Defining "experience"

In many posts on this site, I deal with the subject "user experience" in games. However, I have said little about the term "experience" per se. And I believe that a brief discussion about this topic is essential to expand possibilities in the gaming field.



Different words, terms, expressions, and ideas are so common in our daily lives that we rarely stop to pay attention to their meanings; “experience” is one of them. Much because we live in a world in which this word is used in excess, we end up not paying attention to what it means. Today, we talk about "gastronomic experiences", "entertainment experiences", "educational experiences" etc. We can find "experience" everywhere.

However, if we have a dictionary in hand, we will find that the word “experience” is related to two great fields: the scientific and the philosophical. In the scientific field, “experience” is a term directly correlated with an experiment to prove a hypothesis. We have – for example – experiments in laboratories to scientifically prove something that arose from an empirical hypothesis. In this sense, “experience” derives from the Latin “experientia”, which is the action and effect of experimenting with the aim of discovering or proving certain phenomena.

But the word “experience” analyzed under a philosophical bias has a slightly different meaning. This meaning defined by the Oxford dictionary says, “any knowledge obtained through the senses”. In the game design field, we discuss both definitions, as they are good points for us (game designers) to architect memorable experiences for game users through experiments with prototypes, wireframes, beta versions and so on.

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Understanding "game mechanic" and "gameplay" in a fascinating image

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PINBALL: THE MAN WHO SAVED THE GAME - Official Trailer

Looking forward to this movie!



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The joy of making combos in games

It’s a fact: one of the most pleasurable feelings one can experience playing games is to combine cards, movements, powers, equipment, making a perfect combo (whether in board/card games or digital ones).



When you can make a combination (or combo) using the right elements to win the game, or just to earn many points on a single turn, you will probably have the feeling McGonigal discusses in her book "The reality is broken" (2011): a fiero feeling. According to the author, fiero is what we feel after we triumph over adversity. You know it when you feel it – and when you see it. That’s because most of us express fiero in the exact same way: we throw our arms over our heads and yell.

Combos are one of the biggest actions that can cause fiero in a player. I myself have experienced this incredible feeling throughout my "ludic life". I have vivid memories of perfect rolls in a D20 in Dungeons & Dragons RPG, great sequences of cards in Magic: The Gathering, the right pressing commands in Mortal Kombat, and many other games.

Recently, I've been experiencing this fiero sensation a lot with the MARVEL SNAP game. Marvel's digital card game won the prize of mobile game of the year in 2022 and it's a good example of this discussion. The game is very fast, with 3 minute matches that use only twelve cards. You must study the best synergy for your deck and play trying to find the best way to reach good combos and destroy the opponent's strategy. In the video below I'm sharing two matches against two different players using a combination of She-Hulk, Absorbing Man and Moongirl cards to multiply the cards' effectiveness.



And you? In what kind of game do you experience the feeling of fiero? What kind of combo makes you happy?

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Reference:

McGONIGAL, Jane. The reality is broken. London: The Penguin Press, 2011

I wish a 2023 full of prototypes, wireframes, beta test sessions, and published games!

In the video below, I'm sharing - in a time-lapsed video - my last prototypes and gaming wireframes:



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The delicate relationship between user interface and user experience

The interface (or user interface) is a space for the user experience to happen. Visually - paraphrasing UX designer Jennifer Aldritch (@jma245) we have a user/player on one side and a game (digital or analogue) with an interface on the other. When that user interacts with the interface, they have a user experience – which, of course, we will strive to make outstanding, good, memorable, and engaging.



Perhaps, your game's interface will be radically different from what was initially imagined in sketches or wireframes. The various iterations of a given project can reconfigure it into something entirely different. The important thing is that the dialogue process with your audience comes first.

The game Angry Birds, for instance, is a blockbuster mainly because a large part of humanity knows how to use a slingshot and already has prior knowledge of how to use the touch feature on a screen – there is perfect communication with the public that seeks a fast casual experience.

The character creation interface from Elden Ring's game may, perhaps, scare someone looking for a casual experience, but it is quite suitable for the audience that seeks to venture into Souls-like games.

Knowing your audience to create a better experience, that's the mantra for thinking UX in games (or any other area).

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The man who’s designed over 700 board games: Meet Reiner Knizia

When the master speaks, the disciples listen. =)



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