Skinner boxes are fairly infamous in the game space at this point, but not all boxes are created equal. Why do some games grip and hold onto our attention but some games just end up falling by the wayside, despite having great graphics, gripping narratives, or engaging gameplay? Why do some RPGs just feel a little... off? That can be a factor of operant conditioning which relies on two big factors: variable ratio reinforcement schedules & variable interval reinforcement schedules. After all, finding a penny 200 times and finding 2 dollars results in the same outcome, but feels drastically different!
