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= Rewards in Games = In video games, rewards are the awards granted to players for in game accomplishments and are used as incentivisation to engage in gameplay.

Origin in Psychology
Psychologist B.F. Skinner proposed that human actions are driven by positive or negative feedback in a theory called operant conditioning. The technique functions by segmenting a task into micro rewards. Skinner demonstrated the effectiveness of the technique in an experiment where pigeons were rewarded whenever they displayed desirable behaviour. This resulted in the birds, eventually, demonstrating the desirable behaviour of their own accord.

A study in 1958 revealed how rats could be conditioned to adopt habits based upon their addictive behaviour towards particular mental stimulation, such as food. Researchers were able to train these rats to press a level which would reward the rats with food or other treats. The research suggested that rewarding this stimulation was triggering the same areas of the brain as common natural stimulations, such as food and sex.

Self-Determination Theory (SDT)
An encompassing theory for human motivation that states that people require certain psychological needs in order to be actively motivated; notably autonomy, competence and relatedness. The different aspects of SDT can be fulfilled in different gameplay experiences in games. In the context of video games, challenging games such as Dark Souls and StarCraft are fulfilling for competence, while sandbox games like Minecraft and the Grand Theft Auto series satisfy autonomy. MMORPGs, or other social gaming experiences, appeal to relatedness.

Intrinsic Motivation
The interest or enjoyment that a player experiences from carrying out a task. It is formed due to internal or ‘self’ sources of pressure as opposed to external pressure. A player is intrinsically motivated to play a game when they derive enjoyment from its gameplay or from the surrounding features of the game, such as community, fan culture or custom modes.

Extrinsic Motivation
The means that drives a player to complete a task where the outcome is desirable, but the means of accomplishing it is unmotivational. Grinding gameplay is an example of extrinsic motivation, as the repetitive gameplay loop required to gain the desired item is typically unmotivational, but is still enacted in order to gain a reward, such as a rare ingame item for example.

Player Usage of Rewards
Players are believed to be motivated based upon the type of player that they are, or the type of games that they enjoy, which is derived from the type of gameplay experience they enjoy evidenced by player personality tests such as the Bartle Test of gamer psychology. Players utilise rewards based on their preferred goals, meaning that certain rewards are more appealing to particular player types. These can be sorted in two axis based upon sociality or individualism, or by competition versus relaxation in play.

Figure 1: A theoretical classification of reward usage

GNS Theory
GNS Theory is a theory attached to RPGs that describes how players of games within this genre desire three types of rewarding outcomes: gamism, narrativism and simulationism. The theory shows how player type is tied to desired rewards, with players pursuing different rewards in RPGs based on these types.

Reinforcement
Reinforcement is the rewarding, or promoting, of desirable behaviour. This is demonstrated in the “Skinner Box”. When behaviour is reinforced with a reward or a punishment, it serves as a strengthener to the association of that behaviour, which encourages desired behavioral patterns due to the assumption of a reward, or the desire to avoid unpleasantness or punishment.

Types of Reward Systems in Video Games

 * A “Loot Box” is a system used to unlock in-game items. Systems involving Loot Boxes gained popularity in the mid 2010s. The system functions by having players purchase a random draw of in-game unlockables, which typically have variable rarity. Players are incentivised to purchase more boxes based off the guaranteed positive reward with the possibility of a greater reward. Loot Boxes have receieved criticism for emulating gambling behaviours.
 * Achievements are a restricted award used both in video games and gaming platforms (eg. PlayStation Network, Xbox Live) to reward players for various in-game accomplishments. Achievements are typically awarded for external goals, or meta goals, that fall outside of the core gameplay objectives. This entices certain players to purse these meta goals in search of a challenge - the achievement serves as a badge of merit for having done so.
 * Unlockables can refer to a wide range of features of a game that the player is able to typically access through gameplay. Unlockable content may require the player to accomplish certain objectives to earn it, or obtain virtual currency in order to do so.
 * Ranked Gameplay is an example of how competitive games use both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for a ‘meta goal’. In games focused on competitive multiplayer gameplay, gaining rank or climbing a leaderboard can be either intrinsically motivating due to enjoyment of improvement, or extrinsically motivating because of the pressure to improve.

Examples of Usage in Video Games

 * Daily Login Rewards are a common feature in mobile games. The purpose of offering players a reward purely for opening the game encourages frequent logins which in turn increases the likelihood of ingame spending. Mobile games such as Candy Crush and Game of War use this form of reward.
 * The Final Fantasy series features gameplay that involves repetitive grinding of defeating ingame enemies in order to level up and progress with the narrative. In this instance, the narrative is the desired reward, and therefore, due to the time investment to earn it, it becomes extrinsic.
 * Education games and apps, such as Duolingo, utilise both gamification and intrinsically motivating gameplay rewards, such as XP and positive updates on user fluency, in order to motivate users to continue to use the app daily. It is theorised that making games more intrinsically motivating will increase enthusiasm for training and education.
 * In competitive multiplayer games such as League of Legends, players are incentivised through both positive and negative reinforcement to treat other match-made players in a friendly manner. This is accomplished through both the rewarding of positive behaviour with ‘skin shards’ and other cosmetic rewards, and by punishing negative behaviour with various length of bans.