0:00:00.680,0:00:06.120 So in the 1970s, there was this experiment[br]where a bunch of kids were told to 0:00:06.120,0:00:08.039 draw some pictures. 0:00:08.039,0:00:11.040 But before that, the children were split into[br]groups. 0:00:11.040,0:00:15.000 One group was told that that they would receive[br]a reward at the end, while the second group 0:00:15.000,0:00:17.080 had no reward. 0:00:17.080,0:00:21.410 After the drawings were finished, the researchers[br]continued to watch the kids in their classroom 0:00:21.410,0:00:24.890 for a couple weeks - and the results were[br]pretty interesting. 0:00:24.890,0:00:28.260 And not just "the unanticipated arrival of[br]a goat in the classroom". 0:00:28.260,0:00:29.410 *Goat bleat* 0:00:29.410,0:00:35.600 But I'll come back to that - because I should[br]explain what this has got to do with game design. 0:00:35.610,0:00:38.500 Often in design, we want to motivate players. 0:00:38.500,0:00:43.950 Perhaps motivate them to learn a new mechanic,[br]or encourage them to use a specific feature, 0:00:43.950,0:00:46.420 or just get them to play the game for longer. 0:00:46.420,0:00:50.680 And a popular solution for this is the goal…[br]and reward. 0:00:50.680,0:00:52.750 Do this, get that. 0:00:52.750,0:00:55.690 Like, quests that lead to experience points. 0:00:55.690,0:00:58.370 Challenges that unlock cosmetics. 0:00:58.370,0:01:04.159 And those cheeky Xbox achievements which are[br]both a goal and a reward in one tidy package. 0:01:04.159,0:01:08.840 But I'm here to tell you that goals and rewards[br]don't always work how you want them to. 0:01:08.840,0:01:15.460 And, in fact, in this video I'm going to explain[br]how they can even have the complete, opposite effect… 0:01:19.140,0:01:24.080 When Klei was making the initial prototype[br]for its sandbox survival game Don't Starve, 0:01:24.080,0:01:28.250 they quickly realised that testers had no[br]idea how to play the game - and they instantly 0:01:28.250,0:01:29.470 became stuck. 0:01:29.470,0:01:33.930 So the testers were given a few hints - and[br]once they got over the hump, they were able 0:01:33.930,0:01:37.670 to experiment, explore, and started to have[br]a lot of fun. 0:01:37.670,0:01:43.390 In response, Klei decided to create a series[br]of small, tutorial-like quests to help players 0:01:43.390,0:01:44.390 get started. 0:01:44.390,0:01:46.070 Survive this many nights. 0:01:46.070,0:01:47.180 Find this many items. 0:01:47.180,0:01:48.510 That sort of thing. 0:01:48.510,0:01:49.750 And it worked! 0:01:49.750,0:01:53.340 But only so much as players learned how to[br]play the game. 0:01:53.340,0:01:57.890 Because beyond that, the quests were a complete[br]and utter disaster. 0:01:57.890,0:02:02.740 Klei discovered that players focused exclusively[br]on those quests, and thought of everything 0:02:02.740,0:02:05.159 else as a noisy distraction. 0:02:05.159,0:02:09.969 They optimised their play in really boring[br]ways in order to finish the quest at hand. 0:02:09.969,0:02:13.200 They avoided doing anything risky, because[br]it meant they might fail. 0:02:13.200,0:02:17.150 And then they became completely demotivated[br]the second the quests ran out. 0:02:17.150,0:02:22.299 Klei says "In structuring the game as a series[br]of explicit tasks to be completed, we taught 0:02:22.299,0:02:26.730 the player to depend upon those tasks to create[br]meaning in the game". 0:02:26.730,0:02:32.120 In the end, Klei solved its onboarding problem[br]by tweaking the UI to give players subtle 0:02:32.120,0:02:37.540 hints about how to get started - such as highlighting[br]the most important items you can craft. 0:02:37.540,0:02:42.989 But the quests were left on the cutting room[br]floor - leaving players to learn for themselves. 0:02:42.989,0:02:48.409 Because if a game is about experimentation,[br]exploration, or player-guided discovery - explicit 0:02:48.409,0:02:52.459 goals can limit a player's creativity and[br]imagination. 0:02:52.459,0:02:54.760 Even after the goals run out. 0:02:54.760,0:02:59.859 This is exactly what drove the development[br]of the cosmic archeology game Outer Wilds. 0:02:59.859,0:03:04.309 The developers deliberately avoided giving[br]players explicit goals about where to go, 0:03:04.309,0:03:08.249 or even what you're trying to achieve - so[br]that players are driven to explore this miniature 0:03:08.249,0:03:11.699 solar system through a sense of curiosity[br]alone. 0:03:11.699,0:03:14.180 Okay, here's another story. 0:03:14.180,0:03:19.670 Zach Barth makes problem-solving puzzle games[br]about designing your own automated machines, 0:03:19.670,0:03:22.360 like Exapunks and Shenzen I/O. 0:03:22.360,0:03:27.430 In these games, you can make the machines[br]however you like - if it works, it works. 0:03:27.430,0:03:31.909 But it's actually really fun to go back in,[br]and see if you can refine your creation to 0:03:31.909,0:03:34.749 make it, say, smaller or faster. 0:03:34.749,0:03:41.059 So in Zach's first two commercial games, Spacechem[br]and Infinifactory, he added a few Steam achievements 0:03:41.059,0:03:45.919 that encourage this sort of optimisation - like[br]the Spacechem achievement "Beat the assignment 0:03:45.919,0:03:49.260 "No Thanks Necessary" in under 2200 cycles." 0:03:49.260,0:03:54.680 But, in all the games released after that[br]- those achievements are completely gone. 0:03:54.680,0:03:55.869 What's up with that? 0:03:55.869,0:04:00.010 ZACH: "We wanted to add achievements because[br]that was back when achievements were cool. 0:04:00.010,0:04:01.409 That was back before I thought achievements[br]were awful." 0:04:01.409,0:04:04.389 ZACH: "The thing i don't like about them is[br]that the game already has a reward system. 0:04:04.389,0:04:08.609 We have something that's far more meaningful[br]and far less arbitrary than a random threshold." 0:04:08.609,0:04:14.480 What Zach's talking about is a bounty of metrics[br]that you can use to gauge how well you've done. 0:04:14.480,0:04:16.400 There's your own personal score. 0:04:16.400,0:04:18.609 There's leaderboards that compare you to your[br]Steam friends. 0:04:18.609,0:04:24.000 And there are these brilliant histograms that[br]show you how your solution stacks up in comparison 0:04:24.000,0:04:25.789 to every other player. 0:04:25.789,0:04:30.199 All of these - the strive to beat your personal[br]best, or the drive to do better than other 0:04:30.199,0:04:33.360 players - are extremely strong motivators[br]to do better. 0:04:33.360,0:04:38.460 As Zach says: "a goal that you set yourself[br]is way more powerful than a goal someone else 0:04:38.460,0:04:40.090 sets for you". 0:04:40.090,0:04:45.320 So if a game is about improving yourself,[br]a personal or social goal can be a stronger 0:04:45.320,0:04:48.509 motivator than a set threshold. 0:04:48.509,0:04:53.090 My final story comes from the adorable track-laying[br]puzzle game Mini Metro. 0:04:53.090,0:04:57.000 The game's developers wanted to focus on personal[br]growth and high scores. 0:04:57.000,0:05:02.180 And so - according to UI designer Jamie Churchman[br]- the team specifically tried to avoid these 0:05:02.180,0:05:06.720 goal and reward meta structures as they can[br]become a "means to an end". 0:05:06.720,0:05:10.860 For example, the game does have unlockable[br]cities - which is just to limit player choice 0:05:10.860,0:05:12.520 at the beginning of the game. 0:05:12.520,0:05:17.341 But Jamie acknowledges that some people will[br]play each city until the threshold, unlock 0:05:17.341,0:05:21.430 the next one, and when they've unlocked all[br]the cities they feel like they've finished 0:05:21.430,0:05:23.530 the game and can stop playing. 0:05:23.530,0:05:27.539 We should remember that goals are a checklist[br]that can be completed. 0:05:27.539,0:05:32.010 And like with Don't Starve, some players will[br]exclusively rely on the game to give them 0:05:32.010,0:05:33.919 purpose and direction. 0:05:33.919,0:05:39.400 But measurements of your skill - such as leaderboards[br]and scoring systems, have no finish: you can 0:05:39.400,0:05:43.960 continue to improve on your personal best[br]forever - which partly explains why we can 0:05:43.960,0:05:48.280 still play Tetris after three decades. 0:05:48.280,0:05:53.080 To truly understand what's happening here,[br]we need to take a quick detour into the world 0:05:53.080,0:05:55.110 of behavioural psychology. 0:05:55.110,0:06:00.229 When thinking about motivation, one of the[br]most popular models is the idea of extrinsic 0:06:00.229,0:06:02.259 and intrinsic motivation. 0:06:02.259,0:06:06.759 To make it simple, extrinsic motivation is[br]when we are doing a task for reasons beyond 0:06:06.759,0:06:09.960 the task itself - usually in order to receive[br]a reward. 0:06:09.960,0:06:12.930 Or, as that's better known: a job. 0:06:12.930,0:06:17.360 On the other hand, intrinsic motivation is[br]when we do a task for its own sake, simply 0:06:17.360,0:06:19.800 because we find it enjoyable or meaningful. 0:06:19.800,0:06:22.970 Or, as that's better known: a hobby. 0:06:22.970,0:06:27.009 Intrinsic motivation is shown to be far stronger[br]- and it lasts longer too. 0:06:27.009,0:06:29.780 People can enjoy a hobby for a lifetime. 0:06:29.780,0:06:33.300 Extrinsic motivation will only last as long[br]as the rewards are there. 0:06:33.300,0:06:37.340 Just see if someone will still work in your[br]factory after you stop paying them. 0:06:37.340,0:06:40.159 And this bring us back to that classroom from[br]earlier. 0:06:40.159,0:06:44.430 Okay, so the point of the study was that the[br]kids had already shown interest in drawing 0:06:44.430,0:06:45.600 before the study began. 0:06:45.600,0:06:47.980 They were intrinsically motivated. 0:06:47.980,0:06:52.020 Then, they were asked to make a picture - and,[br]like I said, one group was promised a reward, 0:06:52.020,0:06:53.690 and the second group wasn't. 0:06:53.690,0:06:58.319 Afterwards, the researchers continued to watch[br]the kids in their classroom for a couple weeks 0:06:58.319,0:07:01.279 and found that the children who received a[br]reward for their drawing? 0:07:01.279,0:07:05.120 Well, they showed much less interest in drawing[br]afterwards. 0:07:05.120,0:07:07.449 And their pictures were of a lower quality[br]too. 0:07:07.449,0:07:11.210 Which is - wow, way to burn a bunch of kids,[br]science. 0:07:11.210,0:07:13.599 This is called the overjustification effect. 0:07:13.599,0:07:18.099 And there's a huge body of evidence that says[br]when extrinsic motivation is attached to a 0:07:18.099,0:07:23.490 task that we already find intrinsically motivating,[br]we suddenly become way less interested in 0:07:23.490,0:07:24.490 the task. 0:07:24.490,0:07:29.669 And other studies show rewards also make people[br]less creative, worse at problem solving, more 0:07:29.669,0:07:35.710 prone to cheating, and may lose motivation[br]entirely once the rewards stop - even though 0:07:35.710,0:07:37.879 previously they were happy to do it for its[br]own sake! 0:07:37.879,0:07:38.879 Whoops! 0:07:38.879,0:07:42.349 And I think we can apply this idea to game[br]design. 0:07:42.349,0:07:46.729 Because there are certainly games that lean[br]more towards intrinsic motivation. 0:07:46.729,0:07:52.039 Like games that focus on exploration, creativity,[br]expression, and growth. 0:07:52.039,0:07:55.999 There are games where you set your own goals[br]and expect no rewards in return. 0:07:55.999,0:08:00.680 And so when more extrinsically motivating[br]systems - like explicit goals, progression 0:08:00.680,0:08:05.610 meters, and achievements - are added to these[br]games, our motivation can take a hit. 0:08:05.610,0:08:07.689 We become blinkered to creative solutions. 0:08:07.689,0:08:10.069 We're less motivated to improve ourselves. 0:08:10.069,0:08:13.180 We put an arbitrary threshold on how much[br]we attain. 0:08:13.180,0:08:17.789 And developers now need to create a constant[br]drip feed of new goals and rewards, or risk 0:08:17.789,0:08:20.120 losing us entirely. 0:08:20.120,0:08:24.289 Of course, that's not to say that developers[br]should never add goals and rewards to these 0:08:24.289,0:08:26.550 more intrinsically motivating games. 0:08:26.550,0:08:31.509 Because, I think it's clear that some people[br]just aren't very good or interested in motivating 0:08:31.509,0:08:32.509 themselves. 0:08:32.509,0:08:36.320 For every Minecraft super fan who generates[br]their own fun, there's someone else who is 0:08:36.320,0:08:38.620 simply lost and without direction. 0:08:38.620,0:08:41.870 It reminds me of my all-time favourite Steam[br]forum post. 0:08:41.870,0:08:46.579 In a thread about the open-ended whodunnit[br]Her Story, one user said "It's up to you to 0:08:46.579,0:08:49.880 decide when you are satisfied with the information[br]you have found". 0:08:49.880,0:08:54.949 To which the thread's author replied, "how[br]do I decide when I am satisfied?". 0:08:54.949,0:08:57.130 That post keeps me up at night. 0:08:57.130,0:09:02.540 Anyway - the nice thing about goals and rewards[br]is that they can provide structure and progression 0:09:02.540,0:09:03.540 to play. 0:09:03.540,0:09:07.220 So they can still be used, they just have[br]to be applied carefully. 0:09:07.220,0:09:12.420 For example, with goals - it's better to use[br]large, overarching goals that players can 0:09:12.420,0:09:17.510 complete however they want, rather than restrictive[br]step-by-step instructions. 0:09:17.510,0:09:22.950 You can focus on comparative metrics, like[br]leaderboards, histograms, and personal bests, 0:09:22.950,0:09:25.220 rather than absolute thresholds. 0:09:25.220,0:09:30.949 Make goals optional, like Hitman's challenges,[br]or hidden, like Outer Wilds' achievements. 0:09:30.949,0:09:36.139 And in terms of rewards - well, actually there[br]is one type of reward that has been shown 0:09:36.139,0:09:39.110 to not trigger the overjustification effect. 0:09:39.110,0:09:43.660 Because, in that study with the children - there[br]was actually a third group: children that 0:09:43.660,0:09:49.140 were simply told to go off and draw - but[br]then were given a reward at the end, as a surprise. 0:09:49.140,0:09:53.079 In the following weeks, these children spent[br]the largest amount of time drawing… of all 0:09:53.079,0:09:56.980 - if only by a small margin beyond the kids[br]without rewards. 0:09:56.980,0:10:01.360 This, and plenty of other studies, show that[br]rewards can have a motivational effect in 0:10:01.360,0:10:06.509 intrinsic situations - provided that they're[br]unexpected, reasonably low value, and feel 0:10:06.509,0:10:09.350 tied to the actual performance of the action. 0:10:09.350,0:10:13.900 An example of this in games might be Overwatch's[br]Play of the Game, which is a short highlight 0:10:13.900,0:10:16.690 reel showcasing the best moment in the match. 0:10:16.690,0:10:21.250 It doesn't really do anything, but it's a[br]huge boost to the ego of the player who gets 0:10:21.250,0:10:22.740 the starring role. 0:10:22.740,0:10:26.440 And this is all over Nintendo's latest blockbusters. 0:10:26.440,0:10:31.160 In Odyssey, there's nothing telling you to[br]clamber up here with Mario's advanced move-set: 0:10:31.160,0:10:34.380 but here's a cheeky cache of coins as a pat[br]on the back. 0:10:34.380,0:10:40.259 And in Breath of the Wild, every suspicious[br]nook could be a reward, like a Korok seed. 0:10:40.259,0:10:45.050 As Nintendo's Bill Trinen says: "When they[br]create their games, [Nintendo's designers] 0:10:45.050,0:10:49.420 don't tell you how to play their game in order[br]to achieve some kind of mythical reward. 0:10:49.420,0:10:53.600 There are things you can do in the game that[br]will result in some sort of reward or unexpected 0:10:53.600,0:10:54.600 surprise. 0:10:54.600,0:10:59.550 In my mind, that really encourages the sense[br]of exploration rather than the sense of 'If 0:10:59.550,0:11:06.230 I do that, I'm going to get some sort of artificial[br]point or score'." 0:11:06.230,0:11:09.000 Hey, thanks for watching! 0:11:09.000,0:11:14.529 Just wanted to let you know that GMTK videos[br]will now be ad free - so a big thanks to all 0:11:14.529,0:11:18.720 of my Patrons for supporting this work and[br]making these videos possible. 0:11:18.720,0:11:20.839 You are amazing.