Myers-Briggs Typology and Gamers

The Model in Brief

• Four pairs of traits:– Extraversion vs Introversion (E vs I), (50-50)– Sensing vs Intuition (S vs N), (70-30)– Thinking vs Feeling (T vs F), (50-50), (60 M - 70 F)– Judging vs Perceiving (J vs P), (55-45)

• Sixteen Types:– ISTJ, ISFJ, INFJ, INTJ, ISTP, ISFP, INFP, INTP– ESTP, ESFP, ENFP, ENTP, ESTJ, ESFJ, ENFJ, ENTJ

How Games Are Played

E• Play when they are bored• Enjoy games in a social

situation• Sharing the gameplay (”pad

passing”)

I• Play as a willing preference• Playing for long periods on

their own• Majority of games are

played by I-types

Hint: E-type gamers should not underestimated (e.g. Dance Dance Revolution’s success)

Learning and Problem Solving

S• Patient with routine

material• Need linear exercises to

learn controls etc.

N• Patient with abstract or

complex material• Can intuit controls and

mechanics on their own

Hint: A good tutorial environment is designed to be approached from both the routine exercise angle and the learn-by-experimentation method

Hint: Use intuition puzzles for secondary rewards

Motivation

T• Learn best when given clear

objective goals and rationales

• Games mostly rely on T-types

F• Respond best when

receiving personal encouragement

Hint: Incorporate design elements that reflect the needs of F-types

Goal-Orientation

J• Tend towards strong goal-

orientation• Play to complete goals• Prefer games they can

definitely complete

P• Tend towards process-

orientation• Play to improve their

abilities• Prefer games with no clear

end condition

Hint: The most appropriate game structures for a mass market are those in which players can pick and choose what they are going to do, but must complete a proportion of the material to progress and complete the game

Challenge vs Fun (TJ vs FP)

• The Sims is the best selling all-time PC game• The only significant FP-style game• Very few FP-style people in the business

• The problem is:– Without sufficient marketing games have difficulty

reaching mass market with Hardcore evangelization (and they are mostly T-biased even if they are not J-biased)

The DGD1 Demographic Model

The Research

• DGD1 = Demographic Game Design 1• Developed by iHobo• Groundwork, two components:– 32 question Myers-Briggs personality test– Short questionnaire to determine game

purchasing and playing habits

• Got a good mix between hardcore and casual players for the survey

Conqueror (TJ)

H1• Mainly INTJ, ISTJ• Want to 100% complete games• Want to see and do everything• Competition against themselves• Action, RPG

C1• Mainly ISTJ• Mostly interested in competition

and winning• Interpersonal competition• Want to humiliate/crush

opponents• FPS, racing games

Style of play:

Progess: Rapid AdvancementStory: Plot or IrrelevantSocial: Online

Manager (TP)

H2• Maily INTP, ISTP• Strategy, adventure• Likely to stop if game is too

difficult• Want to master a game

C2• Mainly ISTP• Less intuive -> more comfortable

with familiar settings• Realism, construction &

management

Style of play:

Progess: SteadyStory: PlotSocial: None?

Wanderer (FP)

H3• Mainly INFP• Most intuitive of all groups• Show interest in finesse• Play a lot, but often consider games

too hard• Story + setting important• But also like puzzle games if they get

an experience they enjoy

C3• Mainly ENFP• Same taste but less gameliterate than

H3• Need their games supremely easy• Find one game and play it a lot (as

not many games are made for them)

Style of play:

Progess: New ToysStory: Character/EmotionSocial: Talk about what they like

Participant (FJ)

H4• Mainly ESFJ?• Largest group in population• Very little about them• RPG, the closest they could find

in a game they would like• Competitiveness not desired

C4• Mainly ESFJ?• Largest group in population• Very little about them• Co-op games, competitive

multiplayer games• Social play

Style of play:

Progess: NarrativeStory: Character/EmotionSocial: Multiplayer

Psychological Profiling:Entering the Mind of

the Game Player

Two case studies

• CSI: Dark Motives• The Simpsons: Hit & Run

CSI: Dark Motives• Disagreements about the ”optimum feature set”,

(needed to know the target audience)• Used Myers-Briggs Type Indicator• Matched the expected types of gamers with the

MB typologies• Result:– Clear understanding of the intended audience– Made it easier to put their interests first– Design considerations could be evaluated– New tutorial level made for all the S-types in the

target audience

Simpsons: Hit & Run

• First phase: Pure brainstorming session• Second phase: Create a ”design filter” based on

consumer profiling • Third phase: Apply the filter on the brainstorm

ideas to get a manageable feature set• Result:– Cut out dozens of ideas that did not focus on meeting

the demands of the intended audience– Had a workable design feature set within the

proposed production schedule