This article explores how the design of gambling gameplay affects players' behavior and decision-making through psychological effects, and analyzes key factors such as the near-miss effect and the trade-off between risks and benefits.
near-miss effect
The near-miss effect means that in gambling, compared with winning and losing, "near-miss" losses will induce higher physiological arousal and stronger gambling motivation in individuals, leading to continued gambling.
This phenomenon has been analyzed primarily through three research paradigms: slot machine/slot-like tasks, roulette wheel tasks, and scratch-off lottery ticket tasks.
At present, the theoretical explanations for the near-miss effect mainly include the cognitive distortion hypothesis, the illusion of control theory and the frustration hypothesis.
Research on the brain mechanisms and pathology of the near-miss effect has just begun, and the brain functional areas involved include the insula and ventral striatum.
Future research should be further carried out in aspects such as theoretical model construction of the mechanism of near-miss effect, diversification of research paradigms, multi-modalization of research techniques, pathological mechanisms and clinical intervention.
The application of psychological effects in gambling
In the design of gambling games, psychological effects are widely used to influence players' decisions and behaviors. Among them, the hot stove effect, recency effect, suggestion effect and confirmation bias are commonly used psychological effects.
Hot furnace effect: When players encounter a negative outcome in the game, they will avoid the same outcome again. This effect is used in game design to design hidden elements, such as important plot points, to avoid negative impact on players.
Recency Effect: Players tend to overemphasize recent factors when evaluating the causes of events. In slot games, players may be influenced by recent betting results and have overly optimistic or pessimistic expectations about the next bet result.
Suggestion Effect: Use indirect methods to influence players' psychology and behavior, such as guiding players to perform specific operations through game announcements, slogans, and button designs.
Confirmation bias：When receiving information, players tend to choose information that fits their existing views and ignore or deny contrary information. In slot machine games, players may be influenced by their own beliefs about the rules or cycles of slot machine operations and ignore the randomness and unpredictability of slot machines.
Anchoring Effect：When making judgments, players are influenced by the first information or impression and ignore other relevant information. In slot machine games, players may be influenced by the appearance, sound, location and other factors of the slot machine, and have wrong expectations about its odds and probabilities.
Risk-return trade-off
In gambling games, players often need to make trade-offs between risk and reward, a process that is significantly affected by game design.
Taking Hearthstone as an example, players’ decisions are influenced by factors such as the number of enemy and friendly resources, resource utilization methods, and the current situation. These factors are all manifestations of risk and benefit, which increase the strategic depth of the game.
In some card games, due to the lack of risk-return design, players may feel that their decisions are meaningless, resulting in mechanical and repetitive winning of each game. On the contrary, in some games, due to the low foreseeable returns, players are in pain every time they make a decision, lacking the proper feedback and feedback.
The design of different mechanisms, such as the discard mechanism and combo mechanism, serves specific types of players and creates similar but different interesting experiences by achieving higher returns through small system decisions.
Motivation to continue gambling
The near-miss effect will induce higher physiological arousal and stronger behavioral motivation during gambling, causing players to continue gambling. This effect is not only present in traditional gambling games, but has also been observed in mobile games.
Research shows that the physiological and psychological mechanisms of the near-miss effect make the experience of losing when players are close to winning more exciting than completely losing. This phenomenon is particularly evident in gambling games such as slot machines, roulette and scratch-off lottery tickets, causing players to continue gambling and becoming one of the main causes of gambling addiction.
In addition to the near-miss effect, other psychological effects also play an important role in enhancing players' motivation to continue gambling. The cognitive distortion hypothesis posits that players mistakenly believe they have control over the outcome of a game, thereby increasing the frequency and duration of gambling. The illusion of control theory and the frustration hypothesis also provide explanations for the near-miss effect, further revealing how this effect affects player behavior through psychological mechanisms.
Gaming Addiction
Developers use the psychological effects of gambling to design addictive games that keep players engaged for long periods of time. By studying the psychological effects of gambling addiction, developers can cleverly apply these principles in game design to enhance player immersion and continued engagement.
The near-miss effect is an important psychological effect. Research shows that players' losses when they are close to winning trigger higher physiological arousal and gambling motivation, causing them to continue gambling. This effect is not only valid in traditional gambling, but also in some mobile games.
Developers also use the effects of dopamine to enhance the appeal of the game. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that makes people feel happy. Many krypton gold games design addictive mechanisms to continuously stimulate the player's brain to release dopamine, so that players can't forget the game.
In order to maximize the effect of dopamine, marginal effects are also considered in game design. Marginal effects refer to the fact that the more times a player receives a certain reward, the less satisfaction it brings. Therefore, the game needs to constantly update the reward mechanism to keep the player fresh and interested.
By combining these psychological effects, developers can design addictive games that keep players engaged for a long time. This not only increases the stickiness of the game, but also brings considerable economic benefits to the developers.
