges in gaming. The presence of levels gives people the chance to progress through the game; and the need to beat a new “boss” at the end of each level provides new and more difficult challenges as users get more immersed in the game.

The key is to create motivators and engaging elements across multiple time frames. Bycers outlines three main categories – Short Term Mechanics, Mid-Term Mechanics, and Long Term Mechanics. He states,

“Short term mechanics are events designed to occur constantly… Mid-term mechanics are those that the player expects to happen over the course of one session…. long term mechanics are mechanics or goals that will happen over the course of several play sessions.”

From a gamification perspective, companies use these mechanics to keep people engaged. In the short term they use instant prizes; over the mid-term they can use points systems and leaderboards; and over the long term they can use point milestone and levels that people can strive for over time.

Maintaining User Motivation

Maintaining motivation is the key when it comes to video games. This is also directly applicable to gamification. As discussed in A Taxonomy of Motivation and Game Design, there are two sources of motivation that game designers and companies can use to gamify marketing elements: individual intrinsic motivation and interpersonal motivators.

Individual motivational factors that need to be present to maintain the proper level of engagement include challenges, creating curiosity, giving control to the user, and including elements of fantasy. Interpersonal motivators that need to be present are cooperation, competition, and recognition.

How Does This Apply to Gamification?

The same elements of motivation are at play when companies use gamification to engage users and encourage them to interact with their brand.

Naturally, motivators have the most impact on your users when they engage with your company or brand at various touch points and will depend on the end user. This is why it is very important to have a detailed user profile and understand what your customers and users want at a deeper level. The more you understand about who your customers, users, and gamers are, the better you will be able to motivate them and create an experience that engages them.
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