Precision of Emotion: A New Kind of “Fun” Notes

Precision of Emotion: A New Kind of Fun

  • One theory of fun is that fun is just learning
  • When you’re trying to make a fun educational game, it should be super easy
  • Lesson 1: Kids are smarter than you think
    • Didn’t think they were learning when playing sim-city–wanted more
    • “Fun is learning” is just the beginning
  • Emotion lens
    • Doesn’t individually involve fun
    • Fun is a process emergent out of multiple emotions
  • Sophia: the game learn emotion
    • “Fun is the cognitive mechanical process by which we convert fear into happiness through surprise”
    • Example: the second genome–start by feeling icky then you learn and feel good
  • Sophia games:
    • Portal
    • Journey
    • SimCity
  • Meaningful games: games that connect to the real world vs games that are not (completely closed system)
  • When you design for sophia, you must first identify fear created by the absence of skill then scaffold players into the happiness of mastery
  • When making learning games we know the effect we want to achieve, but it’s hard to find the emotion
    • Make it very precise
  • A lens through which we can view games
  • Story is necessary as people learn through story

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