Five Game Experience Motivations
Design for immersion, connection, aspiration, growth, and expression
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 97%
Justin groups what people seek from games into five categories: immersion, connection, aspiration, growth, and expression. Immersion provides an experience or story; connection enables socializing and helping; aspiration gives competition or achievement; growth lets players learn and improve; expression permits customization or role-playing. A designer can use the categories as a coverage map rather than assuming every player wants only to win. Justin uses Magic as the example: its fantasy world, social play, competition, strategic depth, and customizable decks let different people build different experiences within the same rules.
Origin
Justin introduces the five categories while explaining why Magic: The Gathering became a global phenomenon.
Core principles
- 01People seek different experiences from the same game
- 02A game can satisfy more than one motivation
- 03Customization supports expression and ownership
- 04Learning and achievement sustain long-term engagement
How to run it
- 1
Map immersion
Describe the experience, world, or story the player enters.
Watch out Do not confuse visual theme alone with a complete experience.
- 2
Map connection
Identify how players socialize, cooperate, compete, or help one another.
- 3
Map aspiration
Define what players can win, prove, or achieve.
Pro tip Include achievement as well as direct competition.
- 4
Map growth
Show how players learn, improve, and encounter deeper possibilities over time.
- 5
Map expression
Define what players can customize or use to express a part of themselves.
Pro tip Look for meaningful ownership, not cosmetic choice alone.
- 6
Review the mix
Assess which motivations are strong, which are absent, and whether the mix matches the intended audience.
Watch out Do not assume every game must maximize all five categories.
In the wild
Magic offers fantasy immersion, play with other people, competitive aspiration, continuing strategic growth, and expression through deck construction. A player can build an elf deck, a large experimental deck, or a tightly optimized competitive deck.
→ Different player types can design their own experience inside one game system.
Common mistakes
Reducing motivation to winning
Competition is only one form of aspiration and only one of the five categories.
Removing meaningful customization
Uniform experiences can deny players the expression and ownership that make a system personal.
Is it for you?
Best for
Game designers and experience designers shaping or reviewing an interactive concept.
Not ideal for
Choosing detailed rules before the intended player experience is understood.
From the transcript
“The first is immersion.”
“The second is connection, right?”
“And the last is expression.”
From the episode
#687: Justin Gary — Taking the Path Less Traveled, The Phenomenon of “Magic: The Gathering,” How Analytical People Can Become “Creative” People, Finding the Third Right Answer, and How to Escape Your Need for Control
Justin Gary