Andrzej Marczewski

Gamification Expert, author, consultant and designer. I love to write about it, talk about it and bore people to death with it! If you really want to get to know me, check out the About page.

Was Gamification Bullshit Afterall?

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Snake oil Was Gamification Bullshit Afterall

For over a decade, “gamification” has been the prevailing buzzword, promising to infuse a dash of gaming enchantment into our mundane tasks. But was it merely a façade, as game designer Ian Bogost vehemently argued back in 2011? Let’s delve into the gamified world and discern whether it’s a genuine game-changer or simply another marketing gimmick.

The Critique That Ignited the Debate

In the past, Ian Bogost unabashedly declared, “Gamification is Bullshit.” He accused it of being a slick marketing ploy concocted by consultants to transform corporate life into a mere video game simulation. According to him, it’s a form of smoke and mirrors, impressing and coercing without any substantive foundation. Bogost also took a swipe at gamification for oversimplifying the potent elements that make games truly impactful. Read More ...

The Ludic Spirit Players

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Cards The Ludic Spirit Players

I appreciate a well-structured typology, but only if I find it useful. So, it was a bit of a battle to justify yet another one to myself. But I managed, and so I present the Ludic Spirit Players!

Based largely on observation of my own kids over the last 16 years, as well as other work in the field of play by those such as Bernard Suits and Bob Hughes, these “types” are specific to the way I am forming this Ludic Spirit stuff and Play – not Games or Gamification, so it is not an all-encompassing list of play types or types of player! Read More ...

How can Carmen Miranda and some little piggies help you become a better writer?

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Carmen piggys How can Carmen Miranda and some little piggies help you become a better writer

That may well be the oddest title I’ve ever written.

Look, I’ll keep this short. If you want to write content, be it personal or professional, that resonates with people – don’t talk about yourself all the time!

If you read your content out loud and it sounds like this

Or

Then you are not speaking to or about your target audience – you are just talking about you and they will get bored very very very fast.

For those who didn’t want to watch the clips they went “I, I, I, I, I, I” and “We, We, We, We, We” Read More ...

The Ludic Spirit RAMP – Connecting Intrinsic Motivation to Playful Mindsets

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LKTD89cvQJUnsSfdapWa 1 o69ur The Ludic Spirit RAMP 8211 Connecting Intrinsic Motivation to Playful Mindsets

I want to keep this Ludic Spirit idea going as it is now shaping how I view pretty much everything in a way that gamification never really did. It is a much simpler way to improve the world around me that does not rely on the sorts of reward frameworks that gamification often needs you to design.

Obviously, I am still using RAMP (Relatedness, Autonomy, Mastery & Purpose) to help me break down how I am applying Ludic Spirit-related elements and concepts. However, for now, I am focusing on me, the person, not me the product designer – sometimes you have to shift focus back to you! Read More ...

Expert’s Warning: Master AI, Data, and Gamification or Risk Going Out of Business in 5 Years!

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JLZTCGLE8NBBVv2qqzET 1 zaxo8 2x Expert 8217 s Warning Master AI Data and Gamification or Risk Going Out of Business in 5 Years

Made you look, made you stare, made you mess your underwear!

We have all seen the headlines like “Expert says if you don’t know AI, you won’t be in business next week”. But the truth is, that’s bollocks.

Now, you may not be in as great a shape as those in a similar line of work that do understand AI, but you won’t be out of business if you remember this one simple rule. People make a business.

The truth is that most people don’t even understand what any of this stuff is. AI isn’t AI for the most part, it is just clever algorithms (even ChatGTP agrees with me there – see the end of this post). Very few people really understand data and big data, they just think it is Google Analytics. Even fewer seem to understand Gamification still, relying on parlour tricks rather than good game and behaviour-based design. Read More ...