Flow State
What is the psychological term for being completely absorbed in an activity?
flow
What must game difficulty do as a player improves?
increase at the same rate Paragraph 7)
What is the article’s simile for focus and our ability to pay attention?
What is a flashlight beam – Paragraph 8)
What brain chemical is released when a player earns a reward?
dopamine – Paragraph 12)
According to the author, what is the reason we play video games?
designed to get us into flow state as quickly as possible – Paragraph 4
According to the article, how does being in a "flow state" effect your ability to complete difficult tasks?
make them feel effortless and easy to complete
What simile does the article use to explain how much information a player can handle at once?
backpack – Paragraph 7
If there are too many distractions in a game, what happens?
What is losing focus or feeling disoriented – Paragraph 9)
According to the article, what do the best games do to making their long term goals?
breaking them into small, manageable chunks – Paragraph 13
What common gaming experience does the author describe in the introduction to the essay?
losing over and over – Paragraph 1
Flow happens only when...
there’s a perfect balance between the challenge of the game and the skill level of the player
If a player isn’t sure what to do in a game, what might be missing?
clear feedback or goals
Name one thing that can pull a player out of the flow state.
What is too much information, distractions, or unclear goals – Paragraph 9
What is an example of a micro-reward in a game?
leveling up, earning points, unlocking new items – Paragraph 13)
Paragraph 2 is an example of what?
a rhetorical question
Name one real-world activity (besides gaming) where people experience flow.
sports, music, art, reading
What is the article talking about when it says a game "should be difficult,” Madigan says, “but just possible.”
the perfect level of challenge – Paragraph 6
What metaphor is used to describe what happens to our focus when there is too much information or irrelevant information?
our focus blows a fuse. – Paragraph 10 compares our brain to a fuse box
Why do games use rewards?
keep players motivated and engaged and activate the dopamine in our brains – Paragraph 12
What was the author's purpose in writing this essay?
the author's purpose was to inform the reader how good game design increases our willingness to play the game.
Who is the expert quoted in the article that explains the flow state?
Jamie Madigan
According to the article, in order to keep us in the zone, games have to increase their level of _________ at precisely the same rate at which players improve their level of ________ .
difficulty & skill – Paragraph 7)
How are game designers similar to movie directors?
If they do their job right, they both steer our attention from one challenge to the next – Paragraph 10)
The article compares games without rewards to what food without syrup?
pancakes- Paragraph 11
What technique does the author use to hook the reader?
anecdote or short story – Paragraph 1