In fact, mobile gaming now accounts for around 60% of the global gaming market. Many believe the recent accessibility, simplicity and “play-anywhere” nature of mobile gaming has been the cause of this success. Alongside this however, people must want to play the games. So, what makes a game addictive?
In truth, we don’t need to look to today’s generation of mobile games to understand the addictive nature of simple gameplay. Back in 1997, Taneli Armanto of Nokia programmed a simple take on the classic “Snake” game which shipped with the firm’s 6110 model. It would go on to cause frustration and elation in equal measure for millions of global mobile phone users when it was packaged with the popular Nokia 3310.
Snake and its more recent clones such as Slitherio meet the golden rule of having simple rules and controls which, in turn, produce tense and exciting gameplay. The premise is simple: as you progress through the game, the stakes continue to get higher as the room for manoeuvre lessens.
While this is happening, however, what’s going on in the brain?
From a psychological perspective, reward chemicals like dopamine are being released each time you score. These chemicals give you an addictive boost, and it’s this that keeps players coming back for more.
Dopamine action in the brain works in a similar way on Rovio’s classic Angry Birds. Your brain is wired to want to know - with a sense of urgency, in fact - what will happen when you unleash your bird towards the piggies.
Angry Birds also has another level of addictiveness, in that there’s no clear learning curve in terms of controls. Once you’ve played a single round, you completely understand how the physics of the game work. Despite this, the levels do appear to get trickier as your progress, thanks to some clever and intuitive game design.
Yes, you guessed it - Candy Crush is a smash hit all over the world for the exact same reasons. It belongs to a range of titles known as “match three puzzlers”, as the game is all about connecting three or more objects of the same colour within a constrained play area. This is nothing new, of course - games like Columns on the Sega Mega Drive operate in a similar fashion.
The reason why games like these are so addictive is that they are based on incredibly effective compulsion loops. The sequence of events goes as follows:
1. The user performs an action
2. The user is rewarded
3. A new possibility opens
4. Repeat
You may have also noticed that upon completing a task or level, the user is rewarded with flashing lights and pleasing, encouraging sounds. This is an element borrowed from slot machines, known as “disproportionate feedback”.
Ultimately, gaming traps the brain into a cycle of risk, reward and opportunity, which compels the player to continue. It’s what keeps us coming back to our favourite titles again and again.
So, if you have a few minutes to spare, why don’t you try playing one of the addictive and fun gams available now, on ClickPlay.
