These reasons make people addicted to games

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The success of any business is inseparable from the word "humanity", and the same goes for games.

Why are games addictive? An important factor is the success system. The chemical effect of the achievement system and social stimulation in the game is like a small nuclear explosion, and the subversion of the game logic is like nuclear radiation to cells. Because of the social access of the achievement system, the game's audience, dissemination channels, and even its own life cycle are enhanced.
The past and present of the achievement system

The Achievement System was first spotted and caught the attention of gamers after it was born in the womb of Microsoft XBOX360 in September 2005. No one can tell who it came from. Some say it is a hybrid of the "collection" and "score-brushing" genes of Japanese games at the end of the last century, but this slightly painful primitive impulse may be traced back to the primitive man period, when the newly evolved humans killed a sheep, then a cow, and while dancing with joy, they stepped on a little frog that had not yet had time to run.

Nine words floated in the sky, "Congratulations on achieving a triple kill!"

Addiction to achievement is the pleasure that comes from the dopamine burst when the challenge is completed, catalyzed by adrenaline. There is a lady in my department who plays elimination games all day long, challenging the achievement of three stars. Every time she gets a star, her face twisted with extreme joy is like a human twist.

It is precisely this group of people who are addicted to achievements that developers have sensed business opportunities. As a result, in the past decade, imitators of achievement systems have mushroomed. Among them, the achievement systems that have established their own fan base and become independent include: World of Warcraft 3.0 update at the end of 2008, Sony's PSN trophy system, iOS Game Center's achievement system, and Google Game Center's achievement system.

These are actually the same essence in different guises, the Achievement System 2.0 - the Achievement Social System, whose main function is to show off game achievements in mainstream online social circles. Remember "Temple Run" and "Subway Surfers" two years ago, and later "FlappyBird", because the built-in achievement system of the game could not be perfectly connected with the reality of online social networking in my country, it caused a "flood" of screenshots showing scores on WeChat Moments and Weibo. If game achievements cannot be seamlessly connected to social networks, you can imagine what the situation would be like if Facebook and Twitter soup did not need to be climbed over the firewall in China.

The chemical effect of achievement and social stimulation is like a small nuclear explosion, and the subversion of game logic is like nuclear radiation to cells, because the social access of the achievement system, the game's audience, dissemination channels, and even its own life cycle are all enhanced. Driven by this subversive change, the benefits of mobile games have been huge. As an independent game maker, Nguyen Ha Dong, the father of "FlappyBird", can earn 50,000 US dollars a day in Hanoi, Vietnam!
How the Achievement System Evolved

1. Upgrade reward mechanism

"The player who ranks first on the leaderboard will receive XXXX" is a familiar slogan for most domestic players. However, most ordinary players will stay away from such promotions. The "ranking" here must be the national server ranking. How can it be so easy to get the first place? Even if the reward is a Porsche, it will only be regarded as false propaganda by players. No one will be motivated by such an expired slogan, and not many naive people will lower themselves to spread such copywriting.

Instead of making empty promises, it is better to give out some real candies. With the help of backend algorithm optimization, operators can obtain the rankings of a small social circle (such as the WeChat Moments of 50 players). As long as they give out some small benefits (which can be gift packages, limited-edition peripherals, or other inexpensive gadgets) to the top players in these small circles, it will set off a small wave of communication in their online social circles.

These are all seemingly easy-to-grab carrots hanging in front of the donkey's head. Even though it is still difficult to get them, the probability is no longer an elusive astronomical figure, but a small probability event of tens or hundreds of percent, which is not a bad thing for developers, operators or players.

2. Reshape the achievement settings

The current situation in the mobile game industry is that an achievement system is forced in just for the sake of having an achievement system. Such a hasty starting point will naturally not lead to a good achievement setting. Recall the achievement system in World of Warcraft that kills two birds with one stone - the first upgrade, the first gold coin, the first pet, etc. These achievements can provide players with practical information related to getting started in the game, and then the difficulty will be gradually advanced, allowing players to play through the various branch systems of the entire game in the challenge.

It can be for the purpose of quickly getting players into the game, or for the purpose of letting players experience other fun outside the main storyline of the game (such as the gate defense battle in "Implosion", the highest difficulty challenge is to prevent zombies or bosses from knocking down any wall, which allows players to discover that this ACT game also has the playability of strategic tower defense). However, just to make your own game like a model, you rigidly add a system of achievements that requires a lot of effort, which is boring and tedious. After a long time, it will backfire and become the last straw that breaks the camel's back for players.

3. Players can set their own achievements

Just like Shakespeare would never have thought that his Hamlet would have a thousand different interpretations in the eyes of readers, many classic games have been broken by players after thousands of challenges, and various ways of playing that the developers have never thought of have been developed. If you have seen the example of a player who completed the game of Contra on the FC platform without taking any damage, have you ever seen a video of a player who completed the game without taking any damage until the end of the boss encounter? In fact, I want to say that there is also a weird way of playing that fires shotguns from beginning to end without hurting a soldier, and the video was reposted crazily as soon as it was posted online. Among the players who love to commit suicide, a game that they are tired of often pops up with new ways of playing.

As long as players have the authority to create their own achievements in the server, like the Guinness Book of World Records, once they have accomplished something that they can boast about, they will become the pioneer of that achievement, and others who find it interesting can come in and try their hand. Once a player's own achievement is established, they will send out challenge invitations to their social circles, and what will happen next is predictable. It is very likely that another phenomenal work will appear, or even multiple works will be hyped up together because they apply a certain phenomenal achievement gameplay.

That's great. When a message like "Your friend has achieved and created the 50-second KO achievement of "Face-Only" in Street Fighter pops up in the notification bar on your phone, please click the link below to open the app to challenge him" is displayed, such a funny but provocative challenge will surely make people eager to try.
The current status of the domestic achievement system is useless

Whenever Xiaolie gets excited about foreign games, he always turns to talk about the current situation of domestic mobile games. The achievement systems of the mobile games mentioned above all reflect the abundant network communication dynamics, while the achievement systems of domestic mobile games, especially those of medium and heavy games, are just embellished with embroidered pillows. The developers' ways of making money are more direct, such as equipment, props, skills, pets, and even clothing systems; more indirectly, they define the lottery and gift package system as a way to attract new players and generate income, which is the end.

Very few manufacturers believe that the achievement system can also help spread the game and bring considerable revenue to the game. Most developers believe that the biggest practical role of the achievement system is to retain players: for new players who are still interested in the game, they can continuously provide the pleasure of achieving achievements; for old players who are tired of playing, they can find something to do in their bored time and reward them with some game props or game coins afterwards, until the old players find new motivation in the game.