Flow in Video Games

The concept of Flow was first developed by Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a notable researcher in the study of happiness. He describes Flow as a mental state, as being fully involved in a given task or activity for the sake of it, making full use of the skills required to do it. This process can be found mostly in creative activities, and video game development is not the exception.

There are six factors that accompany the experience of Flow:

1. Intense and focused concentration on the present moment
2. Merging of action and awareness
3. A loss of reflective self-consciousness
4. A sense of personal control or agency over the situation or activity
5. A distortion of temporal experience, one’s subjective experience of time is altered
6. Experience of the activity as intrinsically rewarding, also referred to as autotelic experience

When Flow is explained, it’s usually accompanied by a diagram like the one below. It basically shows us what is necessary to achieve the experience of Flow: our skills should relate to the level of a challenge, both of them of medium to high level. Any other combination generates a series of positive or negative states, which we should always take into account when designing a game, and, specifically, when determining what type of game we want to develop.

Flow diagram

So what do we need to do as game developers to promote and maintain Flow in players?

1. Set concrete goals and manageable rules within the game.

The player will need to know what to do, what tasks to perform and what objectives to complete, as well as what he or she is capable of doing within the game. This information should be given in a clear and straightforward way, presenting it gradually so as not to overstimulate the player.

2. Tasks should be attainable

If a game demands too much in terms of skill, to the point where completing levels or objectives becomes almost impossible, the players will get stressed and stop playing. Challenges should gradually increase in difficulty, following a learning curve in relation to the players actual capabilities.

3. Clear and timely feedback

While in-game, the player should experience a correlation between what he does and what the consequences are. Sounds and visual effects as a result of the player’s actions help create associations with the different outcomes, providing information and strengthening the sense of immersion.

4. Remove irrelevant information

There is a limit to the amount of information we can process at a time, so reducing how much of it is shown prevents a player from becoming overwhelmed or from losing concentration. The simpler the exposure to this information is, the better.

References:

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life. Basic Books, New York.

TED Talks - Ideas worth spreading (2004). Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Flow, the secret to happiness.