Subjects then got a free sample of the confection –YUM!– and were told they were being entered into a lottery to win 25 more pieces.

In another condition (the “sequential condition” or the “ Tomb Raider group”) participants scrolled through the names and descriptions one at a time before making their choice. In one condition (the “simultaneous condition” or “ Syndicate group” in my reckoning) all the chocolate names and descriptions were listed at once.

In one of their experiments the researchers had subjects review a list of 5 different chocolate treats, including a description for each one –e.g., “Waikiki: dark chocolate ganache with a blend of coconut, pineapple, and passion fruit”. It comes down to hope for a better alternative and the way our brains tend to process the sequential versus simultaneous presentation of choices. Which system, do you think, is more likely to result in commitment to and satisfaction with skill choices? Which do you think would be less likely to make players feel regret over their decisions and make them less likely to reload a saved game so they can make another choice?Ī 2012 study by Cassie Mogilner, Baba Shiv, and Sheena Iyengar in the Journal of Consumer Research suggests that Syndicate’s system would be better, based on the metrics of likely satisfaction, commitment, and regret. In Tomb Raider the choices are presented a little differently: you scroll from left to right through a sequence of skills at the bottom of the screen before deciding where to spend your precious point. Every time you have a skill point available you can mouse over any of those icons to get descriptions then choose the one you want. In the Syndicate tree, all your options are set out in one screen. It may not be self evident from still screenshots, but these games handle the presentation of player choices differently. The first one is from the first person shooter Syndicate while the second is from the latest Tomb Raider game.

Can the presentation of choices on an upgrade screen or talent tree affect how we feel about those choices? Consider the two screenshots of talent trees below.

Talent grid legends