Simple reinforcement in games example

Before I knew what ‘operant conditioning’ is I was always curious about what is “The thing” in a game who keeps me doing silly clicks for 5, 15  minutes or even an hour a day. It isn’t curiosity, I already know what happens next - I’ll get a reward or some points or maybe I’ll need to perform more clicks to get the possibility to perform more clicks. It sounds like stupidest thing ever but I still enjoy it. Why?

Reward as a statement of performance

I don’t like my birthday. Psychologists explaining that most of the people looking at birthday like at some kind of point where you think about what you’ve accomplished in a last year and what happens next. In a game it is much easier. You’ve finished level 1 - here’s a reward who states what you’ve accomplished. Congratulations, you performed good, give yourself a medal! It is easy when you know exact actions who would take to be rewarded. And in most of non-hardcore games - you know. The problem which you are solving is mechanic because you already solved it in your head. Take a look at Flappy bird - you already know what to do, you know what happens next but you still in a game. Why? This is where reinforcement schedule cames in.

Fixed ratio schedule

Wikipedia definition of fixed ratio schedule is:

Fixed ratio (FR) – schedules deliver reinforcement after every nth response.

Example: FR2" = every second desired response the subject makes is reinforced.
Lab example: FR5" = rat reinforced with food after every 5 bar-presses in a Skinner box.

Real-world example: FR10" = Used car dealer gets a $1000 bonus for each 10 cars sold on the lot.

Now take a look at dogeminer.se simple game.

At first it says “Click 10 times and you could buy Mining Shibe”. So Mining shibe is your reward for accomplishing easy task. It looks like fixed radio schedule  - 10 clicks = 1 Mining shibe. But as we know, after fixed ratio reinforcement comes post-reinforcement pause so after buying Mine Shibe I would stop clicking and consider ‘Do i really want another one?’. Here’s a surprise for me. I dont need to click 10 times again because I have 0.2 Dogecoins per sec so I don’t even have to click to get coins. Here’s another fixed ratio schedule for me - 1 Shibe = 0.2 coins/sec. So not only i have been reinforced after 10 clicks but also now I have fixed time reinforcements after each 5 seconds. Of course i want to increase fixed time reinforcements! And so the game begins...

You could play it yourself but in the long run you’ll probably notice that it becomes boring just unlocking one Miner after another. It is the same fixed ratio and fixed time schedule mix again and again. That’s why the creators added Achievements. There is no To-Do list for achievements. You get it unexpected. For example:

I’ve got unexpected achievement after buying 10 Shibes. As you could see in the Stats section - there are 95 achievements. Each of them have their ‘type’ of reinforcement which is scheduled. And all of them are for the same reason - to decrease the possibility of bouncing out of game.

It is only a simple example of how game designers create “That thing” in a game. The more you play - the more schedules you’re in. So the game appears to be messing with your mind to get you started, then to keep you in the game as long as it is possible. And all these things accomplished with the right reinforcement schedules.