What is Addictive about Games? (part 2)

The first question to ask is what does a game fulfill for someone? It isn't just about entertainment, though entertainment is definitely a necessary component. Games must provide players with a sense of accomplishment or progress in some form or another. How often have you heard a non-gamer look at the activity and ask, “What's the point?” Or, as my wife puts it bluntly, “Why is this fun?” The answer seems weak to non-gamers, but in truth, it is the accomplishment of goals, whether these goals within the game have been set personally, or if they have been set through the game design itself. The goals are often presented as recognition of the gamers skill (through points, new equipment, skills unlocked, new areas in the game opened, etc.) but there should be something earned. Seeing results in real life often requires weeks, months, or even years of patience, and sometimes we work at our jobs without any goals beyond making a living. Yet games can provide results with far less time investment, thus making the player feel as if he at least accomplished something by the end of the day. Gaming can serve as a healthy way to move through the dull times in life where some goals are too distant to appreciate. Gaming “addiction” can be healthy, as long as gaming doesn't supplant the pursuit of goals in the real world, where more substantial and meaningful results can be earned!