Summer 2005

On Computer Games and Addiction

We couldn't resist one more installment to take another fear factor issue head on. This time our topic is addiction and games. There's a lot of rhetoric about it out there, and we wanted to put our two cents in, because (after all) we're the ones that put the "a" back in addiction when we released Civilization III. And now we're getting ready to capitalize the word with the release of Sid Meier's Civilization IV.

But we really don't want to inundate you with Firaxlish. As always, we look to leaders in the field to see what they're thinking. So check out these comments courtesy of Noah Falstein, one of the industry's great thinkers and designers... and (then) let's get back to the game playing, okay?

The fact is that any compelling, enjoyable experience is potentially liable for abuse and addiction. Should cooks try to make sure their meals aren't too tasty to prevent some people overindulging? Should musicians make sure their compositions aren't too compelling to keep some people from zoning out and listening to them over and over? My wife recently was irritated because I wanted to stay up late to finish reading a book on brain research - I expect she would have been happier if it wasn't so well written so that I was less interested, but I was having a good time. If we succeed in making a fun learning experience that some people get so involved in that they lose track of time, I think it's a problem we can live with! Steve Meretzky did a great roundtable on this very topic a few GDC's ago, and a large number of people attending admitted to having resorted to tactics like hiding or even destroying software to prevent (sometimes unsuccessfully) a compulsion to keep playing games. Addiction is a tough term, but I think it can qualify in special cases - the fact is though, as with many other types of addiction, the very qualities that make it addicting are the same qualities others are paying for. The difference is in the perception of the user, or sometimes in the perception of those close to the user that there is harm involved. I am strongly convinced that the danger of addiction is not a reason to stop making games altogether, or even to make games less fun or compelling. Virtually everything pleasurable (and a lot of things most people find painful or repugnant) is indulged in to potentially harmful excess by some people. There was a recent news article about someone who died from drinking too much water (it was part of a hazing ceremony) - but in that case as with games, the answer is not to eliminate or (ahem) water down the "substance" but to deal with the behaviors or problems that make over-use of it have harmful consequences. Printed with permission of Noah Falstein, June 2005

Visit Civanon.org for a humorous view of addiction and the game Civilization.