Exploring Systems: Flow
A look at the systems and values at play in Flow
Flow was created by Jenova Chen and Nicholas Clark. It was initially released as a free-to-play flash game and was later converted into a PS3 game through Chen’s studio, thatgamecompany (yes, that game company which released Journey).
The game’s title, Flow, refers to two systems in the game. First, the game is set in a fluid, flowing environment. It should be noted that there are none of the typical indications of liquid in the setting, i.e., light refractions or other conventional markers of an aquatic environment. Rather, the player infers the fluid environment from the color and the undulating movement of the organisms. In this fluid environment, the player navigates their organism to eat other organisms. By doing so, their organism evolves and grows longer. The player continues this gameplay as they descend deeper and deeper into the environment, which is indicated by the darkening background color.
The second system Flow refers to is based on Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s theory of flow. Flow is the state where a person feels “in the zone”. People feel fully engaged and energized; it’s a feeling gamers are familiar with experiencing. Chen designed Flow (the game) to explore engaging players in flow (the theory) by dynamically changing the difficulty of the game according to the player’s demonstrated ability, also known as dynamic difficulty adjustment (DDA). This underlying system seems to have paid off as game reviews generally note how satisfying the game is.
In Flow, Chen made specific choices which reveal his values about games and achieving flow. For instance, the game is relatively minimal. There are no instructions on how to play. Instead, Chen designed the controls to be so straightforward, clicking around, that players could quickly figure out the controls just by messing around. The same goes for the environment. The background is intentionally stark; the only other moving organism on the screen immediately draws the player’s eyes. Out of curiosity, they likely direct their organism to go there. Once their organism “eats” the other, the player’s idea of how the game works is solidified. Coupled with Chen’s vision of fostering flow, these choices indicate his value of leveraging minimal gameplay to achieve flow, a stance which starkly contrasts with the theory of fun found in Triple-A games.
