Ever wondered why products like Tinder, Candy Crush and slot machines are so addictive? The answer is in their feedback loop.

2. We can think of the structure of games and apps
as the body of a car.

3. Rubber, plastic, glassComponents Board, pieces

4. Rubber, plastic, glassComponents Board, pieces
Mechanics A turn based
game
Step on the gas to
move forward

5. Rubber, plastic, glassComponents Board, pieces
Mechanics A turn based
game
Step on the gas to
move forward
Kill opponent's
king
Get to placesGoal

6. Today, I’m going to show you what makes this car go.
The car’s engine.

7. It’s called a
core game loop/feedback loop,

8. and like the car’s engine, when it’s out of tune,
the game won’t go very far.

9. However when done right, players will repeat their
actions again and again.

10. They will try to get that
friggin’ bird through the poles
dozens of times,

11. And swipe endlessly to pass a level
in Candy Crush.

12. doriadar@gmail.com
Hi, my name is Dori.
I make games and teach game design.
WWW.DoriAdar.com

13. And this deck is a part of the
Game Design Course for UX’ers.

14. To understand the forces behind repeated actions,
we must go back in time and meet the godfather of
Behaviorism.

15. His name is B.F Skinner
and he’s known for this quote...

16. “Give me a child and I’ll shape
him into anything”
(Yikes)

17. And this box.

18. The operant conditioning box, AKA the Skinner box,
was used to study animal behavior.

19. Skinner proved that rats’ behavior
could be shaped.

20. A stimuli (light or sound) was presented to the rat
in the skinner box.

21. If the rat responded by pressing a lever,
it would get some food as a reward.

22. Soon enough the rat was pressing the lever each time
the stimuli went on.

23. Let me lay it out for you:
Trigger
(light or sound)
Simple act
(push the lever)
Reward!
Repeat

24. Albeit, an interesting thing happened when Skinner
started messing with the rat’s rewards.

25. Instead of giving the rat a fixed dose of food,
he mixed it up.

26. The rat would get a small amount on each pull,
then, every once in a while, a large amount would be dispensed..

27. Every few lever taps:
a special treat!

28. (I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a huge-ass candy,
but you get the idea).

29. That drove the Skinner’s rats crazy, pulling the levers
endlessly long after no treats were given.

30. It turns out that a variable reward is a key factor when
conditioning a rat to perform a repetitive action.

31. And… this does not apply only to rats.

32. Skinner boxes for humans are a
very successful business.

33. The slot machine core game loop is very similar to
what you’ve just seen in the Skinner experiments.

34. Stimuli
The slot machines are shiny, neony.
They look delicious.

35. Simple action
Player pulls the machine’s lever.

36. Anticipation
The reels role and the tension builds.
Is it a jackpot?

37. Variable reward
Sometimes something, other times nothing,
every now and then a huge reward.

38. Trigger
(Deliciously looking
machine)
Simple action
(Pull the trigger)
Anticipation
Variable
reward
(prize money)
The slot machine game loop
Repeat

39. You might think that people are slot machine addicts
because of the potential money prize.

40. I mean, without the $$, what’s the point?

41. You’d be surprised to learn that one of
the most lucrative casual game genre, is slots.

42. Users pour in real money…
and win virtual coins.

44. It is not the money that is addictive,
it’s the loop.

45. Apparently winning virtual money can be
as exciting as the real deal.

46. We are hooked on a
feeling.

47. That’s what we are really after.
Feelings.

48. When designing games and products,
make your users feel rewarded.

49. And make the reward variable
to get them hooked.

50. This is one of the secrets of Tinder,
the mega huge dating app.

51. Each time users log in they see different people
they can possibly date.

52. TINDER IS LIKE A BOX
OF CHOCOLATES
You never know what you’re gonna
get!

53. After logging in, users would find themselves hooked
in a feedback loop that much resembles the slot
machines’ loop:

54. Trigger
(Deliciously looking
machine)
Simple action
(Pull the trigger)
Anticipation
Variable
reward
(prize money)
The slot machine game loop
Repeat
Trigger
(Deliciously looking
people)
Simple action
(Swipe left/right)
Anticipation
Variable
reward
(A match!)
RepeatTinder’s game loop

55. After all, Tinder is a brilliantly executed
slot machine for dating purposes.

56. So many games and services that could fit the basic
Skinner-slot machine’s loop.
Can you think of any?

57. Interested in learning more? Click here to check out
the full game design course!

58. Thank you...
Rotem Tamir for editing this slide
and you, for reading it :)