How Can Young Gamers Find Their Flow?

Known by many things—“in the zone”, or “locked in”— it’s a feeling often sought after but not fully understood. You may have experienced it yourself—out on a run where you feel unstoppable or even cleaning the house—a feeling where everything just seems to work and make sense. This magical feeling is more commonly known as flow state. 

Flow State has a host of cool features to unlock such as: time seeming to pass quickly, and individuals experiencing a sense of effortless control and deep enjoyment. Getting into the flow of things is a mental state of complete absorption and focus in an activity. It was first described by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his seminal work "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience." Just like in sports, art, and music creation, achieving flow in gaming involves a deep sense of concentration, enjoyment, and a feeling of being "in the zone." In young kids, flow state might look like an afternoon spent putting together a puzzle. Celebrating the wins of matching pieces is much like the flow state that can be found through digital gaming. 

For kids, one of the most rewarding parts of gaming can be the achievements games unlock along the way—whether that’s medals, trophies or tools to play on. The strategic thinking applied when gaming combined with these frequent rewards is a great way to get flow state started. Not only that, but the problem solving in games is often transferable to everyday living and helps to get kids thinking about larger issues in smaller, more digestible chunks and may also encourage decision-making surrounding others and public spaces that could impact the environment the digital world provides. 

We’ve learned a few steps that can go into finding flow in gaming. The player needs to find the level or play just challenging enough that it seems completable without the disheartening frustration from taking on a task that’s too hard. The feeling that you’re looking for is a sense of “optimal challenge.” Receiving small rewards or indication you’re getting closer to a larger goal will drive players to focus deeper on the little wins and trigger a bunch of sensors to tell you now is the time to focus more than ever. By mentally structuring tasks one at a time the success rate is higher and therefore the flow can take over. 

For parents, the world of gaming still might feel too all-consuming. There are a couple of tips we have for tackling this concern. Firstly, join in! Playing games might not be your idea of quality time, but they’re a great way to bond with your kids and to check first-hand that the game promotes healthy topics for young minds. You might find some flow of your own! Secondly, when group gaming isn’t possible try to encourage time limits or breaks in play. They don’t have to be too rigid but should mark times to switch off and get back to like IRL. And finally, and probably the most simple option, ask questions. Kids want to tell you about their achievements and gaming is no exception. The more you show an active interest in their online play the more you’ll know where the limits are.

World of Us is currently being designed to optimise flow—and enjoyment—so that players can lock in on building skills that help to protect and educate young people about the world we live in today. The game, which brings in tales from around the globe, has creative, collaborative, and strategic challenges that are tailored to young developing minds. This means the challenges they set to solve are creating that ‘optimum challenge’ and unlocking more opportunities for flow as play continues. As guardians we want you to play along, too. This world may be for kids but there’s so much guardians can learn from. We’re creating resources that can help you start crucial conversations. Topics, such as culture, mythology, history, nature, won’t just help your children learn but may just open new worlds for you, too.