Home ➾ Blog ➾ Bartle Player Types: Explorers

Explorers – one of the four Bartle Player Types – are vaults of knowledge about the game and what is possible. Do you have an Explorer friend? Then, for you, a wide world opens up with possibilities beyond your imagination.

Scoring points all the time is a useless activity for Explorers. Reaching the next level may be necessary to enter a new area, but they won’t get excited about it.

It’s a lot easier to design features for a game – ones that are well-received – if you know how your players prefer to approach the experience.

This deep dive is a sequal to Bartle Player Types: Introduction and Overview.

We turn our eyes to the Explorers; those who know the details of the game and have discovered all the easter eggs that you now find in lists on the internet.

1. What do Explorers want from a game?

This invisible wall surely has a hole somewhere 🔍

Explorers are all about exploring, through and through. They want to know all the ins and outs; of the world, but also of the system. They literally push the limits are like to be surprised.

Viewing. Trying things out. Discovering.

Fun comes from discovery, making the unknown known, tracking down hidden places, gaining achievements that others cannot find, and detecting faults in the system.

They love to figure out the world and system. How does it work? Are there any small hacks in the system? Is there any way I can go over this hill, rather than having to walk around it?

They try all sorts of step-by-step actions in wild, remote places, looking for interesting features or bugs. Explorers can wander around for hours searching for secrets.

Testing. Invisible-wall-jumping. Wandering around. Wondering.

They are the ultimate insiders and enjoy having information that no one else has. This is the status Explorers seek. They take pride in knowing the details of the game; especially when new players treat them as the source of all knowledge and wisdom.

Explorers therefore tend to enjoy coaching other players.

Showoff. Helping. Status.

Game features for Explorers 🤠

▪️  Easter eggs
▪️  Unrevealed mechanics
▪️  Unclear shortcuts
▪️  Cryptic messages
▪️  Obfuscated achievements
▪️  Hidden gems
▪️  Sudden rewards
▪️  Camouflaged and concealed features
▪️  Hidden quests
▪️  Secret pathways
▪️  Treasures
▪️  Hints
▪️  Remote zones
▪️  Rare items obtained by exploring
▪️  Shrouded combination effects
▪️  Puzzles
▪️  Possible interconnectedness

Explorers love it if the game surprises them; interaction with the world 🌍🏕️

As the quadrant shows, Explorers fall under Interacting and World. By interacting with the world, new things can be discovered and secrets uncovered.

So, in effect, you are developing more mechanics for Explorers by focusing on interaction with the world and environment. Make sure there is enough to discover and to figure out. Enlarging the game world is a base approach.

Also consider deliberately making mistakes and holes in the system that Explorers might – one day – find.

Think about what makes Explorers enthusiastic and where they get their sense of pride. Organise the rewards accordingly.

By giving players cryptic hints when they appear to be stuck, and by having help features sometimes provide vague information, you can also facilitate Explorers taking on a coaching role more often.

2. How do Explorers view other players?

You just don’t understand the meaning of playing… 🙄

Last but not least, it allows us to understand the worldview of a specific Player Type even better with insights into how different Player Types view each other.

⚠️ The following paragraphs are a brief summary of Bartle’s research and are based on stereotype Explorers. They should not be taken as automatically true for any individual player who shows common characteristics with the Explorers archetype.

Explorers vs. Explorers 🤠🤠

Explorers generally get on well with each other and enjoy sharing their latest discoveries amongst peers.

They have great respect for really good Explorers, but are merciless to a bad one. One of the worst things you can do is to give false information, believing you are right.

Explorers vs. Achievers 🤠🏆

Explorers see Achievers as emerging Explorers, who have simply not yet discovered that there is more to life than the brain-dead pursuit of meaningless goals.

They are therefore willing to provide Achievers with information, but only in a cryptic way and of course not at 100% (and we know how Achievers feel about 100%).

Explorers vs. Socializers 🤠💬

Socializers are seen as people whom Explorers can impress, but who are generally quite unimportant.

If the talents of the Explorer are not really appreciated by a Socializer, there is no point in spending time with them.

Explorers vs. Killers 🤠💀

Explorers respect Killers, but with some reluctance. Their behaviour is often tiresome. It is annoying to be attacked by Killers when you have just finished setting up a new experiment.

But Killers do know their trade well and are quite willing to discuss its intricacies with Explorers.

Explorers themselves can be really good fighters, but they don’t know the evil that the Killers possess.