Flow Theory

Flow is way of illustrating the way that games keep players engaged. The player receives a challenge that requires skill to complete and provides a clear goal and feedback. The outcome however is not always certain and may require the player to retry multiple times in order to complete the challenge.

If the challenge is too hard, the player ends up in a state where they face anxiety, frustration and the risk of quitting the game. Alternatively, if the challenge is too easy, the player faces boredom where similarly the player may consider quitting the game. For example, real-time strategy games can become to easy if you keep fighting the same enemies over and over and so can make the player feel bored.

The developer has to ensure that the player falls in the middle, receiving challenges that are just a step above their current skill level. The challenges don't have to progress in the straight line and can vary in difficulty depending on the players skill level within a different area.

I experienced Flow within a game called "Papers Please", a game which requires the player to manage a border checkpoint, checking passports and documents etc. The game began simple by only requiring a limited set of rules. However over the course of the game, more rules got introduced which added challenge. Rules became more difficult as it provided more information to check. There was also the extra challenge of possible terrorists trying to destroy the checkpoint. I enjoyed the game start to finish because of the increasing challenge as the game progressed. It didn't feel like it increased difficulty too quickly and so I progressed through the Flow diagram fairly fluently with a few ups and downs as challenges got introduced.

In conclusion I think this task has allowed me to learn the in's and out's of the Flow Theory and means I can consider it when designing future games especially for the current Virtual Crew project. I think it is an important consideration in any game.