Explorations in Player Motivations: Game Mechanics

This article, assuming that player motivations are the outcome of continuous player-environment interactions, applies the needs framework of Murray (1938) to a computer game and investigates the relations between each individual need and the driving game mechanics behind them. It is shown that the restrictions imposed by the game mechanics significantly reduce the number of player needs satisfied by a game, thereby trapping the player within the common motivational cycle of Achievement, Aggression, Harmavoidance and Acquisition. This motivational study on gaming experience should facilitate the design of computer games that satisfy a broader range of player needs by providing ways to investigate the matching actions for each individual need while identifying the common patterns imposed by game mechanics. Analysis of player motivations on action level should also open up new frontiers in the player profiling process in interactive gaming experiences that should ideally appeal to many t...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2009
• Where: GAMEON
• Authors: Barbaros Bostan, Ugur Kaplancali
• Keywords: Broader Range, Game, GAMEON 2009, Modeling And Simulation, Player Motivations