Mihaly Csikszentmihaly

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi designed a diagram for understanding how a player is pulled in and out of a flow state whilst playing games. The diagram shows what happens when an activity is too difficult or too easy. What happens when the activity doesnt meet the abilities of the player? The diagonal strip represents a potential flow state; this is when the player’s skills are equally meeting the challenges of the activity. If the challenges are too difficult the player experiences anxiety but if the player finds the activities easy then the player experiences boredom.


Rules Of Play
Game Design Fundamentals
By Katie Salen And Eric Zimmerman 2004