Lesson 20
Previous Lesson | Course Home | Next Lesson

Loops and Experience

A short lecture on player loops followed by exploring questions specific to your game . In addition to the game-specific questions, please also write 3 sentences on what the player loops are within your game.
Lesson Table of Contents

Video

Resources mentioned in the video can be found in links. Videos are hosted by Vimeo. You can load the video as an embed within this page or may view the video on Vimeo in a separate window / tab. If you enable on-site video, your preference will be remembered using a cookie.

Enable Video Embeds View on Vimeo

Resources mentioned in the video can be found in links. Videos are hosted by Vimeo. You may disable Video Embeds or view the video on Vimeo.

Lesson outline

View lesson outline

Lesson 20: Interactive Experience

Exploring how games structure interaction through player loops. Also, discuss your games!

Objective

Understand player loops as a framework for analyzing interactive experiences and apply these concepts to both video games and interactive data visualization tools.

Outline

This lecture introduces the concept of player loops, the different layers of engagement and goals that drive user interaction in games and interactive experiences. The session then transitions to a group discussion activity where students analyze their interactive experience assignment.

Player loops framework

Player loops describe the hierarchical structure of user engagement at different timescales.

  • Primary loop: The moment to moment action and immediate, repetitive actions that players perform continuously.
  • Secondary loop: The medium term goal that is served by the primary loop, providing structure and direction.
  • Tertiary loop: The long term goal that is served by the primary loop, offering ultimate purpose and motivation.
Super Mario Bros. example

Classic game design illustrating well-structured player loops.

  • Primary loop: Running, jumping, and avoiding obstacles.
  • Secondary loop: Completing a level by reaching the flagpole.
  • Tertiary loop: Rescuing Princess Peach and completing all worlds.
Global Plastics AI Policy Tool example

Demonstrating how player loop concepts apply to interactive data visualization, not just traditional video games.

  • Primary loop: Adjusting policy sliders and parameters, observing real-time feedback on the visualization.
  • Secondary loop: Testing specific policy scenarios and comparing different policy combinations.
  • Tertiary loop: Developing comprehensive understanding of plastic waste management to inform policy decisions.
Interactive experience assignment discussion

Group activity for students to reflect on their game playing experience.

  • Students sit with assigned groups to discuss the game they played.
  • Groups review game-specific questions from the assignment materials together.
  • Each member submits individual responses identifying player loops in their chosen game.
  • Tie-in question connects game design concepts back to data visualization principles.

See course manual for details.

Practical implications for data visualization

Understanding player loops helps designers create more engaging interactive visualizations.

  • Immediate feedback: Ensuring the primary loop provides instant, satisfying feedback.
  • Meaningful progress: Structuring secondary loops to show progress toward understanding.
  • Ultimate purpose: Designing tertiary loops that connect to real-world impact or insight.

Take Aways

Player loops provide a powerful framework for analyzing and designing interactive experiences, whether in games or data visualization tools.

  • Primary loops should be intuitive, responsive, and immediately rewarding.
  • Secondary loops should provide structure without overwhelming the user.
  • Tertiary loops should connect to meaningful outcomes that justify investment of time and attention.
  • The same engagement principles that make games compelling can enhance interactive data visualization experiences.

Citations

[1] G. Nicoli, "Spiritfarer: la morte felice," Ludica, 2020. Available: https://www.ludicamag.com/spiritfarer-la-morte-felice/

[2] A. Pottinger, R. Geyer, N. Biyani, C. Martinez, N. Nathan, M. Morse, M. de Bruyn, C. Boettiger, E. Baker, K. Koy, and D. McCauley, "Global Plastics AI Policy Tool," University of California, 2024. Available: https://global-plastics-tool.org/

[3] A. Pottinger, R. Geyer, N. Biyani, C. Martinez, N. Nathan, M, Morse, C. Liu, S. Hu, M. de Bruyn, C. Boettiger, E. Baker, and D. McCauley, "Pathways to reduce global plastic waste mismanagement and greenhouse gas emissions by 2050," Science, 2024. doi: 10.1126/science.adr3837

[4] Strategy Wiki Contributors, "Super Mario Bros. / World 1," Strategy Wiki. Available: https://strategywiki.org/wiki/Super_Mario_Bros./World_1

License

This lesson is part of Interactive Data Science and Visualization and is released under a CC-BY-NC 4.0 license.

Download outline as markdown

Written materials

In addition to the video, you may also:

Exercise

You did it - you made it to the last regular assignment before the final!

The goal for this exercise is to take one of your prior visualizations from the class (Stack Overflow Developer Survey, Census, or BART) and make it interactive with at least one user action.

Need help? Explore an optional Lesson 26 looking at using AI assistants.

Note that the Zulip community is not available to this MOOC. Please consider sharing your exercise via social media such as Bluesky with the tag #OpenDataVizSciCourse.

Next lecture

Ready to continue? Go to the next lesson.

Works cited

This is the works cited from the lecture. Note that additional sources may be used in exercises and other supporting documentation.