Behavior Analysis and Game Design: The Contingencies of Video Game Genres

This article proposes an integrated conceptual framework for analyzing video games through functional analysis, arguing that game design is fundamentally the arrangement of reinforcement and punishment contingencies. Video game genres are functional systems defined by reinforcement schedules, operant punishment, and temporally extended consequences programmed in game environments. To illustrate this behavioral interpretation of video games, we conduct a functional analysis of the contingencies operating in three illustrative commercial genres: platformers (focused on precision and modeling), Metroidvanias (based on conditional discrimination and interconnection of repertoires), and turn-based RPGs (governed by rules and chaining). Furthermore, the game features that continue to shape player behavior were examined, including aesthetic elements and cross-genre metasystems, such as achievements, leaderboards, and loot boxes. The analysis demonstrates that successful game design is also successful contingency design. Finally, we discuss the ethical implications of monetized metasystems (such as loot boxes) and propose that the principles of behavior analysis can be used to "reverse engineer" game design to illustrate how both experimental and applied domains can benefit from the consilience between behavior analysis and game design.