Psychological Techniques in Games.

[WARNING – This post contains major plot spoilers for BioShock. Readers proceed at your own risk]

Games have the power to make us feel any kind of emotion. They can invoke joy, fear or sadness with simply a moving cut scene or a beautiful background. They have the power to tell their story to the player whilst the player truly believes that it is their own story. Lately, what I have found to be an extremely interesting part of games is the psychological effect that they can have on gamers. While games can provide the feeling of immersion or escapism, sometimes developers will use that to their advantage to create mind boggling worlds and challenges.

An example that came to mind immediately was BioShock. From the outside, BioShock comes across just like any other game, you have your hero, your villains and your dystopian future (or past in this case), but when you dive into the game (literally) as a player, it takes you on a journey filled with wonder, suspense and oh so much betrayal.

The game has you play as protagonist Jack, who we know little to nothing about only that his parents told him he was ‘special’. The story surges forward and we are being submerged into the depths of “Rapture“, the underwater city of Andrew Ryan. It is here we first encounter the fabled “Atlas“. Atlas is the underdog hero of Rapture, he gathered an army of lower class citizens to overthrow Ryan’s rule over the metropolis. He was a worshiped hero and a message of hope to the people of Rapture, clearly evident by the memorabilia of him sighted in almost every area of the city that acted as “anti-propaganda” to the messages of Ryan.

He guides the player though the game, revealing the history of Rapture and how to survive in it. He helps the player progress through the underwater utopia by instructing them to complete various tasks, required in order for both Jack, Atlas and his family to escape the depths that trap them.

Unfortunately all is not what it seems with Atlas, and what is considered one of the greatest plot twists in gaming, we learn that Atlas has been using us from the start. 

Atlas has been playing mind games with Jack this entire time, he could get Jack to complete any task he chose by simple uttering the phrase:

“Would you kindly?”

M. Roberts speaks about BioShock’s “many psychological ‘tricks'”. One of the main points they speak about, as mentioned above, is:

“The player’s illusion of free will”

when referring to the games Atlas played with the player.

Atlas’ true identity comes in the form of Frank Fontaine, an ingenious business man, with the intent of ruling Rapture. He reveals Jack’s true identity as the illegitimate son of Andrew Ryan, who was genetically aged and brainwashed to become an obedient assassin.

This reveal not only baffles the protagonist Jack, but also has a massive effect on the player I feel. The story is done so well that the feeling of betrayal transcends from Jack to player fluidly. Even though you as a person weren’t brainwashed, you feel as if you somehow were. As if this is some nasty trick targeted at you. ‘Atlas’ made you personally feel responsible and meaningful by giving you tasks to help provide safe passage for you and his family, only to have this feeling of self-worth ripped from underneath you.

BioShock truly encompasses the idea of playing with the player’s mind with this significant twist.

Another game that utilises psychological techniques to ‘mess’ with player is “Nevermind“. Nevermind is a horror adventure game where you play as a “Neuroprober” (someone who analyses a patient’s dreams), who must discover what tragedies occurred each patient by solving puzzles. The goal of probing the dreams is to rid the patient of these phobias that have been occurring due to their traumatic past.
That all sound like a fairly standard game so far, yes? There’s more to it I say.

The unique thing about Nevermind is the “biofeedback sensor”. The biofeedback sensor responds to the player’s heart rate and therefore their emotion. The game then uses this information to alter the state of the game. If the player is nice and calm playing through the levels then game world is as it should be,  scary or otherwise. But if that player begins to experience palpitations or an increase in heart rate i.e. fear, the game world begins to be distorted and wrong. The screen glazes over with a static like mesh causing to make the player feel as if their own fear is preventing their progress in the game. (See image below).

By using this simple piece of technology, the game elevates itself to a higher level of immersion where it truly captivates the player. The player is aware that it is just a game that they are playing, but the game itself has the ability to pull the player in and illustrate their darkest fears … what the game makes them think these darkest fears are.

The creator of Nevermind, Erin Reynolds, reveals that the aim of the game is:

“If you can learn to control your anxiety within the disturbing realm of Nevermind, just imagine what you can do when it comes to those inevitable stressful moments in the real world.”

by using the biofeedback sensor as a method to measure the psychological impact of game play, Reynolds has put in place a practical application for people who wish to deal with their fears.

These techniques in games are really fascinating to see but even more fascinating to experience. The raise the bar on immersion in games. Above are only two techniques I have mentioned: a gut wrenching plot twist and a piece of distortion measuring tech, but there many other technique and I look forward to seeing them in gaming.

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