Fiero (Italian: “proud”) is the term Koster borrows from game researcher Nicole Lazzaro for the specific emotion of triumph over adversity — the surge of pride and exhilaration that comes from overcoming a genuinely difficult challenge. It is the feeling behind the raised fist and the involuntary shout. Koster argues fiero is one of the emotions games are uniquely positioned to produce, because it requires earned difficulty and the player’s own agency in the outcome (Koster 2005, see source-theory-of-fun).
Fiero is neurochemically grounded in dopamine release at the moment of reward after sustained effort — see neurochemical-engagement.
Related: fun-as-learning, neurochemical-engagement, flow, challenge-types, reward-systems