Tag Archives beat a video game

Quitting a game before it’s completed is actually not easy for the easily influenced human brain to do. Self-determination theory is a driving force behind mission completion, and therefore game completion. People engage in voluntary behavior (like play) to the extent that it scratches three psychological itches:

1. The need to feel competent at what you’re doing (Competence)
2. The need to feel like you have meaningful choices when deciding how to do it (Autonomy)
3. The need to feel connected and related to others in the process (Relatedness)

So maybe I quit a game before completion when it fails to constantly satisfy self-determination theory, when the game itself fails to motivate me.