So after pondering how evil Diablo2 is and how there are other games out there that tend to "take over the life" of people I decided to ask you guys a question. What do you feel are the properties of a game that cause it to be addictive? What are some of the "big hooks" in gameplay that make a game something that keeps people coming back. I'm not talking about vague ideas like "replayability" but specifics.. Here's a few off the top of my head. Obviously a game doesnt have to have all of these to be addictive but I think most of the games out there like EverQuest, Counter-Strike (article) , Diablo2 etc share some of these attributes.
- Reward system. (Through exp points, character attributes, etc)
- Large scale jumps in tempo and penalties/rewards. Big "swings"
- Customization options of your character(s).
- Coveted items/weapons that are difficult to find.
- Online multiplayer capable
There are tons and tons of other things too. But then there is StarCraft out in Korea. Any clues on exactly what is so addictive about that game in particular? I heard somewhere that like 75% of people ages 18-30 in Korea are familiar with the game. Nuts! What do you think? Does this bother you?
Steve Gibson is the cofounder of Shacknews.com. Originally known as sCary's Quakeholio back in 1996, Steve is now President of Gearbox Publishing after selling Shacknews to GameFly in 2009.
reply