Rewards are seen a stimulation for humans, we strive to reach them, and this is a technique which game designers use to keep you playing their games. They put small short-term rewards around most corners of a game to ensure you do not lose interest in them, and have bigger long-term rewards for when you complete large section of the game or even the whole thing. This is backed up by Robertson (2006) who remarked that “games continually reward players during the game as they overcome challenges”. A good example of this would be on Goldeneye, where the short term rewards were power-ups and gun upgrades, and the long term rewards were cheats that could be used in the multiplayer arena once you had completed the game with certain characters. Hallford and Hallford (2002) believed there were four main types of reward. The first, the reward of glory, would be well illustrated in a game like Tetris, where a player seeks reward for having a large score. The second is the reward of sustenance, which would help develop your character. For example, in Doom you get given armour as you progress, which increases your life in the game. The third reward is the reward of access, where the reward is the opening of a new arena. A good example of this would be Mario on the Gameboy, because as you complete parts of the game new areas are unlocked so that the story can continue. The final reward type is the rewards of facility, which is very apparent in the game Age of Empires. The reward of facility in this game is technology. At the beginning you are very primitive in what you can make (eg. a gatherer), however as you are rewarded throughout the game with technology, you are able to create and fight with very advanced men and boats.
I will now attempt to analyse one specific game in relation to the pleasure of satisfying rewards using Hallford and Hallford’s (2002) theories as games often contain all four elements. The game in question is Runescape. It can reward a player through glory, as your score in each skill (like woodcutting) is added to an overall leader board everytime you log out, meaning you go up ranks for your increased level of experience. The reward of sustenance is present as start off the game with bronze armour, and as you get better you can pick up better items like rune armour to increase the performance of your character. The glory of access is also incorporated into the game, as you pick up keys to get into locked and secret buildings, and finally, the reward of facility is also present because as you increase in your skills (like strength) you learn new technology enabling you to use better equipment (like at level 40 you can wield a rune sword).
Bibliography
Robertson, S. (2006) Game Design Theory, Part I . [Online]. Retrieved on 2nd March 2007 from: http://www.designmeme.com/2006/11/08/game-design-theory-part-i/
