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Games can feel rewarding because they give players room to choose, opportunities to see their skills grow, social connection, and challenges that hold attention. Psychology offers useful ways to explain those experiences, especially self-determination theory and research on flow. Neither is a formula that makes every game enjoyable for every person, and neuroscience has not identified one mechanism that explains the pleasure of play.
Why do games feel rewarding?
A game can make progress visible: choose an approach, try it, receive feedback, and adjust. That cycle can make a player feel both engaged and effective. When play also offers a sense of belonging or a challenge that sustains concentration, several sources of enjoyment can come together.
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Self-determination theory describes three psychological needs that help explain why some games appeal: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Przybylski, Rigby, and Ryan applied this framework to video-game engagement and well-being in 2010. It is a model of potential appeal, not a guarantee that a particular feature will satisfy every player. Read the study.
- Autonomy: feeling that you act with choice or volition.
- Competence: feeling capable of acting effectively and meeting a challenge.
- Relatedness: feeling connected to other people or part of a group.
Choice makes play feel like your own
Meaningful agency is more than a menu of options. A player may feel more autonomy when different strategies, decisions, or styles of play are genuinely available. Rules and constraints do not automatically remove that sense of choice; what matters is whether the player experiences the actions as their own.
#1 Best Overall
- GAME OF SWEET REVENGE: Enjoy classic Sorry! gameplay with this Sorry! board game for kids. It's an edge-of-your-seat race to home, so hurry up and get there first
- FIRST ONE HOME WINS: Who will be the first player to get all 3 of their pawns to the home space? But watch out! Players can get "sweet revenge" by sending each other's pawns back to the starting point
- SO MANY POSSIBILITIES: Slide, collide, and score to win the Sorry! game. This family game for kids and adults features so many possibilities depending on the card picked up and strategy chosen
- CLASSIC SORRY! GAMEPLAY: Remember playing the original Sorry! game as a kid? Bring back memories of playing the Sorry! game with family members and introduce it to a new generation
- FAMILY GAME NIGHT FAVORITE: A go-to game for family time or anytime indoor fun, the Sorry! game for kids is one of the best family games for game night
Progress makes effort legible
Clear goals and useful feedback can show what a player has learned and what to try next. A setback may be informative when it points toward another attempt, though failure is not enjoyable for everyone or in every situation.
A 2008 experiment in a game-learning context found that support for competence and relatedness affected most of the measured outcomes; perceived satisfaction of those needs mediated the significant experimental effects. That is evidence for the framework in that particular learning game, not proof that every entertainment game works the same way. Read the study.
Rank #2
- UNO card game provides classic play, where players match colors or numbers in a race to get rid of all their cards!
- Action Cards and Wild Cards add unexpected excitement and game-changing fun, like the Reverse Card that switches the direction of play!
- The deck includes 3 blank Wild Cards for house rules anyone can make up -- erase and create new rules each game!
- When down to one card, players don't want to forget to yell 'UNO!' Keep score and the first player or team to 500 wins!
- The color blind accessible deck has special graphic symbols on each card to help identify its color, allowing players with any form of color blindness to play!
Other people can add belonging—or competition
Cooperation, shared goals, and social interaction can make play feel connecting. Social competition may also appeal to some players, while others prefer playing alone. The value of social play depends on the person and the circumstances, rather than being an automatic benefit of multiplayer features.
What is flow in gaming?
Flow is an absorbed, focused experience that can feel pleasurable. In their 2020 review, Khoshnoud and colleagues define it as “intense involvement in an activity with high degrees of concentration and focused attention accompanied by a sense of pleasure.” Games are useful settings for studying flow because they can provide goals and feedback while varying challenge. Read the review.
Rank #3
- EXPLORE THE ISLAND OF CATAN: Settle the uninhabited island of Catan by gathering resources, building infrastructure, and nurturing trade relationships.
- STRATEGY AND COMPETITION: Compete with 2-3 opponents to expand your settlements and cities while managing resources and avoiding the robber.
- TRADE, BUILD, AND SETTLE: Use brick, wood, wheat, ore, and sheep to construct roads, settlements, and cities in your race to 10 victory points.
- REPLAYABLE AND ENGAGING: With a modular hexagonal board, no two games are the same, offering endless strategic opportunities and replayability.
- FOR FAMILIES AND STRATEGY ENTHUSIASTS: Designed for 3-4 players, ages 10 and up, CATAN 6th Edition is perfect for family game nights and friendly competition. Add the CATAN 5-6 Player Extension (sold separately) to expand your game to 5-6 players.
In everyday terms, a player in flow is deeply involved in what they are doing. A challenge that is too easy may not hold attention; one that feels unmanageable may frustrate rather than absorb. But there is no universal difficulty setting or perfect challenge-to-skill balance that produces flow for everyone. Flow is one kind of rewarding experience, not a synonym for all enjoyment.
What does neuroscience say about the pleasure of play?
Neuroscience has not settled on a single neural or physiological mechanism for flow. Khoshnoud and colleagues describe associations across a varied body of studies involving attention, arousal, reward processing, and other processes. Those findings map correlates of a complex experience; they do not establish one cause that explains why games feel good.
Rank #4
- CLASSIC BEGINNER GAME: Do you remember playing Candy Land when you were a kid. Introduce new generations to this sweet kids' board game
- RACE TO THE CASTLE: Players encounter all kinds of "delicious" surprises as they move their cute gingerbread man pawn around the path in a race to the castle
- NO READING REQUIRED TO PLAY: For kids ages 3 and up, Candy Land can be a great game for kids who haven't learned how to read yet
- GREAT GAME FOR LITTLE ONES: The Candy Land board game features colored cards, sweet destinations, and fun illustrations that kids love
It would therefore be an overstatement to say that dopamine alone explains gaming enjoyment or that games activate a single “pleasure center.” Flow is also an experience reported by the player, and the review notes the difficulty of capturing it in laboratory tasks. It recommends combining objective measurements with retrospective reports rather than treating either kind of measure as a complete account.
Do games improve well-being?
There is no single well-being outcome that applies to everyone who plays. A 2019 review describes video games as having “varied effects on well-being” and identifies motivation, social interaction, physical activity, game characteristics, and circumstances outside play as relevant factors. It discusses possible benefits in specific settings, including prosocial behavior in social contexts and enjoyment during physically active games, but does not support a blanket claim that gaming is always beneficial. Read the review.
Best Value
- CLASSIC CROSSWORD GAME: Get family and friends together for a fun game night with the Scrabble board game! Put letters together, build words, and earn the most points to win
- WOODEN TILES AND RACKS: This edition of the Scrabble game features 100 wooden letter tiles and wooden tile racks. The textured gameboard helps tiles stay on the board
- RACK UP THE POINTS: Scrabble letters are worth points, and premium squares on the gameboard multiply the score. Surprise opponents with 2-letter words, challenge their choices, and strategize to win
- GAME FOR 2-4 PLAYERS: Go for classic Scrabble gameplay in a head-to-head face-off, or mix things up and play in teams. The game guide offers expert tips, and other ways to play this classic word game
- FUN FAMILY GAME: Do you remember playing Scrabble when you were a kid? Introduce this fun game to your kids and grandkids! Connect over a classic board game and create memories for generations to come
The same caution applies to possible harms. The review frames the relationship between violent games and aggression as substantially dependent on individual and sociocontextual factors. A broad claim about all players or all circumstances goes beyond that framing.
What can gamified-learning research tell us?
Evidence about gamified education is not the same as evidence about commercial entertainment games. A 2024 meta-analysis examined 35 independent gamified-learning interventions published between 2011 and 2022, involving 2,500 participants. It reported a small average effect on intrinsic motivation and different-sized effects on perceived autonomy, relatedness, and competence. These estimates describe learning settings, not video games in general. Read the meta-analysis.
| Outcome in gamified-learning interventions | Reported effect | Interpretation in the study |
|---|---|---|
| Intrinsic motivation | Hedges’ g = 0.257; 95% CI [0.043, 0.471]; p = .019 | Small average effect across the 35 interventions |
| Perceived autonomy | Hedges’ g = 0.638; 95% CI [0.139, 1.136]; p = .012 | Positive effect |
| Perceived relatedness | Hedges’ g = 1.776; 95% CI [0.737, 2.814]; p = .001 | Positive effect |
| Perceived competence | Hedges’ g = 0.277; 95% CI [0.001, 0.553]; p = .049 | Described by the authors as a minimal impact |
Why the same game can feel different to different people
A game feature is not a universal source of pleasure. A branching story may appeal to a player who values choice; a demanding sequence may suit someone who enjoys practice and mastery; cooperative play may be rewarding for someone seeking connection. Another player may prefer less pressure, a solitary experience, or no particular challenge at all.
Research on flow and motivation can help describe these differences, but it does not establish an objectively most enjoyable genre or design. The relevant questions are what the player wants from play, how the game supports choice and progress, whether its social format fits them, and how play fits into the rest of their life.
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