Curr Addict Rep (2017) 4:272–283

DOI 10.1007/s40429-017-0162-y

TECHNOLOGY ADDICTION (J BILLIEUX, SECTION EDITOR)

An Overview of Structural Characteristics in Problematic Video

Game Playing
Mark D. Griffiths 1 & Filip Nuyens 1

Published online: 13 July 2017

# The Author(s) 2017. This article is an open access publication

Abstract resources, mastering the video game, getting 100% in-game).

Purpose of Review There are many different factors involved The study of video games from a structural characteristic per-
in how and why people develop problems with video game spective is of benefit to many different stakeholders including
playing. One such set of factors concerns the structural char- academic researchers, video game players, and video game
acteristics of video games (i.e., the structure, elements, and designers, as well as those interested in prevention and
components of the video games themselves). Much of the policymaking by making the games more socially responsible.
research examining the structural characteristics of video It is important that researchers understand and recognize the
games was initially based on research and theorizing from psycho-social effects and impacts that the structural character-
the gambling studies field. The present review briefly over- istics of video games can have on players, both positive and
views the key papers in the field to date. negative.
Recent Findings The paper examines a number of areas in-
cluding (i) similarities in structural characteristics of gambling Keywords Gaming addiction . Problematic gaming .
and video gaming, (ii) structural characteristics in video Structural characteristics . Internet gaming disorder .
games, (iii) narrative and flow in video games, (iv) structural Gambling addiction
characteristic taxonomies for video games, and (v) video
game structural characteristics and game design ethics.
Many of the studies carried out to date are small-scale, and Introduction
comprise self-selected convenience samples (typically using
self-report surveys or non-ecologically valid laboratory Problematic video game playing is multifaceted rather than a
experiments). unitary phenomenon. Consequently, many factors may come
Summary Based on the small amount of empirical data, it into play in various ways and at different levels of analysis
appears that structural features that take a long time to achieve (e.g., psychological, biological, social, situational, structural).
in-game are the ones most associated with problematic video Put very simply, there are many different factors involved in
game play (e.g., earning experience points, managing in-game how and why people develop problems with video game
playing. Central to this view is that no single level of analysis
This article is part of the Topical Collection on Technology Addiction is considered sufficient to explain either the etiology or the
maintenance of video game playing behavior. This perspec-
* Mark D. Griffiths tive asserts that all research is context-bound and should be
[Link]@[Link] analyzed from a biopsychosocial perspective [1]. One set of
factors that are arguably central to understanding video game
Filip Nuyens
filip.nuyens2016@[Link]
playing behavior is that of the structure, components, and
elements of the video games themselves (i.e., structural char-
1
International Gaming Research Unit, Psychology Department,
acteristics). Over the last decade or so, a small body of both
Nottingham Trent University, 50 Shakespeare Street, theoretical and empirical papers has examined the role that
Nottingham NG1 4FQ, UK structural characteristics play in the acquisition, development,
Curr Addict Rep (2017) 4:272–283 273

and maintenance of video game playing and problematic vid- users”), Karlsen reported that near misses and entrapment
eo game playing. The present paper briefly overviews the key were present in WoW (although not as strong as found in
papers in the field to date. gambling) and influenced by other elements such as social
engagement and competition (elements that might have a
strong effect on propensity to play excessively).
Similarities in Structural Characteristics
of Gambling and Video Gaming
Structural Characteristics in Video Games
Much of the theoretical and empirical work on structural char-
acteristics in video games has borrowed concepts and terminol- Griffiths and Wood [31] in a review of gambling and gaming
ogy from the gambling studies field. Work in the 1990s by noted that key structural characteristics are the in-built rewards
Griffiths [2, 3] demonstrated that gambling activities vary con- that have the potential to induce repetitive behavior via the
siderably in terms of their structural characteristics, such as the partial reinforcement effect [32]. This is arguably one of the
probability of winning, the length of the interval between the most important psycho-structural mechanisms of playing vid-
wagering on an activity and the result of the wager (i.e., event eo games and slot machines in that the rewards (i.e., reinforce-
frequency), the number of wagers that can be made at any one ments) are intermittent (i.e., individuals keep playing with the
time, the size of stake, the size of the jackpot, and the use of the hope that the next reward is “just around the corner” [31]).
near wins. Structural variations have also been observed for When designing attractive and appealing video games, knowl-
specific forms of gambling such as slot machines where there edge concerning the partial reinforcement effect gives video
are structural differences in terms of color, sound effects, and game designers a mechanism to facilitate persistent play. As
theme which can influence the attractiveness of the games be- Griffiths and Wood [31] argue, the reinforcement magnitude is
ing played [4, 5, 6•]. Applied to the playing of video games, important and the bigger the in-game rewards, the faster the
structural features may have implications for gamers’ motiva- gamer is likely to play, and a greater resistance to extinction
tions and the potential “addictiveness” of gaming activities [7]. will be experienced. There are many different reinforcements
A number of authors have noted the structural, behavioral, within gaming including intrinsic rewards (e.g., mastering the
and psychological similarities between specific forms of gam- game, attempting to better one’s own highest score in-game,
bling games (i.e., slot machines) and video games [8–10, 11•, bettering the scores of others, getting one’s name in the “hall
12]. For instance, Fisher and Griffiths [9] asserted playing slot of fame”) and extrinsic rewards (e.g., receiving admiration
machines and video games comprise many similarities both from one’s peers for good playing), and it is likely that differ-
structurally and behaviorally including (i) players having to ent structural characteristics are differently rewarding for dif-
respond to visual stimuli that are controlled by a software ferent gamers.
loop, (ii) the need for players to have good hand-eye coordi- The first paper to empirically examine multiple structural
nation and concentration to play the game, (iii) the rapid speed characteristics in video game playing was by Wood, Griffiths,
of the games which to some extent require skillful play (but Chappell and Davies [33•]. In a study comprising 382 gamers,
much more pronounced in video game play), (iv) players be- they assessed which structural characteristics (if any) were
ing provided with visual and aural rewards when winning, (v) most important for those playing video games and which fea-
the accumulation of more points/money when winning, and tures were the most appealing. In devising the list of structural
(vi) the potential attention and approval by the player’s peer characteristics, they used a number of data sources including
group when playing. (i) reviewing research papers in the field of video game de-
In the gambling studies field, there are now dozens of pub- sign, (ii) reviewing papers in the field of gambling structural
lished experiments that have manipulated various structural characteristics, (iii) playing a wide variety of video games
characteristics and demonstrated that such features can pro- available at the time of the study, and (iv) interviewing gamers
long gambling compared to games without such features. This about structural features within video games. Based on these
includes many experiments demonstrating that “near misses” data sources, the main structural characteristics examined in
can increase arousal levels and facilitate repeated gambling the study were:
[13–26], as well as experiments showing persistent gambling
can be influenced by such structural characteristics as jackpot & Sound (e.g., in-game sound effects, background music,
size [18], big wins [22], small wins [27], stake size [28], music characters speaking)
[29, 30], and color [30]. Karlsen [11•] compared the psycho- & Graphics (e.g., use of realistic graphics, cartoon graphics,
structural elements that contribute to excessive gambling and full motion video features).
video gaming, focusing particularly on the elements of the & Background and setting (e.g., video games based on a
near miss and entrapment. In qualitative interviews with 12 book, television program, film; use of realistic or fantasy
World of Warcraft (WoW) players (described as “heavy settings).
274 Curr Addict Rep (2017) 4:272–283

& Duration of game (i.e., how long video games typically and Skalski [37] described an experiment in which image
take to finish). quality was manipulated. Findings demonstrated that vid-
& Rate of play (i.e., how quickly gamers “absorb” or “get eo games with higher quality images led to higher levels
into” the video game). of telepresence (i.e., the sense of “being there” [38]) and
& Advancement rate (i.e., the speed in which the gameplay immersion among players. While these studies are of in-
advances in-game). terest from a structural characteristic perspective, none of
& Humor (i.e., the use of humor in-game). them specifically addressed the relationship between
& Control options (e.g., what gamers can control in-game such characteristics and problematic/addictive play (al-
including sound, graphics, and skill settings, choice of though some alluded to it).
control methods).
& Game dynamics (e.g., exploring new domains, complet-
ing quests, developing skills, collecting in-game items, Narrative and Flow in Video Games
surviving in-game, shooting things, solving puzzles, solv-
ing time limited problems, building environments). Another study that examined a single gaming structural char-
& Winning and losing features (i.e., losing or gaining points, acteristic was by Qin and colleagues [39] who developed a
finding bonuses, re-starting a level, saving regularly). new psychometric instrument to assess story narratives.
& Character development (e.g., developing character in- Compared to more traditional stories (such as those found in
game over time, customizing character). books, and radio, television and film drama), video game story
& Brand assurance (e.g., being loyal to a brand, using celeb- narratives are often non-linear and interactive. While books or
rity endorsement). films simply need to narrate a story, a video game also has to
& Multiplayer features (e.g., using multiplayer options, provide a gaming environment through its narrative. The level
building alliances, beating other players). of game narrative also varies between the video game genres.
For instance, most fighting games present little in the way of
Wood et al. [33•] reported that a high degree of realism was narrative while other kinds of games such as role-playing
important in-game for video game players (i.e., realistic set- games will include much more detailed and intense narratives.
tings, graphics, and sound effects). Other important character- Given that video games are more interactive than other
istics included character development, a rapid absorption rate, media, a video game designer can hide part of the story,
multiplayer features, and game customization. encouraging the player to explore the game world. Two
Other studies have reported that specific structural main aspects define interactivity. The first is that the story
characteristic in-game can motivate video game play. is shaped both by the gamer’s way to interact with the
For instance, an experiment by Chumbley and Griffiths game’s character(s) and by how they choose to overcome
[34] assessed gamers’ willingness to continue to play a the difficulties. The second mainly concerns Massively
video game based on the level of reinforcement in-game. Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGS),
At a basic level, video games which offered frequent and relates to the way players interact with each other
rewards and fewer obstacles provided higher levels of in-game. The uncertainty (i.e., the player not entirely
motivation to play among gamers. In a similar study, knowing the narrative and creating it by playing) causes
King and Delfabbro [35] reported that utilization of con- players to move swiftly into the narrative and helps them
current in-game reward structures kept gamers playing to more fully understand it. Another important point in the
for longer periods. Wolfson and Case [36] demonstrated video game narrative is its game structure which, accord-
that some structural characteristics of video games may ing to the conflict-driven model analysis [40], is com-
affect physiological and cognitive responses while posed of several conflicts evolving in their level of
playing. In a small experiment, they manipulated the difficulty.
sound (loud/quiet) and background screen color (red/ According to Salen and Zimmerman [41], there are two
blue) while participants played a video game. Their re- main structures in understanding video game narrative com-
sults showed that players’ performance on red screens ponents: embedded narrative and emergent narrative. The
peaked midway through the game and then deteriorated first is the core narrative that exists in the game without the
whereas those playing on a blue screen gradually im- player intervention. The second is constructed via the player’s
proved during the gaming session. They reported a sim- interaction with the game. Majewski [42] asserts the interac-
ilar pattern on players’ heart rates and suggested that tion between emergent and embedded narrative can be
arousal may be implicated. The study also found that expressed into four main models of narrative structure: (i) a
the use of sound on its own had little impact, whereas series of pre-set events (i.e., with choices and possibilities
the combination of red and loud sound was associated between the events), (ii) multiplicity of paths (i.e., each choice
with excitement and playing well. A study by Bracken leading to a different storyline), (iii) central storyline (i.e., the
Curr Addict Rep (2017) 4:272–283 275

narrative is fragmented in sub-plots and the player can move Hull et al. [46] carried out a small survey study examining
freely between those), and (iv) unstructured narrative (i.e., the whether the structural characteristics of video games, happi-
player creating the whole story by playing). ness, and flow could predict of video game addiction.
Chen, Wigand, and Nilan [43] claim that narrative cannot Gamers (n = 110) were asked questions assessing video game
be explored without including the three stages of the flow addiction (Game Addiction Scale [47]), the extent to which 24
experience: antecedents (i.e., the prerequisites, the skills need- structural characteristics were integral to video game enjoyment
ed in the activity), experience (i.e., factors perceived in the [48•], flow (Flow State Scale [49]), and happiness (Oxford
state of flow), and effects (the individual’s experience of flow). Happiness Questionnaire [50]). Findings demonstrated that de-
With respect to the playing of video games, flow refers to the creases in general happiness were the strongest predictor of
intense enjoyment of immersion while gaming [44]. gaming addiction. In relation to structural characteristics, it
Consequently, gamers’ sense of time can become distorted was those associated with increased sociability that significantly
without them realizing that they have spent long periods predicted video game addiction. In total, happiness, the struc-
playing the video game [45]. Because this is so rewarding tural characteristics of video games, and flow accounted for
for gamers, some continually engage in the behavior to elicit 49.2% of the total variance in video game addiction levels.
repeat experiences. Being so engrossed in the game can also However, it should be noted that one study (a conference paper
provide feelings of escape from the stresses and strains of the by Gackenbach [51]) did not find any relationship between the
real world. Most of the time, this is positive for the gamers but structural characteristics of games and the experience of psy-
for a small minority, it may be detrimental as they constantly chological flow during game play.
crave repeated emotional “highs” from their video game Laffan Greaney, Barton, and Kaye [52•] noted that stud-
playing [46]. ies examining the links between pleasure, rewards, and
The study by Qin et al. [39] explored flow and immersion in video games have yielded inconsistent results (e.g.,
gaming narratives based on six dimensions: curiosity, concen- playing either for immediate rewards such as escapism or
tration, comprehension, control, challenge, and empathy. for more motivational reasons). They explored the relation-
Firstly, they surveyed 309 participants who completed a 30- ship between flow and the structural characteristics within
item questionnaire and carried out exploratory factor analysis. video games. As noted earlier, although the concept of
The questionnaire was then reduced to 27 items and completed flow in video games can mostly be considered as a positive
by 325 participants for confirmatory factor analysis (almost all state, some negative outcomes can rise, such as time loss or
participants were ages 20 to 30 years). The confirmatory factor anxiety if players spend large amounts of time gaming.
analysis found that a seven-factor model was the best fit (com- More specifically, Laffan et al. investigated the relation-
prising curiosity, comprehension, challenge and skill, empathy, ships between the structural video game characteristics
concentration, control, and familiarity) with familiarity being (e.g., social features, presentation features, punishment
added at the second stage. More specifically, the instrument’s features from the taxonomy developed by King et al.
final dimensions based upon the data collected and analyzed [48•]), happiness, and components of video game engage-
were (taken verbatim from the paper, pp. 127–128): ment (e.g., psychological absorption, immersion) via an
online survey. The sample comprised an international sam-
& Curiosity: Arousal of senses and cognition and attraction ple of 207 video game players who answered questions
to explore game narrative. relating to their most played or favorite video game.
& Concentration: Ability to concentrate long-term on the The authors reported that flow correlated significantly with
game narrative. the social features, reward features, punishment features, and
& Challenge and skills: Some relative difficulty in the game presentation features although only the punishment features
narrative for players and corresponding players’ skills. (e.g., restarting a level, losing a life) and presentation features
& Control: Ability to exercise a sense of control over game (e.g., graphics, audio effects) significantly predicted flow level
narrative. after carrying out a hierarchical multiple regression. Flow was
& Comprehension: Understanding the structure and content most likely to occur when the gamers rated presentation and
of the storyline. punishment as important in gameplay. This appears to make
& Empathy: Mentally entering into the imaginary game sense because the player must encounter some difficulties (via
world while playing the game. punishment features) and be immersed in the game (via pre-
& Familiarity: Being familiar with the game story. sentation features) to experience flow. General happiness only
weakly predicted flow. The authors concluded that presenta-
The authors recommend their instrument be used by any tion and punishment features facilitated flow experiences be-
researchers exploring the relationship between narrative and cause the punishment aspects of video game playing may be
immersion, although the applicability in terms of problematic contributory factors to the difficulty of playing and the amount
gaming was not mentioned at all in the study. of effort needed for a state of flow to be reached.
276 Curr Addict Rep (2017) 4:272–283

Structural Characteristic Taxonomies for Video demonstrated that specific types of structural characteristic
Games appeared to be better predictors of problematic gaming than
factors such as age, gender, and the time spent gaming weekly.
In the gambling studies field, structural characteristic taxon- The study by Hull et al. [46] outlined above also reported
omies have been developed for both online gambling activi- similar results in relation to the structural characteristics most
ties [53] and offline gambling activities [6•]. In the video game associated with gaming addiction.
literature, one of the most comprehensive structural character- Using a different methodological approach, Westwood and
istic taxonomy for video games was developed by King et al. Griffiths [56•] developed a structural characteristic taxonomy
[48•]. They utilized and modified known structural character- of video games using Q-methodology (a mixed methods tech-
istics from the gambling studies literature as well as previous nique that allows researchers to systematically access individ-
research in the gaming literature (most notably that of Wood ual’s “points of view” concerning a particular topic both quan-
et al. [33•]) to create their new video game structural charac- titatively and qualitatively). The authors investigated the
teristic taxonomy. The taxonomy comprised five types of psycho-structural elements of video games that most motivat-
overarching structural features comprising 24 different sub- ed individuals to play. An online Q-sort task was carried out
features that King et al. claimed can influence video game by 40 gamers (38 males) which led to six distinct types of
playing behavior. These five types of structural feature are gamers based on factor analysis: (i) casual gamers (preference
(i) social aspects of gaming (social features), (b) gamers’ roles for short games with good graphics or mission-based games;
in influencing in-game outcomes (manipulation and control played 8 h a week on average), (ii) social gamers (preference
features), (c) gamers’ roles in character creation and interac- for social multiplayer games; played 12 h a week on average),
tive storytelling (narrative and identity features), (d) ways in (iii) solo limited gamers (no specific game type preference
which gamers win and lose in-game (reward and punishment apart from a preference to play on their own; played 13 h a
features), and (e) auditory and visual presentation of video week on average), (iv) solo control/identity gamers (prefer-
games (presentation features) (see Table 1). The paper spec- ence for story-driven games with character choice or develop-
ulated on how these features applied to problematic gaming, ment, particularly role-playing games; played 18 h a week on
but openly acknowledged that which features specifically con- average), (v) story-driven solo gamers (preference for story
tributed most to excessive and/or problematic gaming needed driven high-definition graphic single-player games; played
further investigation. 17 h a week on average), and (vi) hardcore online gamers
Consequently, the same team [54•] carried out an empirical (preference for online games within wide franchises; played
study to investigate the role of structural characteristics in 18 h a week on average). The study also found that the in-
gaming among sample of 421 gamers (aged 14 to 57 years). game sound effects and graphics facilitated a more immersive
Utilizing an online survey, gamers were asked questions and realistic context for the video game’s rewards and story-
concerning their video game playing behavior, their interac- telling design. Almost all gamers (apart from the solo control/
tion with video game structural characteristics, and problem- identity gamers) highlighted the necessity for realistic
atic gaming. Findings demonstrated that structural character- graphics and high-quality sound.
istics comprising reward and punishment features (e.g., level- Other taxonomies of video game design have been devel-
ing up, finding rare items, earning points, fast loading times oped including the “Mechanics, Dynamics and Affect” (MDA
[i.e., high event frequency]) were the most enjoyable and im- [57]) taxonomy and the “Design, Play and Experience” (DPA
portant aspects of gaming. The results also showed that nar- [58]) taxonomy. The MDA taxonomy describes eight terms
rative elements (e.g., participation in an interactive story) were (some motivational and some structural) that underpin the
highly rated by all gamers, consistent with the idea that inter- features of video games that are fun to players (i.e., fantasy,
active video game playing experience is important for its challenge, narrative, expression, discovery, fellowship,
escape-like qualities [55]. sensation, and submission). The DPA taxonomy was devel-
Compared to non-problematic gamers, those with a gaming oped to describe the design for serious video games and added
problem reported a significantly higher level of enjoyment of other categories to the MDA taxonomy including learning,
specific structural features including the finding of rare items, competition, altruism, and physical activity. Although both
watching video game cut-scenes, accessing adult content in- of these taxonomies concern video game design, neither fea-
game, and the tactile sensation (i.e., “feel”) of using a game tures what would classically be seen as featuring structural
controller. The most highly rated structural features by prob- characteristics and neither has been empirically investigated.
lem gamers were earning points, managing in-game resources, Quick, Atkinson, and Lin [59] extended on previous re-
mastering the video game, and getting 100% in-game. The search into the structural characteristics and design features
commonality among these features is that they are those that of video games by including personality variables. They noted
take up far more playing time than other structural features. these previous studies and taxonomies focused on frequent
Using a multiple regression statistical analysis, it was also gamers or on specific games (e.g., serious games) or gamers
Curr Addict Rep (2017) 4:272–283 277

Table 1 Summary of the five-

feature model of video game Feature type Sub-features Examples
structural characteristics (adapted
and updated from the Social features - Social utility features - In-game voice and text chat
International Journal of Mental - Social - Guilds/clans in MMORPGs
Health and Addiction, Video formation/-
Game Structural Characteristics: institutional features
A New Psychological Taxonomy, - Leader board features - “Hall of fame” high score list
Volume 8, 2010, page, King, - Support network - Internet forums, strategy guides
Delfabbro & Griffiths, with features
permission of Springer) - Some game genres offer international ranking systems (e.g.,
MOBA, RTS)
Manipulation and - User input features - “Combos,” “hot keys”
control features - Save features - Checkpoints, “quick-save”
- Player management - Managing multiple resources
features
- Non-controllable - Scripted events, loading screens
features
- Those features are of particular importance in RTS games.
Narrative and - Avatar creation - Choice of sex, race, attributes
identity features features
- Storytelling device - Cut-scenes, mission briefing
features
- Theme and genre - “Role-playing,” “shooting”
features
Reward and - General reward type -Experience points, bonuses
punishment features
features - Punishment features - Losing a life, restarting a level
- Meta-game reward - Xbox 360 achievement points
features
- Intermittent reward - Increasing difficulty of levels
features
- Negative reward - Gaining health, repairing items
features
- Near miss features - Difficult “boss” at end of level
- Event frequency - Unlimited replayability of game
features
- Event duration - MMORPGs have no endpoint
features
- Payout interval - Rewarded instantly for playing.
features
In RTS games, bad decisions can set off a domino effect
resulting in a lost game. In MOBA games, losing too many
matches will lead to a drop in the ranking of the player. Also,
the event duration will vary between the games, MOBA
lasting mostly between 20 and 40 min, while RTS might
vary importantly (i.e., between a few minutes and an hour).
Presentation - Graphics and sound - Realistic graphics, fast music
features features
- Franchise features - Trademarked names, e.g., Mario
- Explicit content - Violence, drug use, nudity
features
- In-game advertising - Real-life brands, sponsors logos
features
- Despite becoming very popular, MOBA games do not really
have franchises yet, with only Defense of the Ancient having
a sequel.

(e.g., Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game 18 different features (3D graphics, realistic graphics, collect
(MMORPG) players), and their study attempted to create a things, search for hidden things, explore things, fantasy world,
taxonomy working for a wider number of gamers, including play with friends, single player, more than one player, other
278 Curr Addict Rep (2017) 4:272–283

gender, other race, other species, challenging obstacles, dif- week. Of these, 16% preferred playing alone, 9% with
ficult to master, display skills in public, high core, and play one other, and 72% with more than one other.
online). More specifically, they examined the relationship be-
tween structural characteristics and personality by assessing When comparing the six factors with the MDA [57] and
15 sub-traits of the Five Factor Model using 60 items from the DPE [58] models, it shows that several of the factors were
International Personality Item Pool-Neuroticism, present in the other older models, indicating that such factors
Extraversion, and Openness (IPIP-NEO [60]). appear to be salient in the video game playing experience.
They surveyed 293 participants (64% female, median age Compared to King et al.’s [48•] taxonomy, the study by
of 21 years). Two sets of analyses were conducted: firstly, a Quick et al. failed to identify manipulation and control factors,
factor analysis to determine the factors concerning game de- although it gave rise to an exploration factor that was not
sign, and secondly a cluster analysis to explore associations present in King et al.’s theoretical taxonomy. It should also
between video game structural characteristics and personality. be noted that the previous theoretical taxonomies only includ-
The factor analyses on game characteristics yielded six factors ed game-related features, whereas this empirical study also
explaining 58% of the video game preference variance. These included personality factors, thus leading to player groups
were subsequently labeled fantasy, referring to the enjoyment not comparable with previous studies. However, this study
of role playing (13% of the variance); exploration, referring to suffers from a number of limitations. The sample was only
the enjoyment of exploring, collecting, and finding hidden recruited from a large public university of the USA, contained
items (12%); fidelity, referring to the realism of the game relatively few participants, comprised predominantly of fe-
(9%); companionship, referring to the pleasure of playing with males, and (based on the average number of hours per week
friends or in multiplayer environments (9%); challenge, refer- played) included mainly casual and infrequent gamers. It is
ring to mastery and overcoming obstacles (8%); and highly unlikely that the results are generalizable to more hard-
competition, referring to displaying one’s skills and competing core gamers or those experiencing problems with their gam-
with others (7%). ing. Future research should include an examination of whether
The cluster analyses used the six factors above and 15 personality factors have any relationship with particular struc-
personality traits (i.e., achievement-striving, activity level, al- tural characteristics (as has been suggested by Peever,
truism, anger, assertiveness, cooperation, dutifulness, emo- Johnson, and Gardner [61]). For instance, it could be that
tionality, excitement-seeking, gregariousness, imagination, extraverts prefer playing social video games whereas intro-
morality, self-consciousness, self-discipline, and self-efficacy) verts may prefer solo standalone video games.
to create a typology of six sub-groups of player. The optimal When discussing taxonomies of structural characteristics, it
solution contained six clusters: is also worth noting that there are of course different genres of
online games such as Massively Multiplayer Online Role
& Dutiful companions: Comprising 21% of the participants Playing Games (MMORPGs), First-Person Shooter (FPS)
and playing for an average 1 h per week. Of these, 27% games, Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games,
preferred playing alone, 44% with one other, and 27% and Real-Time Strategy (RTS) games. However, these online
with more than one other. game genres are not structural characteristics because struc-
& Extraverted fidelitist companions: Comprising 19% of the tural characteristics are the elements and components of the
participants and playing for an average 2.4 h per week. Of video games and not the games themselves. For instance, in
these, 26% preferred playing alone, 18% with one other, the gambling studies field, genres equivalent to RTS or
and 53% with more than one other. MOBA games might be games like online poker or blackjack
& Imaginative fidelitist explorers: Comprising 17% of the whereas MMORPGS might have more in common with on-
participants and playing for an average 3.6 h per week. line bingo because of the highly social elements of the games.
Of these, 29% preferred playing alone, 31% with one oth- Games in both the gambling and video game fields comprise
er, and 35% with more than one other. different genres but the genres themselves are not structural
& Conscientious companions: Comprising 16% of the par- characteristics and should not be thought of as such. However,
ticipants and playing on average 1.34 h per week. Of while most research examining problematic gaming has
these, 19% preferred playing alone, 46% with one other, tended to focus on MMORPGs, there is a growing body of
and 35% with more than one other. research that has compared different genres of online games
& Introverted challenge-seeking fidelitists: Comprising 15% [62–67], research that is important in itself. With regard to the
of the participants and playing on average 1.39 h per structural characteristics of different online games, while some
week. Of these, 47% preferred playing alone, 33% with of the features will be present in most of types of online games
one other, and 19% with more than one other. (e.g., presence of a chat, possibility to achieve a ranking),
& Calm challenge-seeking companions: Comprising 12% of other features differ greatly between the game genres. For
the participants and playing on average for 1.37 h per example, while FPS games and MOBA games feature
Curr Addict Rep (2017) 4:272–283 279

relatively stable session duration (i.e., around 15- and 30-min more constructive behavior rather than a more “destructive”
session times respectively), RTS feature greater variation in one. The authors claim that such mediations could work via
session duration (e.g., in Starcraft II, a short game can last less emotions on three different levels (i.e., visceral, behavioral,
than 10 min, while others can last much longer such as Age of and reflective) but focus their analysis on the behavioral level
the Empire 2). and examine the “function and use of a product” as they be-
lieve that this is the most crucial aspect in gaining insight into
the development of problematic gaming.
Video Game Structural Characteristics and Game Klemm and Pieters claim that several game mechanics trig-
Design Ethics ger player emotions, and thus impact on their subsequent be-
havior (mainly resulting in the continuance of playing within
More recently, Klemm and Pieters [68•] examined some of the session). One game mechanic included in all MMORPGs is
ethical issues concerning game design and structural charac- the reward system involving the use of operant conditioning
teristics. They noted that much of the current focus on the that leads to repetitive play because the player cannot predict
ethics of gaming concerns the content of games (such as sex when the next reward (e.g., leveling up, money, valuable in-
and violence) but that little consideration has been given to game items) will be provided within-game. Another game
game mechanics such as the reward systems that video game mechanic used in video games to enhance time spent in-
developers design into the games to make gamers play for game is the social interactions. MMORPGs are designed to
longer. Taking the case of MMORPGs, Klemm and Pieters make it very hard—if not impossible—in some games to ad-
argue that such games can affect players differently, and can vance in-game alone. Basically, individuals have to form stra-
lead to addiction via motivations or attraction. Here, the au- tegic partnerships and work as a team to advance and that
thors argue that “attraction addiction” is where the content and some quests within the game can take hours at a time. One
design of the video game facilitates addiction, whereas “mo- person leaving the game—even if they have been playing
tivation addiction” facilitates the development of addiction via together for hours—can lead to failure for the whole group
the human aspects (including psychological factors such as in-game. Players become socially obliged to play even if they
personality characteristics). do not want to or do not really have the time to play.
However, as a number of authors have pointed out, struc- Klemm and Pieters evaluated the ethics of video game
tural characteristics and individual characteristics can impact design mechanics utilizing Tromp et al.’s [70] model of tech-
on each other. Griffiths [2, 3] noted with regard to structural nological mediation. According to this model, a design can
characteristics in slot machine gambling that such character- influence one’s behavior either strongly or weakly, and im-
istics can potentially be differentiated as either a “pure” struc- plicitly or explicitly, leading to four quadrants: coercive (i.e.,
tural characteristic (i.e., what the developer designs into the explicit and strong), persuasive (i.e., explicit and weak),
machine game) or a psycho-structural characteristic (i.e., an seductive (i.e., Implicit and weak), and decisive (i.e., implicit
individual’s relation or reaction to a particular structural char- and strong). The authors claim that the game mechanics of
acteristic within a game). The same observation has also been MMORPGs mechanics are mostly seductive, although some
made in relation to the structural characteristics of video players may be aware of such mechanics, shifting such me-
games [33•]. Similarly, Hamlen [69] noted that the problem chanics to being persuasive (e.g., the probability of getting an
of approaching motivation from either a game structure per- item will be hidden from the players). Such mechanics do not
spective or a psychological motivation perspective is that vid- have to be negative, as some MMORPGs include game me-
eo games “must be designed in such a way as to elicit these chanics reducing the time spent in a single session (e.g., log-
feelings and responses from the player, thus involving both ging off for a few hours to gain extra experience points next
game design and intrinsic motivation” (p. 533). time the player logs onto the game). However, many games
Klemm and Pieters also note that when game developers require daily log-ins to the game to gain experience bonuses).
create software for a video game, they will “impose” a behav- The authors also offer several ways to improve the
ior to the user either consciously (i.e., coding, knowing what game mechanics in a way that would lead to less prob-
behavior they want to achieve) or unconsciously (i.e., behav- lematic use. For example, more transparent fixed chances
ior as an unexpected a side effect). They claim that coding to to get an item would allow the players to know how long
modify a video game player’s behavior is common in they may need to play before getting an item, thus
MMORPGs (e.g., coding reward systems so that gamers will preventing some from engaging in a long activity. They
play for longer). To help overcome problematic play, they also propose a linear leveling system where it would take
assert that game designers should incorporate “technological as much time to get between levels 1 and 10, as between
mediation” (i.e., coding video games to avoid or discourage 40 and 50. Some countries (e.g., China, South Korea)
misuse). The purpose of such mediation is not to force players have introduced “fatigue systems” for minors who after
to adopt a particular behavior but to make them “choose” a 3 h of gaming, start to punish the individual if they
280 Curr Addict Rep (2017) 4:272–283

continue the play the game (e.g., getting only half of the establish which structural features appear to be most associat-
experience points needed to advance in the game in the ed with problematic gaming but it appears that features that
fourth or fifth hour of gaming, and no points after 5 h of take a long time to achieve in-game are (unsurprisingly) the
gameplay) [71]. ones rated highly by problem players (e.g., earning experience
Such examples have a purpose to remove game mechanics points, managing in-game resources, mastering the video
that may lead to addictive use, but Klemm and Pieters high- game, getting 100% in-game).
light other game mechanics that promote a healthier use of There is clearly robust theory underpinning why some
video games. For example, the awarding of badges, rewards, structural characteristics contribute to addictive video game
or bonus experience for players not connecting more than 20 h playing. For instance, operant conditioning helps explain
per week. Furthermore, displaying the time spent on the game why gamers experiencing problems highly rate structural fea-
clearly to players would help them realize when they have tures such as experience points, rapid loading times, meta-
been playing for too long, helping them to reduce the length game rewards, and collecting rare in-game items. Many of
of future sessions. Such recommendations also echo the these rewards operate on variable reinforcement schedules,
thoughts of other scholars [72, 73] who have recommended known to facilitate a repetitive response patterns to stimuli
that (like the gambling industry) the video game industry over time and which are often resistant to behavioral extinc-
should espouse a duty of care for their clientele and should tion. However, there are many structural characteristics where
incorporate policies and strategies that facilitate social respon- operant conditioning theory is less able to explain the rewards
sibility, responsible gaming, player protection, and harm min- gained by players when interacting with a video game (e.g.,
imization among video game players. It has also been noted game narratives, high-definition graphics, realistic sound
that gambling games and video games are beginning to con- features).
verge both within online video games (e.g., in-game add-ons Given the recent emergence of research in this particular
such as “skins” being used as virtual currency to bet on pro- area, it is unsurprising that many of the studies carried out to
fessional gaming [eSport] tournaments) and via specific on- date are small-scale, comprise self-selected convenience sam-
line media such as social networking sites (e.g., where ples, and are tentative in their conclusions. Most of the re-
gambling-type games like slot machines and poker can be search in the area has utilized self-report survey studies or
played for points rather than money—so-called social gam- non-ecologically valid laboratory experiments. Future studies
bling or freemium play where the games can be played for free should perhaps explore the nature and experience of structural
up to a point but then require payment to get to higher levels or characteristics while gamers are actually playing in their nor-
to attain prized in-game assets and items) [74–76]. Whether mal gaming context, rather than via retrospective self-report
these new features are structural characteristics is debatable surveys or playing games for unnatural restricted periods in
depending upon the definition of structural characteristics laboratory experiments. One way forward in the field would
used, but these evolving features highlight that the field is be for gaming operators to provide access to real-time behav-
ever-moving and that researchers also have to constantly up- ioral tracking data of players so that researchers can conduct
date their research agendas to move with the times. secondary analysis of player behavior in relation to specific in-
game structural characteristics. This has already started to
happen in the gambling studies field with analyses of the
Concluding Comments impact of structural and situational characteristics on the be-
havior of slot machine players [77, 78].
Compared to other areas such as those examining the psycho- The further study of video games from a structural charac-
logical and biological underpinnings of problematic and ad- teristic perspective is of benefit to many different stake-
dictive video game play, far less research has examined from a holders. This includes (i) academic researchers who can fur-
structural characteristic perspective. This is also mirrored in ther understand and integrate a structural perspective into the
other similar areas (such as the research investigating prob- biopsychosocial model of addiction and apply this knowledge
lematic and addictive gambling) but even when compared to to assist problematic games and help develop effective pre-
other similar areas, there is still far less empirical evidence in vention and intervention programs and strategies, (b) video
the gaming studies field. Eclectic and multitheoretical ap- game players, who can be further educated concerning poten-
proaches are needed if we are to understand the relationship tially harmful structural features which may help prevent
between structural characteristics and video game addiction. problematic play, and (c) video game designers, who can then
Based on the evidence to date, the research appears to dem- develop video games to include more appealing and reward-
onstrate that some structural characteristics of video games at ing features that promote long-term consumer loyalty without
the very least have a contributory role in the acquisition, de- exploiting players. Other stakeholders that may benefit are
velopment, and maintenance of problematic and addictive policymakers and those interested in prevention who could
video game playing. Clearly more research is needed to apply some of the findings outlined into their own policies
Curr Addict Rep (2017) 4:272–283 281

and programs. Video game technologies are ever evolving and 11.• Karlsen F. Entrapment and near miss: a comparative analysis of
psycho-structural elements in gambling games and massively mul-
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stand and recognize the psycho-social effects and impacts that atively examines and compares structural characteristics in
the structural characteristics of video games can have on video gaming to those in gambling with particular emphasis
on the elements of near misses and entrapment
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that they have no conflicts of interest. 14. Clark L, Crooks B, Clarke R, Aitken MR, Dunn BD. Physiological
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