Games & Virtual Worlds Series
Gamer Dedication
Understanding Games: How Video Games & Board Games Work
Historically, the video game business made a clear cut between “hardcore” players who devoted a lot of time and energy to a game and “casual” players who played occasionally. The emergence of social network–based games has shown that the line between these two groups of gamers is sharp but blurry, plottable along a continuum we call “gamer dedication.” There are numerous ways that gamers’ commitment can be evaluated.
Barry Ip and Ernest Adams postulated 15 observable traits shared by serious gamers:
Technologically savvy. The most dedicated players are the first to learn about new games and innovations in the gaming industry.
Have the latest high-end gear. Serious gamers often upgrade their consoles, computers, and mobile devices to the newest models available. There’s a greater chance that they have, or did have, access to a wide range of retro gaming systems.
Willingness to pay. Spending on games and gaming accessories is more likely among this group. Casual gamers, on the other hand, are more likely to wait for sales and promotions before making a buy.
Prefer violent/action games. Kim conjectured that serious gamers favor games with a lot of blood and explosions.
Prefer games that have depth and complexity. Consistent players, regardless of genre, favor games that are more difficult to learn and master.
Play games over many long sessions. Players who are truly invested are more likely to spend many hours at a time immersed in a single session.
Hunger for gaming-related information. An avid gamer will scour the web, game magazines, and strategy manuals for any and all knowledge they can get their hands on about video games.
Discuss games with friends online. Serious players enjoy chatting with other gamers and frequenting online communities devoted to their favorite games.
Play for the exhilaration of defeating (or completing) the game. Passionate gamers play repeatedly for the sake of entertainment and the thrill of winning, and they are more inclined to overlook defects in production value like mediocre acting or a simplistic story.
Much more tolerant of frustration. Extreme gamers have a far higher tolerance for games that challenge them or that may frustrate them. Gamers who play games only occasionally are more prone to give up on them.
Engaged in competition with themselves, the game, and other players. These gamers seek the thrill and challenge of competing against human and/or computer-controlled opponents in order to receive the satisfaction and reward of victory. By contrast, casual players aren’t as likely to put in the time and effort required to learn every possible Street Fighter combo or Gran Turismo trick in order to shave off fractions of a second from their lap timings.
Age at which they first started playing games. Those who have been avid gamers for a long time, especially those who began playing at a young age, are likely to have more expertise and knowledge than those who are newer to the hobby. Gamers who join the community later in life tend to be less committed.
Comparative knowledge of the industry. There is a correlation between the level of expertise and interest a gamer displays in the industry, the prevalence of new technology in the gaming world, and the amount of time spent playing video games. Casual gamers might know what games are coming out and what critics think of them, but they probably don’t know anything about layoffs or mergers in the gaming industry.
Early adoption. Only the most committed players bother with midnight releases or go to great lengths to acquire games before their official release dates via gray-market imports.
Desire to modify or extend games in a creative way. The most dedicated gamers often make a range of mods to commercial games. Anything from changing a character’s appearance with a new skin to creating “aim-bots,” standalone bits of software that interact with an existing game to offer the player an unfair advantage, falls under this category. Most casual players don’t bother with such tweaks, preferring to jump right into the game without any preparation.
“Hardcore vs Casual” Gamers
There is some debate as to whether the traditional concepts of hardcore and casual gamers are still valid, however these continue to be terms widely used in industry and the media so it is worth adding some nuance to these categories.
Newzoo, a game industry statistics firm, has (in 2019) produced a set of gamer personas that aim to get beyond this simple binary:
The Ultimate Gamer (13%) — You love nothing more than spending all your money and free time on games.
The All-Around Enthusiast (9%) — You live a balanced gaming life in your playing, viewing, and buying habits.
The Cloud Gamer (19%) — You’re most likely an early adopter of game streaming services and will only spend money on hardware when necessary.
The Conventional Player (4%) — You own tons of gaming hardware and would rather spend your time playing games than watching other people play games.
The Hardware Enthusiast (9%) — You keep up with all the latest hardware trends and probably have a $5,000 extreme-build rig with RGB lighting everywhere.
The Popcorn Gamer (13%) — You don’t play games all that much, but you like watching others play.
The Backseat Viewer (6%) — You used to game a lot, but you got older and life happened, so you get your kicks from watching esports and people play other games.
The Time Filler (27%) — You play games to pass the time, when you have time, and you rarely touch a PC game.
The categories of hardcore and casual, in this persona model, actually cut across different group categories, depending on how one interprets those traditional gamer descriptors.
Further Reading & Exploring
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01731/full
The emergence of social network-based games has blurred the line between these two groups of gamers.
https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/gamers-report-2022/
Serious gamers are more likely to spend money on games and gaming accessories.
https://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=2168935&seqNum=3
Serious gamers have a hunger for gaming-related information and enjoy discussing games with friends online.
https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/psp784772.pdf
Serious gamers have a higher tolerance for frustration and are more engaged in competition with themselves, the game, and other players.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563221004532
There is a correlation between the level of expertise and interest a gamer displays in the industry, the prevalence of new technology in the gaming world, and the amount of time spent playing video games.
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Actions, Events, Choices, Time & Turn Taking
Ethics, Morality, Violence & Realism
Overview of Video Game Systems
Non-Core Mechanics: Progression
Non-Core Mechanics: Social Interactions
Common Digital Gaming Platforms
Bibliography & Further Reading
- A Game Design Vocabulary: Exploring the Foundational Principles Behind Good Game Design by Anna Anthropy and Naomi Clark
- A Theory of Fun for Game Design by Raph Koster
- Advanced Game Design: A Systems Approach by Michael Sellers
- An Introduction to Game Studies by Frans Mayra
- Basics of Game Design by Michael Moore
- Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made by Jason Schreier
- Board Game Design Advice: From the Best in the World vol 1 by Gabe Barrett
- Building Blocks of Tabletop Game Design: an Encyclopedia Of Mechanisms by Geoffrey Engelstein and Isaac Shalev
- Character Development and Storytelling for Games by Lee Sheldon
- Chris Crawford on Game Design by Chris Crawford
- Clockwork Game Design by Keith Burgun
- Elements of Game Design by Robert Zubek
- Fundamentals of Game Design by Ernest Adams
- Fundamentals of Puzzle and Casual Game Design by Ernest Adams
- Game Design Foundations by Brenda Romero
- Game Design Workshop by Tracy Fullerton
- Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design by Ernest Adams and Joris Dormans
- Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames edited by Chris Bateman
- Games, Design and Play: A detailed approach to iterative game design by Colleen Macklin and John Sharp
- Introduction to Game Systems Design by Dax Gazaway
- Kobold Guide to Board Game Design by Mike Selinker, David Howell, et al
- Kobold’s Guide to Worldbuilding edited by Janna Silverstein
- Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design, 2nd Edition by Scott Rogers
- Narrating Space / Spatializing Narrative: Where Narrative Theory and Geography Meet by Marie-Laure Ryan, Kenneth Foote, et al.
- Narrative Theory: A Critical Introduction by Kent Puckett
- Narrative Theory: Core Concepts and Critical Debates by David Herman, James Phelan, et al.
- Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative, Fourth Edition by Mieke Bal
- Practical Game Design by Adam Kramarzewski and Ennio De Nucci
- Procedural Storytelling in Game Design by Tanya X. Short and Tarn Adams
- Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing by Wendy Despain
- Rules of Play by Salen and Zimmerman
- Storyworlds Across Media: Toward a Media-Conscious Narratology (Frontiers of Narrative) by Marie-Laure Ryan, Jan-Noël Thon, et al
- Tabletop Game Design for Video Game Designers by Ethan Ham
- The Art of Game Design, 3rd Edition by Jesse Schell
- The Board Game Designer’s Guide: The Easy 4 Step Process to Create Amazing Games That People Can’t Stop Playing by Joe Slack
- The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative by H. Porter Abbott
- The Grasshopper, by Bernard Suits
- The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies by Bernard Perron and Mark J.P. Wolf
- The Routledge Encyclopedia of Narrative Theory by David Herman
- The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design by Flint Dille & John Zuur Platten
- Unboxed: Board Game Experience and Design by Gordon Calleja
- Video Game Storytelling: What Every Developer Needs to Know about Narrative Techniques by Evan Skolnick
- Writing for Video Game Genres: From FPS to RPG edited by Wendy Despain
- Writing for Video Games by Steve Ince
- 100 Principles of Game Design by DESPAIN
