Why rewards and motivation need careful design

1 The bottom line

Design rewards to steer players toward the fun your game already has, never to replace it. Rewards that stand in for the fun last only as long as they keep coming, and they can crowd out the play itself.

2 Key takeaways

• Reward the play you want, because players will otherwise take the safest route. Players drift toward whatever wins most reliably, even when it is dull.
  • XCOM 1 players crept across the map and overused overwatch, though the designer felt the game was best when they took risks Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit0:45.
  • DOOM's glory kill instantly kills, costs no ammo and showers the player with health, so players race toward demons despite years of hiding behind cover Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit4:29.
• Reward mastery without requiring it. Skilled players get more, and everyone else still progresses.
  • Neon White unlocks a friends leaderboard at bronze, a timer and ghost at silver, a hint at gold and global ranks at ace Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit6:58.
  • Bayonetta gives rubbish trophies for scrappy play, which pushes players to act more thoughtfully Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit12:21.
• Prefer carrots to sticks, and nudge instead of ending the run. Players read penalties as punishment for how they like to play.
  • World of Warcraft's beta cut XP the longer you played, and players hated it. It became a rest bonus with essentially the same numbers Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:45.
  • XCOM 2's hard turn limits made fans of cautious play feel punished, and Firaxis softened them later Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit2:45.
• Do not attach expected rewards to things players already love doing. A reward can make a loved activity feel like work.
  • Kids who liked drawing were promised a reward and then drew less, and worse, than kids who got none Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:17.
  • Mini Metro's unlockable cities only limit early choice, yet some players unlock the next city and stop once everything is open Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit5:02.
• Use limited-time content for rare, special moments, not as a leash. Scarcity makes content memorable, but it also breeds the fear of missing out.
  • Mark Brown put Fortnite's one-time chapter finale in his calendar for the first time, because he did not want to miss it Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:36.
  • A Destiny 2 player wrote that they play to minimise missing a reward rather than to maximise their progression Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit6:07.

given the opportunity, players will optimise the fun out of a game

Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit

2.1 Point rewards at the play you want

Players follow rewards, so every reward rule is an instruction about how to play.

• Make the style you want also the efficient style. If it is not, players pick the safest, most boring option Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit10:02.
  • Doom does it with glory kills and Platinum Games titles do it with scoring. Titanfall 2 largely fails to, so players retreat to cover.
  • Bloodborne lets a quick, aggressive hit win back health, so players are less likely to back off and wait Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit5:02.
  • Mark Brown played Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare cowering behind walls and boxes, though wall-running was available.
  • Neon White's playtesters blasted through levels and never retried for better times, so the team built Insight to point people at the true fun Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:32.
  • Deathloop resets the world every morning, so players have little reason to stick to one approach Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit8:18.
• Put your taps, the things that generate resources, where you want activity. Loot on enemies pushes fighting, and unique materials in each biome push exploring Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit2:17.
  • Dead Space 2 drops items only after one last hit on a downed necromorph, which encourages stomping them into gore Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit11:19.
• Write each point rule as a behaviour you want. Then a player chasing points ends up playing as intended Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit4:50.
  • Tony Hawk's Pro Skater degrades points for repeated moves to force variety, adds combo multipliers for risk, and uses gap bonuses to push players around the level.
  • Overcooked scores on time, so splitting roles and cooperating becomes the efficient choice Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit4:51.
  • Skyrim players craft dozens of daggers just to raise their crafting skill, so do not reward actions that invite grinding Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:44.
• Reward the style you want instead of punishing the others. Players read penalties as being punished for how they play Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit4:04.
  • Metal Gear Solid V adds points for accuracy, speed and rescues, so loud players are not punished but sneaky ones rank higher Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit6:26.

2.2 Give players goals at every scale

A clear, personal goal with short milestones on the way keeps players moving without telling them exactly how to play.

• Pair a long-term dream with many short-term goals. Milestones give something immediate to aim for Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit8:08.
  • Stardew Valley's implicit goal is a profitable farm, with the community centre, new buildings and house upgrades as milestones.
  • Choices about crops, animals, seasons and partners mean players are not trudging mindlessly toward the goal Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit6:44.
• Make the goal personal, and match its structure to how people play.
  • The Forgotten City tells the player that stopping the sin means they never needed to come to the city. That ties their fate to the townspeople's Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit5:00.
  • Blue Prince has one goal, the antechamber, though play is about juggling puzzles. Eight safes would hammer home the idea of pursuing many at once Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit12:39.
  • Symphony of the Night opens with an overpowered Alucard, then takes his gear away. That previews the game's complexity and gives a reason to earn the power back Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit1:59.
• Add side goals for players who are stuck.
  • Hollow Knight: Silksong's wishes give players something else to do when they are banging their head against a boss Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit46:40.
  • Great Taste of Pharloom needs four ingredients and a rasher delivered from Bellhart to the Citadel without it disintegrating Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit46:40.
• Let players choose an upgrade and plan how to earn it. That motivates more than random boosts from playing Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit6:40.
  • Far Cry 3's menu named the pelts needed for a better holster, so the player paused the main quest to hunt that animal.
  • Make skill points things players find. Prey hides Neuromods around Talos 1, and Breath of the Wild's Spirit Orbs turn Hyrule into one giant skill tree Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit6:26.
  • Players do the main missions anyway, so use skill points to encourage other ways to play Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:21.
  • Breath of the Wild lets you fight Ganon at any time, so all play becomes preparation and nothing is delay Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit2:22.

2.3 Reward mastery without requiring it

Give skilled players targets of their own, stage them so novices are not scared off, and keep the top tier optional.

• Stage the optimisation tools so they feel reachable.
  • Leaderboards come from arcades and ghosts from early racing games. Neon White's new step is sequencing them so speedrunning is not left to a few elite players Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit6:41.
  • Add a secret top tier. Neon White's red medal needs beating the developer's own times, and hidden medals in Assault Android Cactus reward the best without demoralising anyone else Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit6:42.
  • Assault Android Cactus hides its reward for chaining every enemy until the player first achieves it, so new players are not confused about how to play Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit10:29.
  • Some Super Mario Odyssey areas are reachable only with real mastery, and late Koopa races let you go off the track with advanced jumps Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit6:16.
• Make high scores require the whole mechanic set. Then the expert plays in a fundamentally different way from a button-basher Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit4:18.
  • Bayonetta's Pure Platinum medals need complex combos, fast chaining, taunts and dodge offset.
  • A kill chain that breaks after a couple of seconds forces aggressive play, target priority and careful use of the special weapon Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit8:19.
  • Vanquish gives only a bare number with no grade or medal, so few players know what raises it Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit5:35.
  • A poor grade after a run that felt like a win discourages players, and many complained about it in Platinum games Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:02.
• Let players compare themselves to others instead of hitting a fixed threshold. A goal you set yourself is more powerful than one someone else sets Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit4:35.
  • Opus Magnum plots your machine against the world's players, and seeing a poor result was motivation enough to go back in Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit4:02.
  • Score several criteria, such as cost, area and cycles, so players chase small machines, cheap parts or fast cycles as they find fun Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:38.
  • Zach Barth dropped Steam achievements after Spacechem and Infinifactory, because histograms and friend leaderboards were a more meaningful reward.
  • Scores and personal bests have no finish, which partly explains why Tetris is still played after three decades Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit5:33.
• Make scores social so players compete without setting anything up.
  • Space Invaders was the first arcade game to record a high score, so nearby players could compete Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit1:43.
  • Burnout Paradise puts leaderboards on every road, so you are always passively competing and want to race fast and take risks Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:17.
  • A rising difficulty curve plus a score to beat made Space Invaders incredibly addictive, and arcades in Japan were sometimes called Invader Houses Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit5:04.

2.4 Make the reward worth the effort

Hidden or optional content only motivates when what players find is useful, interesting or emotionally real.

• Pay for hidden content with useful or interesting rewards.
  • Hollow Knight's optional bosses pay out Mask Shards, nail upgrades, spells and charms, which matter because the game is brutally difficult Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit25:04.
  • Breath of the Wild's shrines each hold a genuinely unique puzzle, not copy-and-paste side content Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:55.
  • In A Link Between Worlds, rupees matter because they rent items, so a puzzle ending in rupees is not a consolation prize Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit12:11.
  • Metroid Prime 3's Valhalla secret rooms hold mostly energy and missile tanks, so the search mostly serves completionists Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit11:52.
• Put an extra step before the reward. It builds anticipation and makes the reward feel earned Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit4:21.
  • Yakuza 3 makes you find keys for lockers, and Skyward Sword makes you hit goddess stones to unlock goddess chests.
• Match each collectible to a different skill, and offer risk versus reward.
  • In Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, puzzle pieces test exploration and are hidden. KONG letters test platforming and are visible but risky to grab Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit9:25.
  • Harvest Hazards' banana mini-game on a rolling platform gives risk versus reward to players who want it, without forcing everyone Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit9:04.
• Recognise contributions a scoreboard cannot show. Points tell only part of the story when roles help in different ways Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit2:30.
  • Overwatch's Play of the Game uses four highlight rules, High Score, Lifesaver, Sharpshooter and Shutdown, so a barrier or a resurrection can be credited too Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit1:08.
  • Metro Exodus answers kindness, such as finding a guitar or a lost teddy bear, with heartfelt character moments instead of a quest log entry Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit12:04.
  • Shadow of War makes defeat personal with taunting, promoted orcs, and much better loot for killing the orc that murdered you. Emotion and incentive point the same way Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit14:29.

2.5 Use limited-time content for moments, not pressure

Scarcity makes content feel special, but it is also a retention hook, so use it to offer something new and ease its pressure.

• Offer play the base game cannot, not just a reason to return. Many developers run double XP weekends and Halloween skins just to bring players back Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit10:00.
  • Hitman's Elusive Targets last a couple of days in levels you have mastered, with extra guards and unknown schedules Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit9:49.
  • You get one attempt, so regular missions feel like training and the target feels like the real thing Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit9:49.
• Know that expiring content is also a retention technique built on fear of missing out. Players value something more when they fear they may never get it again Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:57.
  • Live service games lean on daily rewards, weekly quests, seasons, expiring battle passes, double XP weekends and streaks that reset to zero.
  • Fortnite's item shop shows a small rotating set, hoping players feel pressured to buy a skin now Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit5:05.
  • A battle pass sells the chance to earn items, so players must keep investing time or lose the content when it expires Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit5:24.
• Apply time pressure that nudges players instead of ending their run.
  • Spelunky's ghost appears about two and a half minutes into a level and pressures dawdlers, but you can still run and finish. It caused far less controversy than XCOM 2's mission-failing timers Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit2:02.
  • Time limits are controversial, and missable content clashes with the completionist urge to clear every task Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit12:35.
• Ease the fear of missing out where you can.
  • Halo Infinite's battle pass does not expire, so there is no pressure to rush or drop other games Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:55.
  • Bungie named FOMO outright in Destiny 2 and reduced the XP and Bright Dust penalties for missing a week Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit8:02.

2.6 Check that rewards are not replacing the fun

If players come for the rewards instead of the play, the fun is already draining away.

• Treat extrinsic and intrinsic motivation as different things. Extrinsic motivation lasts only as long as the rewards are there Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit5:55.
  • Intrinsic motivation is stronger and lasts longer.
  • The overjustification effect also links rewards to less creativity, worse problem solving and more cheating. Goals and achievements in exploration or creative games can blinker players Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:17.
• Let a hard skill be its own reward by making improvement visible.
  • Snake Pass's controls are hard but learnable, and the developers argue that self-improvement is what makes the game appealing Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit6:14.
  • Platinum fans master games to look and feel awesome, and crazy animations and set pieces keep novices happy Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit6:03.
• Make goals optional or hidden so they do not become the point.
  • Hitman's challenges are optional, and Outer Wilds' achievements are hidden and discovered through play Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit9:25.
  • Large, overarching goals that players complete however they want leave room for creative solutions Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit9:07.
• Ask whether players come for the game or for the rewards.
  • Mark Brown plays Fortnite for the fun of the match, not to chase unlocks, quests and levels, so fear of missing out has little hold on him Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:01.

2.7 Where designers disagree

Some tools help one kind of player and hurt another, so the right amount depends on your game and audience.

• Goals help players who are lost, but can sap players who already have their own fun.
  • For every Minecraft fan who makes their own fun, someone else has none. A Her Story player asked how to decide when they were satisfied, and goals give those players structure Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit8:49.
  • Mini Metro's designers tried to avoid goal and reward structures, yet some players still treated unlocks as a means to an end Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit5:02.
• Optional scores reward experts but may hide the experience you most want seen.
  • Because scores are optional, some players never see the real experience Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:14.
  • Bayonetta can be finished by button bashing, so many players skip combos, chains and dodge offset Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:14.
• Low drop chances are thrilling, but taken too far they become a Skinner box.
  • A great weapon from a body in Borderlands is more exciting because the chance was small. The same technique in lootboxes, bought and revealed afterward, is built to drain time or money Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:20.