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Life is the most challenging game there is. You take a years-long tutorial behind a desk that doesn’t prepare you for much, grapple to tell the good guys from the bad guys, and there’s no walkthrough.
However, psychologist Richard Bartle thinks you’d be better equipped to navigate the game of life if you recognized the four types from the Bartle Test of Gamer Psychology, which splits people into groups based on their gaming personalities.
To be specific, the Bartle Test of Psychology focuses on a model of gamification—not game design—which places game-esque elements into non-gaming environments, according to the Interaction Design Foundation. Nevertheless, Bartle still believes game player types transcend in the real world.
The theory describes four personalities: the Achiever; the Explorer; the Socializer; the Killer. Of course, since this is real life, the traits that make up the four types might overlap.
Find out more about the four types below. You can take the psychology test here.
The Achiever
The Achiever thrives on obtaining points, status and visible success icons like trophies and badges. They’re the sort who would take a quicker route to reach a destination and tell their friends about it. Achievers love taking part in incentive schemes, and make up about 10-percent of the population, according to Bartle.
The Explorer
The Explorer finds gratification in the journey, and enjoys discovering secrets along the way instead of receiving prizes. They would retrace their steps and feel around to “unlock” an achievement or an undiscovered area. About 10-percent of people are Explorers.
The Socializer
Socializers are the most prevalent players, and are believed to make up 80-percent of the population. They thrive on having fun and connecting with other players, believing that collaborating would create greater success than if they were to work by themselves.
The Killer
Finally, there’s the Killer—a rarity that is believed to make up just one-percent of players. In a way, Killers are similar to the Achievers, in that they are highly competitive and desire to win. The key difference is they want to watch others lose.
You can take this quiz here to discover your most prominent player type.
[via