The gamer psychology: a psychological perspective on game design and gamification

ABSTRACT

So as to effectively personalize a game design and gamified experiences in a learning context, the psychological characteristics of the students must be inexorably considered. A rigorous search using scientific search engines was conducted in order to explore game user classification theories that can contribute to tailor game content. On the one hand, research revealed that personality traits can be highly predictive of the players’ degree of enjoyment of a wide range of game design elements (levels, points, leaderboards, etc.). On the other hand, research also showed that motivation to play is strongly dependent on context and, therefore, tailored player typologies can help predict playing styles more precisely than generic taxonomies of personality traits. Several models for classifying users were found, based on four approaches: personality traits, player types, player motivations, and gamification user types. The overview created and the diagram proposed by the researcher shows great connectivity between these models. Parallels were identified, evincing how Vandenberghe’s ([2012]. The 5 domains of play. Applying psychology’s big 5 domains to games. Proceedings of the 2012 Game Developers Conference, pp. 25–29) 5 Domains of Play model comprises the concepts of all the others. Consequently, with the purpose of tailoring an efficient gamified classroom experience, this model might be helpful when exploring the relationship between game content and learners’ personality.

KEYWORDS:

• Gamification
• game design
• gamer psychology
• player typologies
• player motivations

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 Blackboard: https://www.blackboard.com/, Edmodo: https://new.edmodo.com/, Google Classroom: https://classroom.google.com/, Moodle: https://moodle.org/, Schoology: https://www.schoology.com/.

2 Pokemon GO!: https://pokemongolive.com/.

3 Piano Staircase: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SByymar3bds The World’s Deepest Bin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRgWttqFKu8.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Luis Angel Gil-Aciron

Luis Angel Gil-Aciron is a PhD candidate in Applied Linguistics in the Department of Foreign Philologies and their Linguistics at the National Distance Education University. He holds an MA in Information and Communication Technologies in Language Education and Processing from UNED, as well as an MA in Teacher Training for Secondary Education, Vocational Training and Language Teaching with a specialization in School Counseling, an MA in Educational Psychology, and a BA in Elementary Education with majors in English and Special Education from the University of Zaragoza. His research interests primarily lie in the area of instructed second language acquisition, particularly in relation to the integration of active methodologies. He is currently working as a Technical Advisor at the Aragonese Department of Education (Spain).