Practical Game Design

Lazzaro's types of fun

Nicole Lazzaro proposes a similar model to Bartle's, but instead of focusing on players, she focuses on their emotions and the kind of fun they have while playing games. She defined four keys to fun and states that for a game to be fun (generally speaking), at least three out of four of these keys to fun must exist in the game experience.

Each key to fun corresponds to some fundamental human emotions:

• Hard Fun: Frustration and Fiero, in the moment of personal triumph over adversity
• Easy Fun: Curiosity, Awe
• Serious Fun: Excitement and Relief (relaxation)
• People Fun: Amusement, Joy

You can already see the connection with Bartle's model. But don't make the mistake of thinking that People Fun is the type of fun Socializers ...