Content burn

As players interact with your game, they will not only gain mastery over game mechanics and systems, they will also grow more familiar with the contents of your game. Humans love to learn, and good learning opportunities are rewarded with feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction. We easily get excited by anything new—a fresh challenge, an untold story, an undiscovered land. While this part of the human condition leads to our players seeking out and enjoying our games, it also leads to them being bored by repetitive and unchallenging tasks or familiar stories. Boredom is what we try to avoid, and unfortunately for we designers, people are as good at learning as they are at spotting patterns. The same brain that can spot animals in the shapes of clouds, or a human face within a picture of a Martian rock, will be exposed to seeing your game—often for hours on end. The sole act of exposure to the same set of 3D props and art pieces used to create a seemingly unique dungeon will lead to a feeling of fatigue and boredom. The same fate befalls any content that players interact with repeatedly, including mechanics and systems that do not seem to hold any secrets and potential learning. All of this means that our players don't just enjoy the content of our games, they burn through it, permanently diminishing its value.