Identifying the Player: Motivation-Driven Design

Every game is designed for someone. Yet, too often, game designers fall into the trap of designing for “everyone.” While this sounds inclusive, it usually results in a game that doesn’t fully resonate with anyone. Player identification is the foundation of play-centric design, a practice that ensures every decision in development, from mechanics to atmosphere, considers the intended audience.

Target Audience

After settling on a game idea to pursue, game designers should start by identifying their target audience. A target audience, or in this case, players, refers to the group of consumers to whom a product is most likely to appeal.

Consider the difference between a game like Candy Crush and Elden Ring. Both are very successful, but they appeal to very different players. Candy Crush targets casual players who want short, rewarding play sessions on mobile devices, while Elden Ring is designed for hardcore players who enjoy deep systems, long play sessions, and difficult challenges.

Market Segmentation

To effectively reach a target audience, marketers classify consumer data into four main categories. These categories, known as market segmentation, help break down a broad audience into smaller, more meaningful groups.

The four main types of market segmentation are:

1. Demographics – describes the statistical characteristics of a population. In game design, they help identify broad categories of players based on measurable traits.
   • Type of Data Collected: Age, gender, income, education level, occupation, and ethnicity.
   • Example: A family-friendly game may be designed for ages 8–12, with simplified controls and bright visuals.
2. Psychographics – explores the psychological aspects of individuals, their values, motivations, interests, and lifestyle choices. This category reveals why players engage with certain games.
   • Type of Data Collected: Personality traits, values, attitudes, hobbies, interests, and motivations for play.
   • Example: Players who value creativity and self-expression may gravitate toward open-ended games like Minecraft or The Sims, where they can design, build, and experiment freely. On the other hand, players motivated by competition may prefer structured, rules-driven games like League of Legends.
3. Behavioral – segmentation focuses on how individuals actually interact with a product. It identifies patterns in purchasing, playing, and engaging habits.
   • Type of Data Collected: Purchasing behavior (spending frequency, amount, microtransactions), playtime habits (casual vs. hardcore play), brand loyalty (console vs. PC preference), and platform interactions (Steam, PlayStation Network, mobile app stores).
   • Example: A free-to-play mobile game with frequent microtransactions may perform well among players who enjoy making small, regular purchases. However, the same design could alienate players from lower-income groups or those who dislike pay-to-win mechanics.
4. Geographic – segmentation considers where individuals live and the impact of physical or cultural location on their gaming preferences. This includes not only the country or region but also factors such as urbanization and climate.
   • Type of Data Collected: Country, region, climate, language, urban vs. rural setting, cultural norms, and local regulations.
   • Example: A World War II game released in Germany must avoid Nazi symbols due to strict censorship laws. Similarly, online games in China must comply with government restrictions on content and playtime for minors, shaping how those games are designed and monetized.

Each segmentation provides different insights into why players might choose, or avoid, your game. Together, they help define the ideal player market.

Gamer Motivation Model

Beyond just market segmentation, game designers should have an understanding of why players choose to play certain games. One of the most widely used frameworks to assist with this identification is the Gamer Motivation Model developed by Quantic Foundry. Based on surveys of over 400,000 players, this model identifies six broad motivation categories, each with subcategories:

• Action (excitement, destruction)
• Social (competition, community)
• Mastery (challenge, strategy)
• Achievement (completion, power)
• Immersion (fantasy, story, role-play)
• Creativity (design, customization, discovery)

These categories help designers identify the core drivers that influence how different groups of players engage with games. For example, a player motivated by community will likely value cooperative play, while a player motivated by completion may prefer games with long checklists of objectives.

Creating a Player Persona

After researching market segmentation and with gamer motivations in mind, game designers can create a player personas. This is a fictional but data-driven character that represents their ideal target player for the game. Personas make abstract data tangible by embodying the preferences, habits, and motivations of real players.

A player persona typically includes:

• Name and background (fictional, but realistic)
• Demographics (age, education, income, etc.)
• Preferred platforms and genres
• Motivations for playing (linked to the Gamer Motivation Model)
• Accessibility needs

Example Persona

• Name: Sei Bomoz, 23, single, graphic designer, Kansas City, MO
• Plays on: PC and mobile
• Enjoys: Immersive games that use strategy (e.g., The Last of Us, Night in the Woods, Life is Strange)
• Motivated by: Fantasy, Story, Strategy, Excitement
• Spending habits: Buys add-ons selectively, avoids pay-to-win systems

During development, Jordan’s persona can be referenced whenever design decisions arise: Would Jordan enjoy this feature? Would Jordan be frustrated by this paywall? This keeps the design process grounded in the needs of the target player.

Linking to Player Experience Goals

As the game design team begins to expand upon their initial ideas, they should define the player experience goals, which encompass the emotions or states of mind they want players to feel while playing. These goals should directly meet the needs of the motivations identified in the player persona.

For example:

• Player Experience Goal: “Players will feel scared and uncertain as they try to survive in a world filled with zombies.”
• Mapped Motivations:
  • Uncertain → Excitement (Action)
  • Survive → Strategy (Mastery)
  • Zombies → Fantasy (Immersion)

By aligning market segmentation → gamer motivations → personas → player experience goals, designers create a clear path from audience research to concrete design choices.

Player Types

Beyond demographics and motivations, researchers and designers have categorized players into types based on how they approach games. These models are not rigid boxes but useful tools for thinking about playstyles.

Bartle’s Player Types

In 1996, Game Designer Richard Bartle developed the Bartle Test to observe and define players in MMORPG and earlier MUD (Multi-User Dungeon) games. The Bartle test narrowed players to 4 distinct player types:

• Killers – motivated by domination and competition with others
• Achievers – focused on progression, status, and rewards
• Explorers – curious about systems and game worlds
• Socializers – motivated by interaction and relationships

Though originally designed for online games, Bartle’s types still influence multiplayer design today.

Expanded Player Types

Tracy Fullerton later broadened the concept of player types to capture more varied pleasures of play:

• Competitor – seeks to beat others
• Explorer – thrives on discovery and curiosity
• Collector – enjoys acquiring items, trophies, or sets
• Achiever – aims for measurable progress
• Joker – plays for humor and fun, not seriousness
• Artist – values creativity and expression
• Storyteller – drawn to fantasy and narrative
• Performer – enjoys entertaining others
• Craftsman – delights in building, designing, or problem-solving

This model reflects the diversity of modern players, particularly in sandbox or creative games.

The OCEAN Model

At the 2012 Game Developers Conference, Ubisoft’s Jason Vandenberghe introduced a personality-based framework for player behavior, adapting the Big Five personality traits (OCEAN):

• Openness – preference for creativity and novelty
• Conscientiousness – goal-driven, organized play
• Extraversion – drawn to social and multiplayer experiences
• Agreeableness – prefers cooperative play, helping others
• Neuroticism – may prefer safe, controlled experiences

Vandenberghe showed correlations between personality traits and play preferences, coining the term Five Domains of Play. For example, highly open players gravitate toward sandbox games, while highly conscientious players favor structured, rule-based challenges.

Player Identification

Player Identification is multi-layered. Market segmentation gives a broad picture of who the players are. Personas humanize this data, turning it into a relatable character. Player type models, Bartle, Fullerton, and OCEAN, help predict how those players will behave in-game.

By using these tools together, designers can craft games that genuinely resonate with their intended audience. Playtesting with target players then serves as a reality check, confirming whether the design delivers the intended experience.