Chemical Bombs / Games Theory / Candy Crush

Last night before bed I was contemplating Candy Crush.  I’ve played the game a lot before, and yet I can’t ever seem to say anything nice about it.  And yet, I continue playing over and over and over again until my lives run out and I’m told I have to go sit in a corner and wait.  And at some point, I come back and do the same thing over again. 

Why do I do it?  What makes me continue to play a pointless game?  Why do I continue playing when I can’t think of a nice thing to say about it? 

Better yet, how can I replicate that to create something that teaches?  I’ve messed with quite a few learning games before, but most of them are pretty much the same thing.  All of them allow you to participate as much as you want.  I think the scarcity mentality of the game is really what makes the game. 

I grew up on Super Mario Brothers.  We’re talking back in the in olden days when Nintendo and Sega were fighting like cat and dogs.  I had a Nintendo in those days, and my brother and I would play Super Mario brothers for hours.  And hours.  And hours.  At points, the game grew excruciatingly painful to play.  Certain sequences were just nightmares.  But eventually, through a combination of luck and skill the level could be defeated. 

The biggest thing about the game was its scarcity mentality.  There was a point in the game where it didn’t matter how good you had done the previous times, it was over.  When your lives ran out, it didn’t matter that you played for 30 straight hours.  It was over. 

And I think that scarcity mentality is part of what makes Candy Crush enjoyable.  If Candy Crush could be played for hours on end, it probably wouldn’t be played as much as it is.  But the scarcity mentality of only having a few lives makes the game slightly more interesting. 

Maybe I’ll turn it into a chemistry game called Chemical Bombs (a slight joke on Bonds) where you use a limited set of the periodic table to create balanced chemical equations.  The tiles would be the periodic table times, and the goal would be to create chemical bonds and create…  something.  Maybe several neutral equations, and seveal that were negative and some that were positive.  I think that depends on the level. 

Seems like a good idea to me…