Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
In terms of resistance, boredom is what happens when a player isn't being pushed by the game
system to do anything except repeat an action she already knows how to push with. Frustra-
tion can be similarly repetitive, such as a player pushing into the conversation of the game and
being told, “No, that's not it, try again” over and over again. Although resistance is happening,
it's stuck in a loop.
A commonly expressed idea about flow and games is that as designers, we should try to stick
carefully to a channel between boredom and frustration, like a shark swimming between dan-
gerous rocks on either side. Also like a shark, the challenge of a game in this model has to keep
moving, so that repetition of actions that the player's starting to master doesn't get boring. Get
the difficulty exactly right, and the player will stick with your game, developing more and more
skill. The game then needs to respond in new ways, pushing back by providing the player with
ever greater
challenges. This upward ascent resembles a slope toward the maximum possible
challenge (see Figure
). It's similar to the narrative of difficulty mentioned earlier, an uphill
battle toward an epic conflict. Unlike the simple idea of “the most difficult is the best,” however,
thinking in terms of flow lets us focus more on the process of this journey. All along the way,
the game must keep evolving the system to provide more difficulty so that the player will stay
engaged until she reaches that pinnacle.
6.2
Peak of Difficulty and Skill
FRUSTRATION
(Challenge Exceeds Mastery)
BOREDOM
(Mastery Exceeds Challenge)
Beginning of Play
Mastery of Skills and Understanding
Figure 6.2
For some game creators, the ideal experience involves staying in the zone between
boredom and frustration as the player's skills improve.
