What is Emotion?

Emotion in game design is not a side effect — it’s a design goal. It’s the player's internal reaction to what the game shows, allows, demands, or withholds.

Emotion is what makes a game stick. Players might forget the level layout — but they’ll remember how it made them feel.

1️⃣ Definition

Emotion in games refers to the affective response — feelings like awe, frustration, joy, grief, relief — that arise through interaction with mechanics, narrative, aesthetics, sound, and choice.

Unlike film, game emotion is interactive — it comes from doing, not just watching.

📍You don’t design emotions directly. You design situations that evoke them.

2️⃣ Why Emotion Matters

Role	What It Enables	Example
Engagement	Emotional investment = player attention	Hollow Knight’s melancholy world
Immersion	Emotion pulls players into the fiction	Red Dead Redemption 2’s quiet moments
Memory	We remember how things made us feel	Shadow of the Colossus’ final boss
Meaningful decisions	Emotion turns choice into consequence	Life is Strange’s branching guilt arcs
Narrative depth	Character emotion becomes player emotion	The Last of Us’ character bonds

📍Emotion is what turns a challenge into a story.

3️⃣ Types of Emotion in Games

Type	Triggered By	Example
Wonder	Visuals, scale, discovery	Journey, Outer Wilds
Tension	Scarcity, countdowns, threat	XCOM, Resident Evil
Joy	Flow, mastery, playful mechanics	Celeste, Mario Odyssey
Sadness	Loss, reflection, narrative weight	Spiritfarer, To the Moon
Fear	Uncertainty, powerlessness	Amnesia, Subnautica
Empathy	Characters and moral choice	Undertale, Disco Elysium
Frustration	Overload, unfairness, confusion	Bad UI, invisible rules (unintentional)

📍Not all emotion is positive. Negative emotion can be useful — if it’s intentional and resolved well.

4️⃣ Tools for Emotional Design

Tool	How It Creates Emotion
Narrative & dialogue	Direct empathy through characters
Mechanics	Embed emotion in rules (e.g., loss, risk, choice)
Audio/visuals	Music, light, animation create tone instantly
Pacing	Rhythm of events amplifies emotional flow
Player choice	Consequences create ownership over emotion

📍Emotion isn’t just a narrative job. Your UI, failure state, and combo meter can all evoke feeling.

✅ Emotion Design Checklist

What core emotions should the player feel across the experience?

Are mechanics, art, and pacing aligned to support that feeling?

Is the emotion tied to player action, not just cutscenes?

Are there emotional peaks and valleys — or one flat tone?

Can players reflect, care, or feel responsible for outcomes?

📍Ask: What’s the emotional payload of this moment? If there isn’t one — why does it exist?

Summary

Term	Emotion
What it is	The player's internal affective response to interactive systems
Why it matters	Builds connection, memory, and meaning
How it's built	Through narrative, mechanics, pacing, aesthetics, and choice
Design goal	Make the player feel something real — not just win or lose

📍Emotion is not extra polish. It’s the reason the player keeps playing — and the reason they remember.