Three corners of reward in computer games

This paper looks at reward within computer games and establishes a visual framework for displaying the reward mechanics used in games in the form of “Three Corners of Reward”. It establishes the link between personal reward, material reward and competitive reward through three drivers: intrinsic, extrinsic and social play. The work shows that this framework has two purposes. One is of a framework for analysing games and the other as a potential design tool to decide upon the appropriate reward mechanics for games with a specific target market.