10 Top Gamification Tips – And A Question

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10 gamification tips 10 Top Gamification Tips 8211 And A Question

Hi there you lovely, lovely gamification enthusiasts! First off, I wanted to collate 10 tips for gamification greatness that I published on Twitter not long ago. Keep these in mind and you are destined for great things… probably.

  1. Recognise don’t bribe.
  2. Challenge don’t patronise.
  3. Focus on solving the problem not on forcing fun.
  4. Record everything you can, but be sure to define clear metrics to measure success and failure.
  5. The rules of the system need to give everyone the same opportunities to thrive.
  6. Let people fail, but make sure they can learn from it.
  7. Gamification should enhance, not annoy.
  8. Bring your solution together with a strong theme and narrative.
  9. Collaboration will encourage a more diverse group of players and deeper engagement than pure competition.
  10. Gamification should be an intrinsic part of the design, not an aesthetic afterthought.

Secondly, I am starting a new book and have a question for you. It is a companion book for Even Ninja Monkeys Like to Play, focusing on the practical aspects of gamification. It is going to be shorter and will have less of an academic feel (don’t look for  along citation page at the end). Read More ...

Making a Free To Play (F2P) Strategy That Doesn’t Suck

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As a parent, Free To Play (F2P) games are the joy and bane of my life in equal measure. Kids these days seem to be near impossible to entertain for any length of time. This being the case, video games are like comics were in my day – plentiful and cheap, especially on mobile platforms. Unlike comics, many games now present themselves as free.

Free is a tough term, though, like anyone games developers need to make money. So games that seem to be free on the App Store, tend to be Free to Play. The concept of F2P is that the game can be played for free, but you can pay for certain features. Read More ...

Fun and Gamification?

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Often when people talk about gamification, they speak about adding fun to everyday work related tasks. The whole Mary Poppins “A Spoonful of Sugar” analogy pops up regularly.  Anyone who has stuck with this blog for a while will know exactly how I feel about her…

The trouble with fun is how you define it. The Oxford dictionary (thanks Google), goes with

Enjoyment, amusement, or light-hearted pleasure: the children were having fun in the play area

Now, I’ve said this before, but it is worth saying again – fun is subjective. What you find fun, I may not. Consider the following event. Read More ...

What Can My Shaving Routine Teach Us About Gamification?

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Yeah I know, a bizarre title for a blog. Anyone who follows me on twitter will know that I am a bit obsessed with finding a decent shave. I have always hated shaving with a passion. My skin always comes out in a rash, it is time-consuming and just a ball ache.

I have tried most types of the modern razor, from single blade Bic disposables to Mach 3 to Fusion. Every time a new razor came out with more blades and promises of the “closest shave since out last product”, I have bought it.

Then I decided to grow a bit of a beard, but also decided to keep it trimmed around the neckline. This was when I decided that a razor with a massive number of blades was impractical, it was impossible to get a decent line, so I decided to go old school and get an old fashioned double-edged “safety razor”. After an initial cost, the blades are infinitely cheaper to buy than the cartridge type, which is a bonus. Read More ...

Three Rules for Meaningful Rewards in Gamification

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Rewards can be very powerful, which is why I have spoken about them so many times! I already wrote about the three keys of rewards (Relevant, In-Time and Meaningful). However, I wanted to just blast out a quick post on the meaningful bit of that! 1 and 2 are essential, 3 is a very big nice to have!

They have to …

  1. be earned
  2. have intrinsic value
  3. have extrinsic value

Feeling that you have earned a reward is much more satisfying than just being given the “I pushed a button” reward.

If the reward has some level of personal value to the user, like it represents the end of a tough journey to mastery, then it will feel much more meaningful. Read More ...

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