This series looks into Nicole Lazzaro’s work. As a game designer, Lazzaro worked on Tilt, Myst, Sims, and Star Wars Unleashed. Lately, she’s working in VR, AR, and MR.
Gameful Design in 4Keys2Fun
Nicole runs a company called XEODesign and they published the 4Keys2Fun.
Hard Fun, Easy Fun, Serious Fun, and People Fun are the 4 Keys.
From the 4Keys2Fun blog, we see:
These four main reasons why people play games are how best sellers create more emotions for more captivating play. Each key unlocks a different set of play experiences. Because players alternate between them during a single play session best selling games offer at least three of the 4 Keys 2 Fun. Only XEODesign’s methods take advantage of the 4 Keys 2 Fun to heighten player emotions.
Types of Fun
Hard Fun is about Mastery, “The Brass Ring”, and when one succeeds in this area, one feels fiero.
Easy Fun is a vehicle for imagination
Serious Fun provides meaning and value and we feel excitement upon success.
People Fun is experienced with others, where we experience amusement upon accomplishment.
Player Experience
As you read the 4Keys2Fun chart, notice that the visualization attempts to focus on the Player Experience (PX). Some experiences will move between the 4Keys, for example between Hard Fun and Easy Fun, or from Serious Fun to People Fun.
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