About Games
2.1 Gamification in context
Gamification ist not
- Making everything a game or an immersive 3D virtual world
- any games in the workplace
- any use of games in the businesss
- Simulations (although they may constitute serious games)
- just for marketing, costumer engagement or PBLs ( points, badges, leaderboards )
- Game theory
Gamification is
- Listening to what games can teach us
- Learning from game design (and psychology, management, marketing, economics )
- Appreciating fun!
2.2 What is a Game? (by Bernard Suits, “The Grasshopper”)
• Pre-lusory Goal
• Constitutive Rules
• Lusory Attitude
• voluntarily overcoming unnecessary obstacles
2.3 Games and Play
PLAY
- “Play is the aimless expenditure of exuberant energy.” (Friedrich Schiller)
- “Play is whatever is done spontaneously and for its own sake.” (George Santayana)
- “…play creates a zone of proximal development of the child. In play a child always behaves beyond his average age.” (Lev Vygotsky)
- “Play is free movement within a more rigid structure.” (Katie Salen & Eric Zimmerman)
GAMES
- “A game is a closed, formal system that engages players in a structured conflict, and resolves in an unequal outcome.” (Tracy Fullerton, Chris Swain and Steven Hoffman)
- “A game is a series of meaningful choices” (Sid Meier)
- “A game is a … domain of contrived contingency that generates interpretable outcomes.” (Thomas Mallaby)
- “A game is a problem-solving activity, approached with a playful attitude.” (Jesse Schell)
To sum it up games are about:
- Voluntariness
- Learning or problem solving
- Balance of structure and exploration
2.4 Videogames
We’re All Gamers Now (Source: Pew Foundation and Entertainment Software Association)
- 97% of kids 12-17 play videogames
- The average game player is 30 years old
- – 37% are older than 35
- 47% percent of all game players are women
Not Just Blowing Stuff Up:
- Sandbox – Minecraft
- Building – Civilization, SimCity
- Social building – The Sims, Farmville
- MMOGs – World of Warcraft
- Puzzle – Portal 2, Angry Birds
2.5 Just a game?
Real World Building Blocks
- E-business 2.0 – analytics, cloud, mobile, etc.
- Social networks and media
- Loyalty programs
- Management and marketing research
Games Get Real
Games Were Always Real