A Typology of Videogame Rewards

Karhulahti and Aarseth propose a multidimensional typology of rewards in videogames, aiming to provide a more comprehensive structural framework than earlier classifications. The paper argues that holistic taxonomies of games become unwieldy because videogames involve many structural levels, so the authors instead focus on the single structural level of rewards. They situate their work against prior efforts, including Wang and Sun's (2011) eight-category model, Phillips and colleagues' (2013, 2015) six-type taxonomy derived from expert focus groups and statistical coding, and Rapp's (2017) ethnographic classification tied to World of Warcraft.

The proposed typology rests on four dimensions. The first is seven basic reward types: abilities, characters, drama, objects, points (with four subtypes), space/time, and stimulatives. The second is form, described through five paired categories (ephemeral or permanent, exchangeable or fixed, functional or cosmetic, limited or unlimited, social or personal), each with further subfeatures. The third is origin, distinguishing rewards sourced from culture, the game itself, or players. The fourth is value, describing how worth is constructed numerically, ordinally, relatively, or by uniqueness. The authors frame the framework as intentionally qualitative and multidimensional, prioritizing depth for in-depth analysis over the ease of quantitative application.

The paper is a theoretical and conceptual contribution, and it does not report empirical data, survey samples, or statistical findings. It is scoped to digital videogames and explicitly excludes traditional card and sports games, while aiming to cover currently popular digital genres. The authors present the typology as useful for more accurate analysis of reward structures, as a model for constructing typologies of other game structures, and as a means of bridging cross-disciplinary gaps in game research.