Gamification: You're Doing it Wrong

GAMIFICATION YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG!

. . . . . . . . . . . . MICHAEL WILSON @STOPWILSON | WWW.STOPWILSON.COM

PRESENTED BY

OVERVIEW

Beyond badges and progress bars, award winning game developer Michael Wilson lectures on the basics of game design and structure while applying those principles to modern digital design.

This class caters to both designers and developers currently trying to incorporate gaming features into their company’s products.

This class is theory and methodology, not practice, but we may reference design and programming principles, so rudimentary experience in design or development will be useful.

WHO THE ______ ARE YOU?

I am a seasoned technologist and entrepreneur with experience in every aspect of the digital entertainment, software and advertising industries.

With over 15 years of software development leadership in retail software and enterprise web development, my teams have deployed code for many fortune 500 companies including Procter & Gamble, IBM and Electronic Arts.

Projects under my direct technical lead have won many awards including a Webby, selection as an Independent Games Festival Finalist and the coveted Cannes Gold Cyber Lion.

GAMES?

. . . . . . . . . . . . GAMIFICATION? WHAT IS

GAMIFICATION THE USE OF GAME DESIGN

ELEMENTS IN NON-GAME

CONTEXTS.

FITNESS

EDUCATION

LIFE

MAGIC FORMULA?

SOMETHING

NO ONE

WANTS TO DO +

POPULAR

GAME

MECHANIC =

BLISSFUL

PRODUCTIVITY

GAME MECHANICS

• Achievements

• Behavioral Momentum

• Bonuses

• Cascading Information

• Combos

• Community Collaboration

• Countdown

• Discovery

• Epic Meaning

• Infinite Gameplay

• Levels

• Loss Aversion

• Lottery

• Ownership

• Points

• Progression

• Quests

• Reward Schedules

• Status

via http://gamification.org/wiki/Game_Mechanics

GAMES ARE

ADDICTIVE

Photo used under Creative Commons from Jeff Kubina

. . . . . . . . . . . . GAMIFICATION? SO WHAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH

IT’S A SET OF FEATURES

Progress Bars

Achievements

Badges

Scoreboards

Socialization

Competition

Challenges

etc.

GAMIFICATION

THAT DON’T EQUATE TO FUN

Progress Bars

Achievements

Badges

Scoreboards

Socialization

Competition

Challenges

etc.

= FUN

SO HOW DO WE

MANUFACTURE

FUN?

DESIGN IT

TO BE FUN!

WARNING! UTILITY > FUN

. . . . . . . . . . . . BY DESIGN FUN IS

WHAT IS A GAME?

Experience Toy Puzzle Game

Lacks

Interaction

Explicit

Rules

Inherent

Rules Outcome

Has

Interaction

Objectives

Conflict

TOY

Photo used under Creative Commons from stevendepolo

A TOY IS

DESIGNED FOR

PLAY

PLAY = INTERACTION

INHERENT “RULES” OF A TOY

• Interaction

• Physical/Environmental Rules

• Expectations

• Feedback (Light, Sound, etc.)

• Discovery

• Manipulation

• etc.

BEND THE

RULES OF A

TOY?

VISUAL FEEDBACK

SURPRISE,

DELIGHT,

RANDOMNESS,

POSSIBILITES (BUT NO GOAL)

PUZZLE

Photo used under Creative Commons from fdecomite

A PUZZLE IS

FUN AND HAS A

RIGHT ANSWER

-- SCOTT KIM, PUZZLE MASTER (THE NEXT TETRIS)

IMPLICIT RULES OF A PUZZLE

• Puzzles are a form of play.

• Puzzles have a goal or objective.

• Puzzles are “tricky.”

• Puzzles imply needed ingenuity.

PUZZLE

EXPLICIT RULES OF A PUZZLE

A PUZZLE

HAS RULES

GAME OR PUZZLE?

A PUZZLE IS

FUN AND HAS (AT LEAST ONE)

RIGHT ANSWER

FOLD.IT

SURPRISE,

DELIGHT,

RANDOMNESS,

POSSIBILITES (NOW WITH A PURPOSE)

GAME Photo used under Creative Commons from Muffet

A GAME IS A PLAY

ACTIVITY WITH

RULES THAT

INVOLVES

CONFLICT -- INTERNATIONAL GAME DEVELOPERS ASSOCIATION

RULES OF A GAME

• Games are an activity.

• Games have rules.

• Games have conflict.

• Games have goals.

• Games involve decision making.

• Games have an uncertain outcome.

GAME Portions of text used under Creative Commons from Ian Schreiber

RULES OF A GAME, MAYBE?

• Games have Players?

• Games have Winners and Losers?

• Games are purposely inefficient?

• Games have outcomes?

• Games involve systems?

• Games are...?

GAME

A GAMES ARE

STORY

MACHINES.

STORY

Photo used under Creative Commons from DeusXFlorida

STORY

Photo used under Creative Commons from StuSeeger

THE PIECES OF

OUR STORY

MACHINE ARE

CALLED

MECHANICS

GAME MECHANICS ARE

CONSTRUCTS OF RULES

INTENDED TO PRODUCE

AN ENJOYABLE GAME

OR GAMEPLAY

GAME MECHANICS

• Achievements

• Behavioral Momentum

• Bonuses

• Cascading Information

• Combos

• Community Collaboration

• Countdown

• Discovery

• Epic Meaning

• Infinite Gameplay

• Levels

• Loss Aversion

• Lottery

• Ownership

• Points

• Progression

• Quests

• Reward Schedules

• Status

via http://gamification.org/wiki/Game_Mechanics

. . . . . . . . . . . . FUN! DIALING IN THE

DESIGNING FUN

IS ABOUT

DESIGNING

BALANCE

BALANCE

Photo used under Creative Commons from cho45

WHAT TO BALANCE?

Risk

Luck

Random

Completion

…This

Reward

Skill

Predictive

Endlessness

That…

vs.

vs.

vs.

vs.

vs.

THESE ARE THE

BIG THREE,

BUT THERE ARE

MANY OTHERS

RISK VS.

REWARD

RISK

RISK VS. REWARD

• Think of RISK and REWARD as a

mechanic to drive MEANING.

RISK = EFFORT

EFFORT + REWARD =

MEANING

CHALLENGE & DIFFICULTY

According to human nature, it is

inevitable that a person will learn and

gain more skill presented a

challenge and a chance to grow—

therefore a game must increase in

difficulty as the player progresses in

order to continue to be challenging

MORE CHALLENGE =

MORE EFFORT =

MORE RISK

SO, GAMIFING A

TASK WITH OUT

RISK* WILL

INHERENTLY

MAKE IT UN-FUN

*FIND A VERSION OF RISK

• Risk of Loss

– Tangential loss

– Compounding loss

– Ultimatum loss

• Risk of Effort

• Other kinds of Risk?

RISK

REWARDS ARE

EASY.

TOO EASY?

THINK ABOUT YOUR REWARDS

• Too Plentiful? (Points)

• Not Valuable? (Coupons, Badges)

• Not Legal? (Cash)

• Meaningless?

REWARD

REWARDS NEED

MEANING

FOR THE

AUDIENCE

MEANING. LIKE IT OR NOT.

LUCK VS.

SKILL

Photos used under Creative Commons from dupo-x-y & Muffet

LUCK SKILL

ALL GAMES

HAVE SOME

LUCK

ALL GAMES

HAVE SOME

SKILL

SOURCES OF LUCK

• Random Number Generators (Dice, Coins,

etc.)

• Simultaneous Choices (Rock, Paper,

Scissors)

• Hidden Information (Cards, Stock Market)

• Environment (Weather, imperfections,

etc.)

LUCK

LUCK LEVELS

THE PLAYFIELD

LUCK IS

INCLUSIVE

SOURCES OF SKILL

• Physical (Exercise, Practice, etc.)

• Intelligence (IQ, Problem Solving, etc.)

• Familiarity (Experience, Practice, etc.)

• Endurance (Willpower, etc,)

SKILL

SKILL TAKES

EFFORT

SKILL ADDS

MEANING

MANIPULATING

LUCK

MANIPULATE

LUCK VIA SAP*

*SKILL ADVANTAGE PERCENTAGE

* JUST A GUESS

NBA JAM’S SAP = 5%*

WHEN SKILL

GETS AN

ADVANTAGE,

DIAL UP THE

LUCK

SO, GAMIFING A

TASK WITH OUT

LUCK WILL

INHERENTLY

MAKE IT UNFAIR

RANDOM VS.

PREDICTIVE

Photos used under Creative Commons from dupo-x-y & Muffet

RANDOM PREDICTIVE

RANDOMNESS

ISN’T

LUCK

PREDICTIONS

ARE

ODDS

CHESS IS VERY RANDOM

• The Shannon number, named after Claude Shannon, is an estimated lower bound on the game-tree complexity of chess

• Shanon’s number is estimated at 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (1046.7) games

• More than the estimated number of atoms in the Universe

via http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannon_number

Photos used under Creative Commons from Muffet

CHESS IS PREDICTIVE

IN BOOK

IN BOOK

IN BOOK IN BOOK

IN BOOK

IN BOOK

IN BOOK IN BOOK

NOVELTY

IN BOOK IN BOOK

IN BOOK IN BOOK

IN BOOK IN BOOK IN BOOK

IN BOOK

IN BOOK

KNOWING THE

POSSIBLE

OUTCOME MAKES

VARIATIONS

MORE EXCITING

WHO WINS?

i

PREDICTIVE

OUTCOMES

CREATE

UNDERDOGS

PREDICTIVE

OUTCOMES

CREATE

RIVALRIES

WHO IS THE

UNDERDOG?

Photo used under Creative Commons from Mike_fleming

SO, GAMIFING A

TASK WITH OUT

PREDICTION WILL

INHERENTLY

MAKE IT BORING

. . . . . . . . . . . . TOGETHER BRING IT

ARE YOU

CREATING

CONFLICT?

ARE YOU

CREATING

MEANING?

ARE YOU

CREATING

BALANCE?

Risk

Luck

Random

Reward

Skill

Predictive

vs.

vs.

vs.