Occasionally I post some social media threads on game design. Some of them are worth saving here. – Max
“How do games intrinsically motivate players to explore” is a favorite #GameDesign topic of mine.
Many of the games that do this achieve it partially by evoking a sense of awe while exploring their worlds.
Let’s talk about how that works in games.
Examples of games that have created this feeling for me:
– Zelda: Breath of the Wild
– Elden Ring
– Shadow of the Colossus
– Chrono Trigger
– Xenoblade Chronicles 1
– Destiny 1: The Taken King
– Mass Effect
What is awe? It’s often used in religious context, but doesn’t have to be.
Awe requires two components (per that paper). The first is a sense of vastness: you need to encounter something larger than yourself, so much larger than what you’re used to that you feel small in comparison.
This can be physical, or metaphorical.
I’ve talked about how powerful moments of recontextualization are for explorative games and stories. What I call “recontextualization” is really similar to what that paper calls “accommodation”.
Twitter Thread: Recontextualization
Ok, so how do we create this sensation in a game?
Rule #1: The most obvious method is to make players perceive things as REALLY big. And then have moments where players step back and realize – shit, that is even bigger than I thought!
Rule #2: “Power Fantasy” and “awe” are incompatible feelings. If you feel powerful, in control, like you have agency over the object of your attention you, you cannot feel awe.
If you see the Grand Canyon and imagine how you could control or exploit it, you’re not feeling awe.
And that’s a hard rule for game designers!
So much of contemporary game design, especially in the west, is about fulfilling power fantasy and giving players a sense of agency. If your every game design decision is about maximizing that feeling of agency, there’s no room for awe.
Rule #3: There must be emotional negative space
The player’s undivided attention has to be on the object of awe at a time where there are no other overpowering emotions. If they are distracted by other things or systems, or if they have intense emotions already, there’s no room.
This has a lot of implications: you need negative space in your pacing. It’s why horror, a genre about _disempowerment_, isn’t as compatible with awe as you might think. It’s why really big bosses often fail to be awe-inspiring, because they’re probably inspiring OTHER feelings.
I’m sure there are plenty of other takeaways I haven’t thought of yet, and I bet there are types of awe that other people experience that I do not.
What games inspire awe for you? What game design choices help or hinder that feeling in our players?