http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/25/scvngr-game-mechanics/
Related: Game Design Patterns • LudificacióEverything I Learned About Game Design I Learned From Disneyland As promised, here are the slides from my GDC talk. We had a "sold out" crowd and I got to meet lots of nice people after the talk. Please share these with your friends and co-workers. Meta-Game Design: Reward Systems that Drive Engagement One of the hottest topics in the Web-meets-Gaming world is metagame design -- the practice of applying game-like reward and feedback systems to non-game applications for the purpose of driving loyalty and engagement. In the physical world, we're surrounded by metagames: Karate belts, scout badges, employee incentive plans, and frequent flyer miles are all reward systems, layered onto an existing activity to drive loyalty and communicate social status. On the Web, metagames peform a similar function. Social networks like MyYearBook and Hi5 let players earn redeemable points by logging in and engaging in various social activities. Foursquare uses points, badges and leaderboards to turn club-hopping into a game-like social experience.
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. Game mechanics Game mechanics are constructs of rules intended to produce a game or gameplay. All games use mechanics; however, theories and styles differ as to their ultimate importance to the game. In general, the process and study of game design, or ludology, are efforts to come up with game mechanics that allow for people playing a game to have an engaging, but not necessarily fun, experience. Game mechanics vs. gameplay[edit] Gameplay refers to the overall game experience or essence of the game itself. There is some confusion as to the difference between game mechanics and gameplay.
101 Game Design Principles for Social Media Game design principles are often incorporated into social media (gamification). The reason is that games are downright addictive. Game-like features can increase user engagement — encouraging desired behaviour from customers, partners and employees. Game design is a well developed field. After all, games have been around for thousands of years. 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.
What is Gamification If you want to make Gamification actionable, Check out my Complete Gamification Framework called Octalysis and Video Lecturer Series. For those who been following my blog regularly, its pretty apparent that I have been writing heavily into the topic of Gamification. This may be an unfamiliar word for many of you. What is Gamification? This post is a quick overview to explain what is Gamification about and clear up a great deal of misconceptions in the industry. Gamification is the craft of deriving all the fun and addicting elements found in games and applying them to real-world or productive activities.2 This is what I call “Human-Focused Design” as opposed to the “Function-Focused Design.”
Game Design : The Addiction Element What makes a game addictive? In order for a game to become addictive there must be a driving force to keep playing the game. Some reasons behind this are: to finish the game, to compete against others, to master the game's control and interface, to explore the game and getting a high score or equivalent.
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. Octalysis: Complete Gamification Framework (This is the Gamification Framework that I am most known for. Within a year, it was translated into 9 different languages and became classic teaching literature in the gamification space in the US, Europe, Australia and South America.) Octalysis: Complete Gamification Framework Gamification is design that places the most emphasis on human motivation in the process.
Game Design, Psychology, Flow, and Mastery - Articles - Fail-safes in Competitive Game Design: A Detailed Example I'd like to take an in-depth look at an example of designing balance into a game through the use of fail-safes. Although I'm choosing a fighting game, the lessons should apply to many types of games. I'll go into some excruciating, genre-heavy details, but I think that's necessary to give the full force of what's really going on here. Welcome to MvC2, don't even ask.Some games end up balanced through sheer coincidence, such as the fighting game Marvel vs. Capcom 2, which is "accidentally a very good game."
Nicole Lazzaro's Blog Emotion and the Fun of Games As experts in player experiences we see a huge gap between “market research” and what players most enjoy about play. Players may check “good graphics” on a online survey, but our cross-genre contextual research reveals a more interesting story. We know how games deliver more emotions than frustration, excitement, and fear. The secret is in the gameplay. The 4 Fun Keys create games’ four most important emotions 1. Hard Fun: Fiero – in the moment personal triumph over adversity 2. 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.
7 Winning Examples of Game Mechanics in Action Gabe Zichermann is the author of Gamification by Design and chair of the upcoming Gamification Summit NYC, where top leaders in the field - such as those profiled here - get together to share insight, key metrics and best practices. Mashable readers are invited to register with special savings at GSummit.com using code MASH10. Gamification is the use of game thinking and game mechanics to engage audiences and solve problems. In other words, it means taking the best lessons from games like FarmVille, World of Warcraft and Angry Birds, and using them in business. Whether targeted at customers or employees, across industries as diverse as technology, health care, education, consumer products, entertainment and travel, gamification’s impact can already be felt. While some have criticized the concept of gamification as shallow or demeaning, the initial findings from gamification specialists are nothing short of astonishing.