Maslow's hierarchy of human needs explains our motivations.
(The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses by Jesse Schell, Carnegie Mellon University, 2008. Page 126)
Lens #19: The Lens of Needs
To use this lens, stop thinking about your game, and start thinking about what basic human needs it fulfills.
Ask yourself:
- On which levels of Maslow's hierarchy is my game operating?
- How can I make my game fulfill more basic needs than it already is?
- On the levels my game is currently operating, how can it fulfill those needs even better?
It sounds strange to talk about a game fulfilling basic human needs, but everything that people do is an attempt to fulfill these needs in some way. And keep in mind, some games fulfill needs better than others. A game can't just promise the need - it must deliver fulfillment of the need. If a player imagines that playing your game is going to make them feel better about themselves or get to know their friends better, they will move on past your game if it does not.
(The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses by Jesse Schell, Carnegie Mellon University, 2008. Page 127)