Finding Flow in Solitaire

When development started on AcidSolitaire Collection, one of the goals was to improve the environment at Red Mercury to make software development easier. Our research led us to improving our games as well. The effect on our games was unexpected, as initially we intended only on improving our workplace.

From Peopleware to Flow

The classic book "Peopleware" (Demarco and Lister, Dorset House) got us off to a good start. It pointed out many things that are important about the workplace, like the elimination of interruptions, distractions, and constant annoyances. Logical enough.

Great games are all about achieving flow.

Peopleware briefly mentions the idea of "flow," as described in the writings of researcher Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. After a bit more research, it became clear that Peopleware is all about flow, and that achieving flow is essential to the process of creating great software. And then, we discovered that great games are all about achieving flow. This realization led to the core game design goals for the AcidSolitaire Collection.

Eliminating Distractions and Annoyances

Any challenge is easier to approach when concentration can be focused without needless distractions. When this level of concentration is reached, the everything just "flows," time flies by, and the results maximize the potential of the individual. The importance of reaching these states of concentration is not only beneficial to the work at hand, but to the individual reaching that state. Small annoyances or distractions will disrupt flow or prevent flow from being achieved, leading to daily frustration, while uninterrupted flow can lead to long term satisfaction.

Concentration on a challenge that is not gratuitously easy, yet not frustratingly impossible, leads to feelings of gratification.

Our humble words can't describe the importance of flow, so to quote Csikszentmihalyi in one of his more colorful moments: "What does 'to live' mean?... It must mean to live in fullness, without waste of time and potential, expressing one's uniqueness, yet participating intimately in the complexity of the cosmos." We're not sure if we have reached those lofty levels of flow, but it seems certain that deep concentration on a challenge that is not gratuitously easy, yet not frustratingly impossible, does have great results and leads to feelings of gratification.

Applying Flow to Games

We stumbled upon this research somewhat by accident, though we have since found many others in the video game industry who are students of Csikszentmihalyi's writings. While our initial goal was to research what it was that made software development at times glorious, gratifying, and dense with quality, we ended up looking for these same attributes in our game playing time. The concept of flow attempts to investigate what makes these enjoyable moments in life possible.

Yes, we realized... enjoyment of our games was a matter of life and death!

The poet W. H. Auden is quoted at the beginning of Csikszentmihalyi's book "Finding Flow" (Csikszentmihalyi, Basic Books), giving an example of the importance of using time in gratifying ways: "If we really want to live, we'd better start at once to try; If we don't, it doesn't matter, but we'd better start to die." Yes, we realized... enjoyment of our games was a matter of life and death! Ok, maybe not, but we have focused on making the AcidSolitaire Collection a fulfilling part of enjoying life, even if it is only part of your life for a few minutes at a time.

The adjustments we had made to our office environment did improve everything about what we did, the quality of the work, and the satisfaction felt by those doing it. We set about making our games create similar feelings of accomplishment and gratification. The games needed some critical adjustments to make this possible.

When goals are clear, feedback relevant, and challenges and skills are in balance, attention becomes ordered and fully invested.

The feeling that one gets when experiencing flow is one of satisfaction, and a sense of accomplishment and gratification from facing and overcoming a true challenge. When faced with a game that stretches and improves your capabilities, flow can be achieved. If the game is too easy, boredom sets in. If the game is far too difficult, or unfair, frustration sets in. Either of these extremes prevents flow from being realized. When everything is just right, flow kicks in. We wanted the AcidSolitaire Collection to produce flow. Csikszentmihalyi describes this as "the joy of complete engagement." He continues, "When goals are clear, feedback relevant, and challenges and skills are in balance, attention becomes ordered and fully invested... Self-consciousness disappears, yet one feels stronger than usual." Lofty goals for a collection of solitaire games, indeed.

What Makes a Game Enjoyable?

During development of the AcidSolitaire Collection, we noted that at times, a flow state was achieved by players, and at other times it was not. We approached the problem methodically to find out what it would take to create a game that could create a flow state quickly and consistently, so that the game could be as relaxing and gratifying as possible, even when played for short periods of time during the day.

Our first goal for achieving flow while playing the AcidSolitaire Collection was to eliminate all impossible games. Freecell already had this property - we don't know for sure that there are no impossible games in AcidFreecell, but we have yet to find one, and the very nature of freecell makes it possible to win (though not necessarily easy). The gameplay style of klondike solitaire and spider solitaire, however, makes it entirely possible (and with Spider, quite likely) that a randomly dealt game will be impossible to win. In fact, the stock Windows Spider, in 4-suit mode, deals out a huge percentage of impossible games (over half of random deals cannot possibly be won). Those players who realize the unfairness of this often gravitate to freecell. Those same players would probably find that klondike solitaire and spider solitaire are both very enjoyable games but for the chance of an impossible game being dealt.

Playing a game that might be completely impossible is definitely frustrating, and might even be described as a waste of time.

We eliminated all non-winnable games from AcidSolitaire and AcidSpider to eliminate the distraction of unfair games. The realization that a random deal of the cards might be impossible to win detracts from the enjoyment of the game. Potentially impossible games lead to the nagging feeling that a lost game might not really be your fault, and lessens the incentive of re-playing a game until it is won. Playing a game that might be completely impossible is definitely frustrating, and might even be described as a waste of time.

Matching Challenge to Skill Level

The elimination of the impossible random deals of cards was not enough. Once the impossible games were gone, we realized that the difficulty level of the remaining games varied greatly. Going from a fairly easy game to a difficult game was a jolt, and took away from the serenity of play. We wanted the difficulty level of games to ramp up smoothly, achieving that requirement of flow that the challenge be predictable, not boringly easy, and not frustratingly difficult - the difficulty level should constantly match and challenge the skill level and expectations of the player to maximize enjoyment.

After 5,000 games, the challenge level will still be appropriate, even though your skills will have expanded greatly.

The games in AcidSolitaire and AcidSpider are ranked in order of difficulty, from the easiest to the most challenging. They are presented to the player in order of increasing difficulty. Since there are 100,000 winnable games, the incremental change in the difficulty level is small. If you enjoyed playing your last game, you'll enjoy playing your next game, and as your skill level increases, so does the challenge presented to you. After 5,000 games, the challenge level will still be appropriate, even though your skills will have expanded greatly.

This continuous, gradual increase in game difficulty level gives the games in the AcidSolitaire Collection what it needs to create a state of flow while playing. Our goal for these games is to enable you to "live in fullness, without waste of time and potential," even while at play. Again, lofty goals for a game, but goals worth striving for.

If you'd like to try out the AcidSolitaire Collection for Windows, you can download AcidSolitaire (solitaire for Windows), AcidFreecell (freecell for Windows), and AcidSpider (spider for Windows). All games are free to try - see if we have achieved our goal of "finding flow in solitaire." If you have feedback for us on this topic or on our games, please email us at support@red-mercury.com.