Game feel is the intangible, tactile sensation experienced when interacting with video games. The term has no agreed upon definition, but there are many defined ways to improve game feel.
Game feel is usually attributed to spatial games whose mechanics involve controlling the movement of objects or characters. Since the majority of games are spatial, studies involving game feel mainly focus on the movement and physical interactions between objects in games. The goal of good game feel is to immerse the player in an engaging and rewarding experience. A way to test game feel is to see if interacting with a game's most basic mechanics feels satisfying. At minimum, the game should feel engaging to play even after the plot, points, level design, music, and graphics are removed; if it is not, then the game may suffer from poor game feel.
History Steve Swink had defined the game feel as "realtime control of virtual objects in a simulated space, with interactions emphasised by polish", including the "aesthetic sensation of control", pleasure of learning a new skill, extensions of sense and identity, interaction with physical reality. Prior to his work, the bridge between emotions and gameplay was described in terms of the "flow theory" of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, adapted to games by Sweetser & Wyeth (2005).
Metrics There is no industry standard for measuring game feel, as the experience is highly subjective and defined differently by individual players and developers.
To establish a structured framework for research and analysis, Steve Swink's book Game Feel: A Game Designer's Guide to Virtual Sensation (2008) categorizes the experience into six distinct areas: input, response, context, polish, metaphor, and rules.
Input Input is the means by which a player can control the game. The physical input device used by the player has an effect on game feel; for instance, using a joystick to control movement feels natural because the joystick itself offers physical feedback. In other cases, like with touchscreens, the input device can offer little feedback and be cumbersome for the player to use.
Game feel can be improved by using a control scheme that is easily understood by the player. Natural mappings allows a game designer to connect a game's movement mechanics to an input device. Realistic racing games, like Gran Turismo, make the most sense when using a racing wheel controller; in this case the input device directly matches the game's movement mechanics. Arcade cabinets often have unique controls to better relate to their movement mechanics. For example, Centipede uses a trackball as its main input; the inclusion of a trackball allows the player to move in all directions with ease, which is the main focus of the game's mechanics.
Input sensitivity also plays a role in game feel. Sensitivity is defined as a "rough measure of the amount of expressiveness inherent in a particular input device." Each different controller has a unique inherent sensitivity, and because of that the pairing of controller and game can have a dramatic impact on game feel. A game that requires precision being matched with a low-sensitivity controller can make the game hard to play or even frustrating.
To evaluate input, Steve Swink categorizes the metric into three levels:
Micro level: The individual components of an input device that, when interacted with, send a real-time signals to a medium to generate immediate feedback for the player.
Macro level: The complete combination of all inputs on a device as a whole, which allow designers to evaluate the overall input sensitivity and possibility space of one device compared to another. For example, a standard joystick is limited to directional movement, restricting the player to one input at a time. In contrast, a modern controller features multiple buttons and sticks that can be pressed simultaneously, offering a wider range of input combinations and higher sensitivity.
The difference dictates hardware choices based on game complexity; simple games like Pac-Man utilize a joystick for precise four-way directional control, while complex games like Street Fighter require an arcade controller, which is a combination of both joysticks and buttons to execute advanced action sequences.
Tactile level: The physical properties and structural quality of the input device, including its weight, construction materials, and the mechanical feel of its buttons.
Response Response is how the game interprets and reacts to player input. To understand the response of an input, the designer must identify what the input is intended to do, which parameters it changes, and whether those changes are related to one another.
Controls with little delay are often described as responsive, while noticeable delays can make the game feel sluggish or unwieldy. Responsive control is an important aspect of game feel, although games may intentionally deviate from this principle for particular design purposes.
The response of an input can change depending on how the affected parameters behave over time. The ADSR envelope, a concept adapted from music, can be used to describe how a change begins, settles, remains steady, and slows down across four phases. For example, a character that takes longer to reach full speed may feel loose or floaty, while a character that reaches full speed immediately may feel tight and responsive.
Response determines not only how quickly the game reacts to an input, but how that input is translated into movement and other actions. A simple input can produce a complex result when multiple parameters are affected by the same input or when the effects of an input change depending on the current state of the game. For example, the controller of Nintendo Entertainment System has a simple directional pad and two on-off buttons, but game such as Super Mario Bros. use these limited inputs to produce movement that can be fluid, deliberate, and varied.
Context Input and response require an environment that gives meaning to the player's actions. If the player has the ability to move the character in interesting ways, the game environment should provide situations that allow those abilities to be used meaningfully.
For instance, a racing game that focuses on careful steering and managing speed around corners would not be engaging if the race track was a wide, straight line; a track with slopes, bends, straights, and hairpin turns creates interesting scenarios for the player to interact with.
Steve Swink categorizes context into three levels based on what they convey to the player:
High-level context: The overall impression of the game world create by its space, movement, and scale. The size, placement, and movement of objects provide context that influences how players perceive the environment and the objects within it. Large and open spaces can create a sense of exploration and possibility, while enclosed spaces can create a sense of focus or claustrophobia. Similarly, the relative movement of objects can influence the perceived speed, size, and weight of those objects. Medium-level context: The immediate spatial arrangement of objects around the player, which affects how the player navigates and avoids obstacles. Closely spaced objects can make movement more challenging and require greater precision, while widely spaced objects can make navigation easier and less demanding. Low-level context: The physical interaction between the player and surrounding objects, particularly how collisions are modeled and perceived. The way objects collide, rebound, deform, or resist movement can create different tactile impressions. These interactions influence how responsive and physically tangible the game world feels.
Polish Polish, also referred to as "aesthetics", is the additional details added to interactions between game elements to influence the player's perception of their physical properties. These details can make objects and their interactions feel more physical and tangible; however, they do not alter the underlying game mechanics.
Steve Swink identifies five types of polish used to portray the physical properties of an object:
Animation Animation is the visual movement of an object that influences the player's perception of its physical properties. Whether an animation is considered good or bad is subjective and depends on the artist's or designer's intention: however, animators have established principles of animation as a baseline for creating natural-looking movement.
For example, one of the principles of animation, called squash and stretch, can make an object appear softer, heavier, or more physically expressive. When animating a bouncing ball, squash and stretch can make the ball appear more elastic and emphasize its bouncing motion. Without it, the ball may appear stiff and fail to convey its intended physical properties. The same technique can be applied to objects that would not normally deform, such as a brick, to alter the player's perception. Although a brick is generally perceived as hard and rigid, applying squash and stretch can make it appear softer, or exaggerate the force of its impact.
Visual Effects Visual aesthetics add details to the game world that make it feel more vibrant and connected. Visual details can subconsciously inform the player of the subtle interactions between the objects in the game world. Simple examples include adding particle effects, like dirt being kicked up by the game character's feet or water splashing from a pool, can enhance the inherent connection between physical objects in the game world.
Visual effects can also improve game feel by introducing extra spectacle and dazzling the player. Vivid colors and bright aesthetics can make a game feel alive, and adding effects like bright flashes, sparks, explosions, debris, and camera shake enhances the impact of events in the game.
Sound Effects Sound effects emphasize the interactions between objects in the game. Having weak or quiet sound effects can lead to the game objects feeling weak and less impactful. If the sounds themselves are low quality, it can be especially distracting to the player. Good game feel requires appropriate, impactful, and pleasing (non-repetitive) sound effects.
Music can also have a big effect on game feel. Game music's main purpose is to reinforce the main mood or tone of the game. Action games generally use loud and bombastic scores to emphasize the feeling of power and triumph, and horror games generally use subtle, tense music with loud spikes to drive home moments of intensity.
Cinematic Effects Cinematic effects are effects applied to the game's camera that influence the player's perception of an object's physical properties and movement. These effects can include screen shake, changes in view angle, motion blur, and slow motion. Because the camera represents the player's point of view, altering it can make an interaction appear more powerful or physically significant.
For example, screen shake following an explosion can make the impact appear more powerful, while slow motion when a character lands a powerful attack can emphasize the force of the impact.
Tactile Effects Tactile effects are effects delivered through the player's input device that influence their physical perception of an interaction in order to provide physical sensation corresponding to events occurring in the game.
For example, in Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut on the PlayStation 5, the controller vibrates when the player pets an animal, simulating the sensation of purring and increasing immersion in the game.
Metaphor Metaphor in game feel refers to how the game mechanics relate to the game's theme. If a game involves things the player understands, the player will bring preconceived notions of how those things should behave.