Quotes from Raph Koster

They have more in common with how our brain visualizes things than they do with how reality is actually formed. Since our perception of reality is basically abstraction anyway,*

Merely understanding a space and how the rules make it work isn't enough, though. We also need to understand how it will react to change to exercise power over it. This is why games progress over time. There are almost no games that take just one turn.*

My personal breakdown would look a lot like Lazzaro's: Fun is the act of mastering a problem mentally. Aesthetic appreciation isn't always fun, but it's certainly enjoyable. Visceral reactions are generally physical in nature and relate to physical mastery of a problem. Social status signals of various sorts are intrinsic to our self-image and our standing in a community.

All of these things make us feel good when we're successful at them, but lumping them all together as "fun" just renders the word meaningless.

Delight, unfortunately, doesn't last. It's like the smile from a beautiful stranger in a stairwell — it's fleeting. It cannot be otherwise — recognition is not an extended process.

the more rigidly constructed your game is, the more limited it will be.*

One of the releases of chemicals triggering good feelings is at that moment of triumph when we learn something or master a task.

Games aren't stories. Games aren't about beauty or delight. Games aren't about jockeying for social status. They stand, in their own right, as something incredibly valuable. Fun is about learning in a context where there is no pressure from consequence, and that is why games matter.

Fun is all about our brains feeling good — the release of endorphins* into our system. There are a variety of complex cocktails of chemicals that result in different sensations. Science has shown that the pleasurable chills that we get down the spine after exceptionally powerful music or a really great book are caused by the same sorts of chemicals we get when we have cocaine, an orgasm, or chocolate.

They present us with models of real things — often highly abstracted. They are generally quantified or even quantized* models. They primarily teach us things that we can absorb into the unconscious, as opposed to things designed to be tackled by the conscious, logical mind. They mostly teach us things that are fairly primitive behaviors (but they don't have to).

Fun from games arises out of mastery. It arises out of comprehension. It is the act of solving puzzles that makes games fun. In other words, with games, learning is the drug.

Fun is just another word for learning.

It's time to wake up to the fact that you're just another avatar in someone else's MMO. Worse: From where they stand, all-powerful Big Data analysts that they are, you look an awful lot like a bot.

It's about who owns the servers. The servers that store your metrics. The servers that shout the ads. The servers that transmit your chat. The servers that geofence your every movement.

When do you do things for the love of it? Always. If you're not feeling that, go do something else. Life is too short.