Robot Unicorn Attack: Why You Can't Stop Playing

If you're someone (like me) whose life is largely taken up by what's on the Internet, chances are good you've heard of a game on Adult Swim's website called Robot Unicorn Attack.  It's a simple little game wherein you control of a robot unicorn who is ceaselessly running from the left side of the screen to the right.  You can't change its direction, you can only tell it to jump over pits or smash through obstacles.  While you run, a counter steadily ticks upwards until you inevitably fall to your doom or crash and explode against a wall.  You get three chances to accumulate as many points as possible, and then you post your high score and laugh at all the people who aren't as good as you.  It's simple, fast, and easy to pick up.  And it's one of the most relentlessly addicting games you'll ever play.

The game has exploded in popularity since its release, particularly amongst Drury's theatre department; almost all of them have at least tried this game once, and almost everyone who tried hasn't stopped playing since.  But why is it so addicting?  For that matter, what makes any addicting game addicting?  Why are games like this, and games like World of Warcraft so easily able to suck our lives out through our fingers?

Well, like I said, Robot Unicorn Attack is a very accessible game, very easy to pick up, and the average playing round won't last more than three minutes.  But what about a game like World of Warcraft, or, really, any online role-playing game?  These games are so full of complexities and intricacies that only people who really like gaming will have the patience to pick up.  But these games are legendary for their ability to suck the time away and leave us hollow-eyed, drooling shells who've forgotten what day it is or even when we last showered.  So, something isn't addicting just based on how easy it is to play.  What's the other factor?

The answer isn't all that complicated.  It's a very simple psychological trick to get us to come back again and again.

Humans love accomplishment.  They love the feeling they get when they're rewarded for something.  And that's what these games do.  They give you constant reward.  When you start a role-playing game, it's almost insultingly easy to level up.  Every five minutes or so, you're either getting more money, or getting stronger, or getting better armor and weapons.  So you think, "Oh, well, that was easy.  I'll just keep playing and see how much stronger I can get."  So you keep playing.  Gradually, the amount of time you spend between each level-up increases.  It suddenly takes you ten minutes to get to the next level.  Then fifteen.  Then twenty.  Thirty.  An hour.  Before you know it, you're spending five hours at a time doing nothing but casting fire spells at trees, or bonking wild wolves on the head with your sword just so you can try to recapture that feeling of accomplishment you had in the beginning.  And Robot Unicorn Attack, with its constantly ticking timer, gives you endless incentive to keep trying over and over again.

You can play the game here.  Be warned: your soul belongs to it as soon as you start playing.