Fair Play: More Important than Rules

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Crying baby 1458216972 Fair Play More Important than Rules

In gamification, we often talk about rules. They split games from play, fair from foul. However, just because you have rules, does not mean that everyone will feel that the game is fair!

This came to mind when I watched my youngest daughter’s reaction to being told she could not take a teddy bear to the nursery. The reasons / rules were explained, but that was not of consequence. Up until this point she had always brought toys in and more importantly – so had her friends. “It’s not fair” was about all we could understand through the distraught crying! Read More ...

Even Ninja Monkeys Like to Play: Errata

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Even ninja title Even Ninja Monkeys Like to Play Errata

I would like to thank Alisa Odincova for pointing out an error in the references for Even Ninja Monkeys Like to Play.

“[…] a word like “game” points to a somewhat diffuse “system” of prototype frames, among which some frame-shifts are easy, but others involve more strain”
Ludwig Wittgenstein

Marczewski, Andrzej (2015-10-12). Even Ninja Monkeys Like to Play: Gamification, Game Thinking & Motivational Design (Kindle Locations 357-359).
Gamified UK. Kindle Edition.

I referenced this as Wittgenstein, L. Philosophical Investigations. GEM Anscombe, (1953). Read More ...

Progress: Central to Gamification

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Progress bar 3 Progress Central to Gamification

When we look at the 5 Ps of gamification, it is very easy to overlook all of the meanings of Progress. Just as a reminder, the 5 Ps are; Purpose, Progress, Proficiency, Pride and People.

Progress can mean different things to different people. If you ask the great and powerful Google, it tells you

  1. forward or onward movement towards a destination.
    “the darkness did not stop my progress”
  2. development towards an improved or more advanced condition.
    “we are making progress towards equal rights”

The first definition is what most people think about when they think about progress. Heading towards a defined destination. When people hear progress and gamification in the same sentence, they usually think of this. Read More ...

Where is the Killer / Winner Type in your HEXAD?

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Dodecad 3 Where is the Killer Winner Type in your HEXAD

This is a question I get asked all the time. “I love it, but where is the Killer/ Winner type?”

The first thing to address here is that Winner and Killer are not interchangeable terms in the world of types. In Bartle’s types, the Killer is a type of player who gets pleasure from domination and humiliation of other players. This is not the same as wanting to win. If winning is what crushes the spirit of other players, then the killer would probably do their best to win – but that is not their driver. Read More ...

Gamification Thoughts in the Medium of Memes

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Information power responsibility Gamification Thoughts in the Medium of Memes

Hi all, busy week last week, but did get time to throw out some words of “wisdom” via memes. I thought I would put them here for easy reference and explain on of them a little better!

I think this first one is pretty self-explanatory. Engagement is about people wanting to do things. They find value in the activity. If they feel that they are forced to do it and that outweighs the value, they will never be fully engaged.

A brief set of definitions. There is more to be found on this in my Serious Games vs Gamification / Game Thinking page Read More ...