Autonomy, Choice, and Freedom in Video Games
“Giving players autonomy (choice and freedom) helps involve them emotionally…”
In a variety of ways, video games can be compared to a type of art. A song or music album can have a variety of different meanings to different people for example. The same with interpretations of paintings. When I think about freedom in video games, what immediately comes to mind are the various times my friends and I have played through the same games, starting at the same time, yet end up having vastly different experiences. You’ll often find this in open-world or non-linear games, such as Zelda or The Witcher. Such is the hallmark of (what I believe to be) high quality design, because the freedom of choice designers give players in these games allows them to connect to the game in their own way, bringing about a variety of emotional experiences.
A prominent motivational theory developed by psychologists Richard Ryan and Edward Deci, self-determination theory or SDT (Ryan & Deci, 2000), states that autonomy is one of three innate psychological needs (along with competence and relatedness) that facilitate intrinsic motivation and engagement. In other words, giving players autonomy is one aspect of game design that can be used to encourage players to engage emotionally in the experience, and motivate them to continue playing. This post highlights several ways in which some of the most popular video games in recent years have utilized freedom and choice to promote a myriad of feelings, some of which include empowerment, suspense, control, and exploration.
Exhibit A - Player Choice
In the ending scene of Ghost Tsushima (Sucker Punch, 2020) the player is given the choice between killing his uncle or sparing him.
Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima (2020) is a wonderful example. After losing everything he holds dear to Mongol empire leader Khotun Khan, the main character (Jin) spends the entire game forsaking the values of samurai swordsmen after finding his own way to overcome Khan and his army. This puts him in a conflict with his uncle, who stubbornly clings steadfast to the samurai values of warfare. The player is pit against Jin’s uncle in the final battle, and after winning, the player is given the choice to spare his uncle (Jin’s way), or killing his uncle (samurai way).
This tense moment creates an emotional response in players, not only because you are given the choice of how the game ends, but because you have in a way “become” Jin throughout your playthrough of the game. This choice you make here is almost like a representation of your values. This scene can evoke a range of emotions — sadness, happiness, anxiety, frustration, and excitement are a few that come to mind.
This is only one example out of many of how video games can go well beyond just “child’s play”. At their core, video games are emotional experiences. In fact, a large number of players were heavily discussing this scene on Gamefaqs. You’ll find that many of the posts are emblematic of how gamers develop an emotional connection to the experience. Sparing or killing your uncle results in the player getting a new costume (red or white respectively) depending on the choice.
Exhibit B - Freedom & Exploration
Other ways designers choose to implement autonomy is by giving players the freedom to explore the game world or environment. In this category are several examples. In Insomniac (2018)’s Spider-Man for PS4, players can go sightseeing via web-slinging all throughout various locales in New York City. Exploring game environments in this manner can give a player a sense of how big the game world is (which are often enormous given the budgets of AAA games like Spider-Man), and invite a sense of curiosity or discovery about what else lies in it and what secrets there might be to uncover.
Sometimes players just want to explore with no goals in mind, and simply use this aspect of freedom as a form of escapism. Gravity Rush’s (Japan Studio Team Gravity, 2012) main character (Kat) has the ability to control gravity and fly all throughout the game world. Controlling gravity is a core mechanic in Gravity Rush and one that players can use to lose themselves in the cities that make up the game world.
Exhibit C — Empowered
Games like Dragon’s Quest XI (Square Enix, 2018) give players autonomy in how they choose to power up each member of their team.
After each character gains enough experience points, they level up and gain skill points (pictured above). Each character has their own “skill tree” in which players can then expend these skill points how they see fit to further strengthen their characters. In the photo below, you’ll see that the main character can become proficient using swords, greatswords, general swordmastery, and hero powers (“luminary”). Players are given the autonomy to build their characters however they like. What this means is that the game invites a variety of different playstyles. In the case of Dragon’s Quest XI, you and I might have invested our skill points differently, meaning our characters will have different strengths and weaknesses, which could lead to a drastically different game experience. Because of the different choices we can make, we might find that certain parts of the game in the game might have been challenging for me, but turned out to be easy for you.
There are several other games like this (that span across other genres as well), that give players the freedom to play the game how they would like. We don’t see this much in educational games, but there are some educational math games that offer players autonomy by (a) offering more than one way to solve its puzzles (or what I call “multiple solution paths”), (b) offering players freedom in how they choose to approach puzzles, and (c) giving players the freedom to choose the puzzles they want.
Exhibit D - Multiple Solution Paths in Educational Math Games
Kahoot! Algebra by DragonBox (KahootWantToKnow AS)
In Kahoot! Algebra by DragonBox (Kahoot! AS, 2020), most of the puzzles are linear. However, some of the puzzles in the game (like the one shown in this video) can be solved in fewer than the recommended number of moves. The video above shows that the puzzle can be solved in 15 moves instead of the suggested 16. This can inspire a feeling of confidence or competence within a player (another aspect of SDT). Offering players the ability to solve puzzles in more than one way (providing multiple solution paths) is one way in which educational math games can instill a sense of freedom or choice in the game.
Exhibit E - Solve it Your Way
Arithmagic (Gooble Games)
Arithmagic (Gooble Games, 2018) is a more recent game on the app store that is essentially a tower defense math game that is similar to The Counting Kingdom (Little Worlds Interactive, 2014) minus the towers. In Arithmagic, your job is to drag and drop spells (number cards from your deck — known in game as the “spellbook”) onto each other to combine/add them, and then drag these sums onto the monsters to make their target number of each monster equal 0. For example, if the target number of a monster is 11, you want to combine your spells to reach a total of -11 and then drag it onto the monster (or, keep dragging cards onto the monster until the sum of the target number and the cards you’ve dragged onto it equal 0). See the short video above for more detail. At the end of each level, depending on your performance, you earn currency that you can use to upgrade your total health points and other upgrades.
However, what’s special about this game is the deck (“spellbook”) that player’s cards come from. Players have a deck that they use that determines what cards they’re able to choose from during each level. At later levels, you get operation cards (i.e. division, multiplication) as the sums become higher. Being able to edit your deck to increase/decrease the probability and frequency of getting certain cards adds a layer of strategy to this game, and gives players freedom in how they choose to approach each puzzle. Perhaps you’ll find that too many multiplication cards pop up and you’d rather those be addition or subtraction cards. Easy — take out some of the multiplication cards in your spellbook and add some addition cards. Further, perhaps you’ll wish to skip an upgrade on health and instead increase the speed/rate in which spells pop up during each level. Once again, this level of freedom allows players to have different experiences and choices in playstyle.
Exhibit F - Freedom of Puzzle Choice
A game for younger children, Funexpected Math (Funexpected LTD, 2021) gives players the choice to go to different locales and solve the puzzles there. Funexpected features Japan, Africa, Greenland, Madagascar and more, with several different types of puzzles and minigames for mathematical topics such as algorithms, numbers, symmetry, and counting. The point here, is that the player is given the choice to pick which environment they’d like to explore and solve puzzles in.
Overall, I think there is less of an emotional connection made in the educational games compared to the types of emotional connections kids experience when they play non-educational games. What are ways in which we can bridge the two? What can we do to make educational games more of an emotional experience for students to foster the kinds of attachment and engagement they experience with non-educational games? If you have any ideas, I’d love to hear them! Feel free to leave a comment below!
References
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78.
