Research 2: The Four Fun Keys
Another important part of Chapter 1 in Beyond Game Design that I came across was the four fun keys. The importance of these keys warrants a separate post from the main research:
Hard Fun
What it is: players are rewarded for overcoming a difficult challenge in the form of ‘fiero’ (overcoming adversity). Hard fun is goal-oriented and requires mastery and strategy in order to succeed.
How it applies to Tech Up: The tech tree will expand as the player progresses, which means the player has more resources to manage. This will require the player to develop strategies to manage their resources to be able to reach the end of each age. Balancing resources will require progressive mastery as the player advances through the ages.
Easy Fun
What it is: players are encouraged to exercise their imagination. Exploration and creativity are encouraged through play.
How it applies to Tech Up: Easy fun has minimal application here, since the game will focus on crunching numbers and put the player in stressful situations. However, multiple branches will be offered in each age with multiple endings to reach, allowing the player to choose how they want the game to progress. This allows a certain level of freedom and exploration as they progress through the ages.
Serious Fun
What it is: players create something of perceived value, which can include setting up the most efficient strategy or maintaining balance and order in a system. This comes across in the form of rhythm and similar techniques, where the player can zone out and enjoy the game.
How it applies to Tech Up: This will be the most important of the fun keys in its application to Tech Up. The core gameplay falls down to maintaining balance while advancing through the skill tree as soon as players have developed strategies to manage resources. The serious fun will come from holding the player in a balancing act, meaning we have to conduct a lot of user testing to ensure everything balances perfectly.
People Fun
What it is: rewarding people for social interactions through competitive and cooperative play.
How it applies to Tech Up: It doesn’t really! Tech Up is planned to be a single player game.