CHAPTER TWENTY · THE FOUR FUN KEYS four keys to unlocking emotions in games: 1. Hard Fun: challenge and mastery 2. Easy Fun: inspiring imagination, exploration, and role play 3. Serious Fun: changing a player's internal state or doing real work 4. People Fun: social interaction FIGURE 20.1 The Four Fun Keys. To create a model of how games create emotion XEODesign conducted independent research of players playing best-selling games. By watching the emotions in player's faces we identified four different types of fun each with its own set of mechanics and emotions. For each mechanic the game offers the player choices and feedback that creates different emotions in the player. The relationship between the mechan- ics and emotions of a game give it its unique player experience profile (PX Profile). The playstyles most enjoyed by players offer different PX Profiles. What we found is that players preferred three out of four different types of fun and that best selling games offered three out of the four. Players likewise would rotate between different types of fun during play. There are over thirty emotions that come from gameplay. Game designers design the mechanics that create the emotions in players. Games that offer choices in these four quadrants provide more emotions and increase the enjoyment of the game for more people. Different emotions come from the mechanics of different playstyles. By presenting a goal and breaking it into small achievable steps, games create emotions from Hard Fun, where the frustration of the attempt is compensated by the feelings of accomplishment 318