Game Design and Gamer Psychology

Abstract

Gaming is often criticized as being a mindless addiction, but playing a computer game is not a mindless act. Games require complex and different talents such as focusing on a virtual world, thinking as a different person, making strategies, planning, and most importantly interacting with the virtual. Players become the hero of a computer game, try to act, think, and react like him/her. Players have a complicated psychology and to understand computer games, first we need to understand the psychological components specific for this communication medium. It is also important to understand what is fun, what motivates or entertains the player. It is impossible to design a game that pleases the player without understanding the gamer psychology. In this regard, we selected The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt game for analyzing gamer psychology under five sections: Realism/Believability, Complexity/Playability, Satisfaction/Fun, Presence/Immersion, and Freedom/Choice.