What Does Game Design Teach Us About Fun?

Let’s have some fun!

But what is fun?

What do we know about fun?

We know we like it. We know we’d like more of it.

But what is fun, really?

To each his own, right? Well, maybe, but there are some common elements.

Games teach us a lot about fun.

Professor Kevin Werbach teaches gamification. He knows a lot about how to bring the use of game elements and game techniques to non-game contexts.

Fun doesn’t just happen in a game ….

The fun factor makes games engaging — it’s the emotional experience.

But, what is fun?

Here are the elements of fun according to Professor Kevin Werbach:

winning
problem solving
exploring
chilling – lying on a beautiful beach
teamwork – collaborating and cooperating
recognition – someone else telling you you did a good job
triumphing – similar to winning, you win and some loses.
collecting – bringing things into collections (e.g. coins. in games), you can assemble a collection of things
surprise – something you did not expect
imagination – day-dreaming or creating with the mind
sharing – altruism
role playing – pretending we’re someone else
customization – fun to choose your colors, design your own thing
goofing off – letting it all hang out and just be silly