A Review of Game Design Techniques for Evoking and Managing Curiosity

Curiosity is essential for learning and discovery and is a key motivational factor for playing games. As a complex psychological phenomenon, curiosity has been studied extensively in psychology, education, and other fields, and many theories have been proposed. In the field of game design, many techniques have been developed to evoke players’ curiosity. However, there is a gap between theoretical insights and practical application. This paper aims to bridge that divide by providing a comprehensive review of game design techniques for evoking and managing curiosity. We attempt to connect practical game design techniques with curiosity theories to help people understand the psychological mechanism of curiosity in the context of games. Our first contribution is to develop a theoretical framework for systematically categorizing game design techniques for evoking and managing curiosity. Our second contribution is to use this framework to classify and analyze many game design techniques. Our work not only provides a deeper understanding of how curiosity can be managed in games but also provides a framework for game designers to develop new techniques.