8. Physiology and Psychology: How They Explain F2P Game Metrics and Are Used in Game Design
Article about physiology and psychology behind F2P metrics / KPIs and how physiology and psychology can be used in F2P game design.
When we talk about metrics like session times, retention rates, and monetization in F2P mobile games, we’re not just talking numbers. These metrics reveal how player habits, behaviors, and decision-making are rooted in human physiology and psychology.
This article focuses on discussing about physiology and psychology behind F2P metrics / KPIs, and how they can be used to break down KPIs you’re seeing behind your game — and, furthermore, how physiology and psychology can be used for game design.
Note: Some of the points discussed here can be more theoretical still, as they’ve not been used to far extend, yet, in game development and design.
Physiology and Psychology Behind Mobile F2P Games and Their Metrics
Here's a deeper look at how we tap into the principles of physiology and psychology to build successful games:
Engagement Loops and Habits Formation
Gratification systems, feedback loops, and well-designed hooks turn gameplay into a habit, which is based on different mechanisms from driving engagement through dopamine releases towards talking to intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of the player. By offering e.g., immediate rewards and clear progress, games stimulate the brain's reward centers, fostering daily routines that players naturally integrate into their lives.
There's also a clear pacing to things; as some reactions in the human body need to wash out from time to time, before you can drive players back to them — this is why e.g., in some types of games things like session times, time on gameplay, etc., which produce best metrics, are not having much differentiation.
Monetization Behavior and Conversion
Conversion strategies aren’t just about prompting a purchase. They’re more about timing things right in the overall context of gameplay and meta. Understanding e.g., that dopamine release drives anticipation, successful games strategically place offers or incentives after moments of high emotional engagement, like achieving a difficult task. This maximizes the likelihood of conversion by aligning with the brain's desire for gratification.
Monetization also can be build over intrinsic motivations and/or extrinsic motivations, where on intrinsic side the focus is driving intrinsic-led motivation through things that are build over autonomy, competences of the player and relatedness — where on extrinsic side things like rewards, etc. are driving the monetization behavior.
Side Note: Interested about Intrinsic Monetization as a direction? Read my article about it here (https://gamesalchemy.substack.com/p/intrinsic-monetization-alternative):
There are much more layers to this topic and things like consumer purchasing behavior and economics behavior are some of the topics everyone focusing on e.g., game design, product management, economy design and monetization design should look into.
What, beyond above-mentioned points, interests me personally nowadays more, which I’m also studying, is using parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) driven means / game positioning (this is something I might write later more about — and, for comparison, sympathetic nervous system is from where you drive dopamine, adrenaline, etc. driven things by stimulation) for game development, game design, systems design as well as economy and monetization design, where in addition to potentially getting lower CPIs and high engagement, you could drive deep LTV depth by social and group monetization means, mechanisms and systems — in addition to it being perceived potentially in healthy way around players and communities, who engage most with the types of games this type of practice would benefit of. I think there are quite many interesting theoretical levels and things that could be tried, as they kind of already explain lots of engagement and monetization depth and economy behavior behind many games. Want to learn more about what I’m talking here a bit regarding group monetization? Find more about it here (https://gamesalchemy.substack.com/p/25-social-group-monetization-high):
The reason I’m interested of above is that during one of my latest projects, an ambitious F2P Mobile MMORPG title, we faced lots of social phenomena around social behavior, players’ need for connectivity, co-op -first gameplay, community behavior, fan behavior, and such; which I found being quite well explainable not just by psychology but also by physiology — from which I started deepening my knowledge and insights on this layer. This has led me to have some really interesting social, economy and monetization system findings and discoveries, which I think would allow studios and anyone interesting of using these in game design, making it more neuro-driven by design, achieve solid business results and building games that go to the billion (or more) dollar club. Physiology and PNS wouldn’t be just the only layer used here, where psychology would have its place, but it’s an interesting one from theoretical perspective as it explains lots of things we see in many successful games.
It would be exciting to get to build these systems, as/if an opportunity for that comes (I’m currently open for work opportunities). I think the principles and insights here could be greatly used in various types of games, from hybrid casual games to midcore and hardcore games on a larger scale, given they would be suitable for social systems — and they wouldn’t only be usable for game design, economy design and monetization design, as I believe some of these elements could be worthwhile to be used even for marketing, UA and Ads / Creatives to deep extent.
Note: Given above points mention an MMORPG title — here’s more detailed take on the MMO / MMORPG segment in mobile games segment (https://gamesalchemy.substack.com/p/mobile-mmos-innovation-opportunities):
Continuing my note here, MMOs / MMORPGs could benefit a lot of social 2.0, which I’m talking a bit above and below in this article.
What other segments could be benefitting of Social 2.0? Most definitely 4X Strategy segment, about which I’ve written more here (https://gamesalchemy.substack.com/p/11-the-next-frontier-in-4x-pure-hybrid):
I did also mention about marketing, UA and Ads tie-ins, about which you can find more from my article here (https://gamesalchemy.substack.com/p/24-unlocking-the-power-of-intrinsic):
Live Ops, Events, and Limited-Time Content
Events create a sense of urgency and excitement. Physiologically, limited-time content taps into the FOMO, leveraging our natural aversion to loss.
When players feel they’re "missing out" on rewards or unique items, engagement spikes — and monetization. This is also why, e.g., Battle / Event Passes and their variations work so well. They touch extrinsic motivations and sides of it a lot, whilst some ways for intrinsic side could be put into motion here definitely, depending of the type of a game.
Social Mechanics
Humans are inherently social beings. Adding cooperative or competitive elements like leaderboards, clans, or friend challenges fosters a sense of belonging and competition. This isn't just for community building — our brains are wired to seek social validation, which encourages players to keep returning.
On this side, what I talk about physiology and PNS positioning as well as neuro-driven game design above, there are lots of depth that are yet to be discovered in gaming — like, how I see the world, games like World of Warcraft, etc., have most probably touched about 25 % of what’s possible; meaning, there are lots of social depth yet to be discovered.
As the gaming landscape continues to evolve, I believe quite strongly that the next billion-dollar opportunity (/opportunities) lies in pushing beyond today’s social mechanics and connectivity features. In a world craving genuine connection, games that foster deep social engagement both inside and, potentially, outside the game environment are set to thrive. For example, imagine games where players can connect beyond traditional friend lists and chat functions — instead, they could experience a “Tinder-like” player-matching system, building teams or alliances based on compatibility, interests, or in-game objectives. Furthermore, picture boosters that activate based on proximity, or resource trading convoys that reward cooperation and strategic trading based on location. These features wouldn’t just offer new ways to play — they’d create lasting relationships that extend beyond the screen.
And, just to clarify above, I'm not at all talking about location-based games here — I’m talking about social 2.0, which is one of the biggest opportunities in games still to be discovered. What is social 2.0 in more detail? Find more from my article about the future of social games here (https://gamesalchemy.substack.com/p/21-exploring-the-future-of-social):
Even for games where social casino / Coin Master / Monopoly Go! type of approaches are used and have things like Attack / Raid and Super Attack, group and social mechanisms allowing to build defenses / shields for others on guild and other systems could be not just changing those games’ dynamics but also opening more depth for engagement and monetization when they would be done right (for some of these games I think skill-based mechanics could be fun to be used, incl. use for building skill-based defenses where player vs. victim dynamics would also require skills for player to beat the victim —which would tap into intrinsic motivations / competence side in a good way, if things would be executed right).
When above things are done right, specifically when these things tickle players’ ‘nerves’, from physiological and psychological points of view, making and operating these types of games results to lower CPIs, higher engagement / retention as well as great LTV depths. Again, it would be exciting to get to build these systems, as/if an opportunity for that comes (I’m currently open for work opportunities).
Some are already on to this (though, I do hope they’ll read this article and would focus on their bets around Social 2.0) — read more about it here where I analyze current state of mobile games industry and what’s next for it (https://gamesalchemy.substack.com/p/16-mobile-gaming-cycles-commercialization):
Continuous Feedback and Adaptive Design
As players progress, they need new challenges and goals — this is where e.g., intrinsic strategies and motivations can be used to drive game design. F2P games that adapt to player skill level, provide personalized experiences, and offer novel rewards sustain long-term engagement, keeping players in the flow state — where gameplay feels both challenging and achievable. This is also where you can base monetization strategies, which I’ve covered a bit more above, so that they are perceived more as a hobby vs. as an entertainment, which for some type of games drive both engagement as well as monetization longevity.
Key Takeaway
F2P game design and metrics go beyond KPIs — they’re a reflection of our most fundamental human instincts.
By tapping into physiological and psychological principles, game designers, product managers, economy designers and monetization designers can foster richer, more engaging experiences, keeping players invested and delighted in the long term.
And, to step one step further, there are lots of depth still to be discovered on this front. What we’ve seen is just a glimpse of what is yet to be discovered.
I wrote "The Physiology of Gaming" 7 years ago. Perhaps you might find it useful?
https://raminshokrizade.substack.com/p/59-the-physiology-of-gaming?r=31om3k