3/8/11: Gamification – Rajat Paharia. Description of Class Students will learn about optimizing user behavior through the technique of gamification – the use of game mechanics in non-gaming contexts to influence and motivate user participation, engagement and loyalty.
We’ll cover the basic game mechanics, why and how they work, and look at several examples of them being used in live applications across a variety of industries. Rajat Paharia – Founder & Chief Product Officer, Bunchball (SF) Rajat Paharia is the founder and Chief Product Officer of Bunchball. Bunchball’s Nitro platform influences user behavior using concepts from game design, and is being used by major media companies, social networks, ISPs, and others to increase participation, engagement and loyalty. Rajat’s skill set combines a unique understanding of technology and design that stems from a four year career at design firm IDEO where he was co-director of the Software Experiences Practice. Like this: Like Loading...
Gaming the Curriculum Project. Ali Carr-Chellman: Gaming to re-engage boys in learning. Game Dynamics. Examples of good design. Richard A. Bartle: Players Who Suit MUDs. Richard Bartle[1] MUSE Ltd, Colchester, Essex.
United Kingdom.richard@mud.co.uk Four approaches to playing MUDs are identified and described. These approaches may arise from the inter-relationship of two dimensions of playing style: action versus interaction, and world-oriented versus player-oriented. An account of the dynamics of player populations is given in terms of these dimensions, with particular attention to how to promote balance or equilibrium. This analysis also offers an explanation for the labelling of MUDs as being either "social" or "gamelike". Most MUDs can trace their lineage directly back to Trubshaw's 1978 game (Bartle, 1990b; Burka, 1995) and, perhaps because of this heritage, the vast majority are regarded as "games" by their "players".
It is worthwhile considering for a moment whether MUDs (as they are generally played) really are games, or whether they're something else. Game Dynamics and Marketing Part 3 of 9. Game mechanics for thinking users « Web Worker's (Freak) Anthropology. Game mechanics for thinking users Posted by Pietro Polsinelli on November 9, 2010 · 12 Comments Many software applications and web sites that are not commonly understood as games have some aspect that can be described in gaming terms.
My point here is that a game design perspective can contribute in usability and functionality also in non gaming context. The post ends with examples of real world usage of game mechanics and some application suggestions. Which game mechanics? The real title of this post is “Game mechanics for thinking users of non gaming, not necessarily social, non trivial applications”. There is a lot of discussion these days about game mechanics, and often the discussion assumes a restrictive concept of the field, reducing it to badges and frequent flyer miles / redeeming mechanics. Fortunately this discipline is much wider and deeper than assumed in the references above. Jesse Schell: When games invade real life. SCVNGR’s Secret Game Mechanics Playdeck. Some companies keep a playbook of product tips, tricks and trade secrets.
Zynga has an internal playbook, for instance, that is a collection of “concepts, techniques, know-how and best practices for developing successful and distinctive social games”. Zynga’s playbook has entered the realm of legend and was even the subject of a lawsuit. SCVNGR, which makes a mobile game with real-world challenges, has a playdeck. It is a deck of cards listing nearly 50 different game mechanics that can be mixed and matched to create the foundation for different types of games. I’ve republished the accompanying document below, which should be interesting to anybody trying to inject a gaming dimension into their products. Rght now, that should be a lot of people. SCVNGR’s playdeck tries to break down the game mechanics into their constituent parts.
SCVNGR Game Dynamics Playdeck 1. Definition: A virtual or physical representation of having accomplished something. 2. 3. Jane McGonigal: Gaming can make a better world. Welcome to the Superstruct Game Archive. Evoke Social Game. Gamification and Games. Features - The Designer's Notebook: Difficulty Modes and Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment. [In Ernest Adams' latest Gamasutra column, he digs into difficulty levels in games, interestingly suggesting that player-set difficulty can, in many cases, be preferable to dynamic difficulty settings.]
I just finished reading a book called Interactive Storytelling, by Andrew Glassner. While the first couple of hundred pages contain useful introductions to both storytelling and game design (for the novice, anyway), the book has some serious flaws and I can't really recommend it. But along the way, Glassner digresses into a variety of other subjects, and one of them is settable difficulty levels. He's against them. He thinks they ought to be banned. This really pulled me up short when I read it. These are Glassner's complaints about settable difficulty levels. The player has to decide too early. The options are too coarse. Game with DDA. Seth Priebatsch: The game layer on top of the world. Philip Rosedale on Second Life.