The Most Fundamental Difference Between Games and Real Life
If you don't know what to do - cut number of options by ten
One of the most fundamental differences between games and real life is that games are designed and life is chaotic - it provides too many options.
If you won't constrain the number of choices, you will be stuck in a limbo of anxiety or boredom.
The whole point of all my activity is to tell you that it doesn't have to be that way!
In this article I will write why life is chaotic, why to bother about it and finally how to reduce this chaos.
What Means Chaotic?
Let's say you want to become a sporty person.
How?
You can go to the gym, start running, go cycling, climbing...
You can play football, volleyball...
You can go on group exercises, have a coach, train with a buddy.
You can exercise everyday, few times a week, one time a week.
You can exercise 1 hour, half hour, 2 hours...
You can go to Place A, or B, or C. Or maybe train at home? Or both?
You can do X or Y or Z during exercises.
You can go in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening...
You can eat before exercising. Or after. What to eat?
So many choices to make... No wonder it generates chaos in the head.
Talking in more abstract way, chaotic means:
You have many, many options. And even worse - these options aren't separated well from each other. They are smashed, vague and not clear.
Order of actions isn't defined. Even if you selected some options there is still a question about what order of them should be selected.
Why to Bother?
Too many choices always lead to overwhelm and frequently to anxiety.
Overwhelm and anxiety prevents you from making a decision.
If you don't make a decision, you're stuck in the status quo.
Status quo is just following one default path - you have so many options so you always choose only one.
Following one path is boring.
The result is a weird combination of boredom (because you always do the same) and anxiety (because you are thinking about so many other options).
How to Reduce the Number of Options?
The best solution is to carefully design a set of constraints that will greatly limit number of choices.
Practically it's like designing a game where you do actions in real life.
Here is the recipe for a perfect design:
Limited choice. Ideally 3-4 different choices to make at any given point of time. If it's smaller - boredom enters. If much bigger - overwhelm & anxiety.
Choices have to be different. They require different effort and lead to different outcomes.
Examples:
Short-term but smaller reward vs Longer-term but bigger reward
Small but likely reward vs Large but unlikely reward
Conflicting goals: e.g. ability to explore vs progressing towards a goal
These choices need to change over time. Having the same options over and over again is like having only one option that was already selected in the past.
Summary
Small number of constraints (that leads to great number of choices) has negative impact on life.
You can design a system that will reduce the number of options.
This is however difficult - design has to follow many rules in order to work - this can take a lot of time but also requires many trials and errors.
The benefits of a good design can have a great impact on the performance and generate great feeling.