If you've ever watched a child play and utter the words ‘just one more round’ for the twenty fifth time in a row, you've already met the concept this article is about. Game designers talk about games in terms of loops and chains, and the difference between them explains a lot about why some games leave kids feeling fulfilled and curious, and others leave them wired, irritable, or begging for one more daily streak reward, which may require a payment method.

This article walks through the concept of a loop, a chain and both concepts combined and gives you a practical way to gauge a game before you or someone you know gets lost in it for several days (or weeks!). If you read our last newsletter on RITEC, you'll know a little bit about child centric design and the pillars of good game design that takes into consideration their well being. In this article we build upon these principles and point out where its applications can benefit play.

For clarity, 'loop' has two meanings within the game world: 

1. In programming, a loop is a technical term: it's the code that runs continuously while a game is active, checking for input, updating the game state, and rendering the visuals to the screen. Every game has one running every frame, more often than not inside an appropriately named ‘Update’ function.

2. In game design, a 'game loop' is a repeatable cycle of actions and outcomes - do a thing, get a reward, do the thing again but faster, get a better or different reward.

For example:

Open a chest > Get coins > Spend coins > Open another chest > Surprise! A demon, you lose a life!

Or one of the most common ones:

Sign up > Log in > Collect a daily bonus > Log in tomorrow for a bigger and better bonus > and the cycle continues.

We’re going to focus on game loops. They’re not inherently bad. 

Ideally a gameplay loop is what makes a game feel good in the first ten seconds; A jumping action in Mario, matching gems in a puzzle game, swinging a sword or weapon in an action game like Shovel Knight (which has a combination of animation, sound and feedback for the player).

The problem isn't that loops exist, it’s how they are utilised.

The downside is when a loop is built primarily to extend playtime for the purpose of addictive strategies or to extract value from the player/consumer, rather than to deliver an experience that's enjoyable on its own terms.

Researchers studying mobile and free-to-play games have identified recurring tactics designed to keep players looping past the point of enjoyment:

• Grind-or-pay loops - progress is deliberately slow and repetitive unless you pay to skip it, exploiting the sunk-cost feeling of 'I've already put in this much time."

• Streaks and daily-login pressure - rewards that reset or vanish if a player doesn't check in every single day, turning play into an obligation.

• Loot boxes and randomised rewards - A lottery type ticket where the player gains a chance at winning a prize rather than the prize itself, a mechanic that shares structural similarities with gambling.

• Social-obligation loops - guild quests or ‘gift your friends’ mechanics that use peer pressure to pull players back in and maintain engagement.

None of these require a player to be doing anything creative, skilful, or challenging. They're built to repeat, hold the players attention, not to truly progress or learn something new - they’re simply games with meaningless rewards in addictive engagement loops.

Before we move on, it's worth being fair to simple game loops - because plenty of loop-based games are genuinely great.

Incremental games like Power Wash Simulator is a good example. Perform a task, earn a little, unlock upgrades, repeat tasks - the loop is simple and openly repetitive without putting pressure on the player. 

What separates a decent game from a manipulative one isn't the loop itself, it's whether the loop is ethical. Ask yourself these questions the next time you’re considering introducing or building a new game:

1. Does it keep progress fair whether the player is engaging or not?

2. Can they step away for a day without being progressively punished for it?

3. Does the pacing feel like a relaxing rhythm rather than a countdown designed to create anxiety, ushering in a sense of urgency to upgrade through a paid incentive?

Power Wash Simulator takes one of the most mundane tasks imaginable - pointing a pressure washer at dirty surfaces to clean them - and turns it into a loop that people find oddly soothing:

Actively watch grime disappear > see immediate visual progress > move to the next spot. 

It works because the feedback is clear and satisfying for the player, not because it’s creating urgency.

Even a game built around a simple loop like this still layers in a light chain underneath it - new locations to wash, new nozzles and tools to unlock, more stubborn surfaces to clean - which keeps the experience fresh without ever 'pressuring' the player... pardon the pun!

The useful distinction isn't ‘loops bad, chains good.’ It's: 

A healthy loop respects a players time and rewards them for playing;

An unhealthy loop is designed to make stopping feel like a loss.

A chain is a sequence of cause and effect actions that leads to somewhere or something new. Instead of a loop that returns you to the same starting point, a chain unlocks the next thing: a new tool, a new area to explore, a new system to learn, a new question to answer. Chains are additive. Loops are circular.

Minecraft for example has a great crafting system:

Gather wood > Craft a table > Craft tools > Mine deeper >  Find new materials > Craft better tools and unlock new possibilities. 

Or how a game might slowly provide a player with new abilities - introducing gathering and building first, then crafting, then trading, then more complex systems - only once they've got a handle on what came before through the process of mastery. Each step changes what the player can do, not just how many points they have.

Well-designed chains tend to share a few traits:

• Progressive complexity - new mechanics are introduced only once earlier ones are mastered, so players build real competence instead of being overwhelmed.

• Exploration over repetition - the reward for finishing one link in the chain is access to something new, not just more coins.

• Player-driven pacing - a player can move through a chain at their own speed, and not because of a timer, peer pressure or having to make a purchase.

• Real problem-solving - chains usually ask players to figure something out (how do I get past this, what do I build next?), rather than just repeating a click.

This is the heart of what you want to look for: does the game ask a player to grow or learn new skills, or does it just keep asking them to return (and spend money)?

If you want to hear more about chains, this video essay by Video Game Clinic dives deeper into chains and how all games are made of chains and how they map onto emotion.

1. Does progress unlock something new, or just something bigger? New areas, tools, or mechanics are a good sign. If it’s the same repetitive action with slightly better odds of winning, it’s probably leaning more towards addictive and/or paywalls.

2. Can the player put it down without losing something? Daily streaks, decaying resources, and "your guild needs you" notifications are designed to make quitting feel costly and guilty. Evaluate if the effort is genuinely fun to play without pressure. 

3. Is there a way to buy your way past the boring parts? If the answer is yes, the boring parts were probably made boring on purpose.

4. Does the game reward figuring things out, or just repeating things? Watch whether your player is puzzled and pleased or just fixated and clicking to reach the perceived reward they have been promised.

5. Are rewards random and based on chance, or earned and predictable? Does the game encourage addictive behaviour i.e. daily check-ins, pay to play or progress or gated content behind paywalls?

For parents and developers alike, the aim is simple: create experiences that reward curiosity, progress and play, without turning enjoyment into anxiety-induced obligation.

Until next time!

Stay in the Loop (haha), Stay Curious, Stay Hangry.

Andy & Ceri

Hangry Animals 🐾

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