on writing games

intrinsic vs extrinsinc

In yesterday’s email, I mentioned that Slay the Princess falls into a case which I consider to be extrinsic motivation: when the princess in her spiritual state tells you that you have to bring her 3 vessels.

This is what’s known as a “fetch quest”. A request from a character for us to go find something and bring it back.

I am not against fetch quests (or not completely aganst them?), but basing an entire game’s progress on “bring me 3 of something” feels a bit lazy, especially when other parts of the narrative are so good.

Intrinsic motivation comes from an internal desire of the player to do something; this can be a question they want to answer, or simply an interest in seeing how the story unfolds, what consequences their actions may have, etc.

Extrinsic motivation is when there is something external that makes us want to advance. A fetch quest is an example of this: the player has no interest in obtaining that item, except because an external agent asked for it.

Another example could be completing an “Achievement” in a game.

Slay the Princess has many achievements, and just seeing them there can make a player more eager to replay, but it’s not the game that is generating this motivation, but the list of achievements.

For me, intrinsic motivation is much more valuable, it’s the holy grail of keeping the player captivated in our story.

But when we’re in trouble, and there’s little time, planting extrinsic motivation is a tool we always have at our disposal, especially for replayability.