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The 4 Fun Keys
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CES 2010 Top 15 Trends
~ Nicole Lazzaro

Follow Nicole on Twitter for insights as they happen.

XEODesign Results
A guide to how we help our clients put emotion into play

XEODesign in the News

The Wonder Woman
~ Fast Company Magazine "How The iPhone Accelerometer Game Tilt Taps Into User's Emotions"

Tilt: An Adventure in 1.5 Dimensions Beta 2
~
TiltWorld.com

Play the Original Demo in Safari on Your iPhone
Tilt: a game in 1.5 dimensions

Nicole's 2009 Presentations now up on SlideShare!

"Creating an MSO: Viral Emotions and the Keys to Social Play" ~ Gamasutra review of Nicole's GDC China talk

Hollywood Reporter
Videogames that Watch Back

Gamasutra
Constraint is Design



More
>> Why We Play Games
+ Emotion in Games
+ Game Design Principles

Downloads & Links
+ Why We Play Games:
4 Keys to More Emotion
(pdf)

+ In Italiano
(Italian Translation)

+ Why We Play Games Together: The People Factor (pdf)
+ The People Factor: Diner Dash Case Study (pdf)

+ The Future Salon
+ HP Labs and Fun

The 4 Fun Keys

The 4 Fun Keys
Put Emotion into Play

"Most informative talk at GDC.
Every designer should learn
how to read this language."
-Will Wright, Creator of The Sims
at GDC 2004

Why We Play Games: 4 Keys to More Emotion (download pdf)

New iPhone PX



We used the 4 Fun Keys to design Tilt the first motion controlled game you play on the iPhone. It's a demo for what's coming in the App Store.

Play Tilt Now!

Follow above link on your iPhone/iPod Touch

or

Visit TiltWorld.com for News about Tilt coming soon to the App Store!

Emotion and the Fun of Games
As experts in player experiences we see a huge gap between "market research" and what players most enjoy about play. Players may check "good graphics" on a online survey, but our cross-genre contextual research reveals a more interesting story. We know how games deliver more emotions than frustration, excitement, and fear. The secret is in the gameplay.  

The 4 Fun Keys create games' four most important emotions:
1. Hard Fun: Fiero - in the moment personal triumph over adversity
2. Easy Fun: Curiosity
3. Serious Fun: Relaxation and excitement
4. People Fun: Amusement

These four main reasons why people play games are how best sellers create more emotions for more captivating play. Each key unlocks a different set of play experiences. Because players alternate between them during a single play session best selling games offer at least three of the 4 Fun Keys. Only XEODesign's methods take advantage of the 4 Fun Keys to heighten player emotions.

Nicole Lazzaro, President, of XEODesign,® Inc. has shared the insights and analysis from XEODesign's independent player research with the game development and human-computer interaction communities. Now that knowledge is available to you. Follow Nicole on Twitter for insights as they happen.

First presented at the Game Developers Conference in 2004; Why We Play Games: 4 Keys to More Emotion shares one slice of what we have learned from our independent cross-genre research on gamers. Learn more about Hard Fun, Easy Fun, Serious Fun, and People Fun by contacting us or download the white paper abstract here

The 4 Fun Keys create emotion from interaction in productivity software as well as games. Usability only focuses on minimizing complexity and reducing user frustration. XEODesign's 4 Fun Keys increase user motivation by harnessing the power of play.

Contact  XEODesign: If you would like a copy of the presentation slides and more information about the 4 Fun Keys contact us at info@xeodesign.com or  510.658.8077.



Copyright 2005-2007 XEODesign,Inc.