Gamification

Meaningful, Specific Rewards

by
Academic excellence award Meaningful Specific Rewards

Many of you will know by now that I intensely dislike the way my daughter’s school uses rewards. However, one teacher has changed some of my views in one simple act. She gave out a truly meaningful reward.

It was a certificate, the exact same certificate that my daughter has had several times. It came signed by the head teacher, as they all do with this type of certificate. However, this time there was one very slight difference… the text on the certificate.

Rather than the usual generic “This award was given for extra effort”, or “This award has been given for being good at spelling”, this one was totally specific to my daughter and the struggles she has had with dyscalculia. Read More ...

What is the Best Gamification Framework?

by

Gamification frameworks, like many other industries, are all over the place. Everyone has one and probably argue theirs is the best. Hell, I’ve got loads dotted around the site!

But, which one is actually the best?

Well, none of them. They mostly have equal merit based on the context within which you wish to use them. Some, whether they admit it or not, are more suited to analyzing existing systems to gain insights, some are more suited to the practical design of solutions. Some are great at helping to define specific elements you may which to use, some, how to motivate specific groups of users and yet others how to actually run the whole project. Read More ...

What can learning guitar teach us about gamification?

by

I have been playing guitar since I was 16. As I approach my 40th birthday, I have had the opportunity to reflect on a lot of things. Mostly things that are deeper than this, but it popped into my mind, so I gave it time!

When I started playing guitar, I learned three chords. G, C and A. I had a little acoustic guitar that my Mum bought me in a car boot sale for £6. She told me that if I could learn to play a song and play it well, she would consider going halves on an electric guitar with me.  I went Read More ...

Gamification is not just points and badges

by

Ok, quick rant, move along if you don’t care about the future of our industry.

I recently read an article, that said the following

… gamification, the concept of points or rewards through the completion of tasks …

It is 2018, gamification has been maturing for several years now and most of the respected leaders in the industry have been trying to dispell this concept for some time now.

So why does it persist?

Because the industry does not speak openly about what it is actually doing. Case studies I am using now are the same ones I was using in 2011. This either means that people are so successful that they don’t want to share the goods, or they are failing so badly they are embarrassed to share. Read More ...

Defining Game Mechanics in a Gamification Context

by

Ok. I’ve approached game mechanics a few times, but the conversation still persists and the misuse of terms gets worse and worse! I wanted to put together a little glossary with contextual examples, based on my research – so feel free to disagree.

Mechanic: A distinct set of rules that dictate the outcome of specific interactions within the game.

  • Game Example: Digging blocks is the core mechanic. Crafting is another mechanic.
  • Gamification Example: The drag and drop mechanism in timeline sort challenge. The timer is also a mechanic as is the act of turning over cards in the memory match game.

Dynamic. The emergent outcomes of player and system interactions with game mechanics.

  • Game Example: Building a fortress in Minecraft with friends.
  • Gamification Example: Pooling knowledge in the social chat area to help each other complete the challenges.

Aesthetic/Immersion: The feelings and emotions the game evokes in the player. Read More ...

Exit mobile version