curiosity

Learning From Games: Fortnite and Exclusivity

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Exclusivity Learning From Games Fortnite and Exclusivity

Recently, gaming phenomenon, Fortnite ran an event that signalled the end of their current season and a whole new set of clues to what may be coming next.

Two weeks prior to the event, players had seen a skull on in-game televisions, which had turned into a countdown – heading towards the 30th of June. The Friday before the event, an in-game message advised players to get into the game on the 30th and look to the sky.

Players who were able to get in then witnessed a rocket launch that tore open an interdimensional rift in the sky.

It may not seem like much, but to players of Fortnite, this was a “Where were you when it happened” type of moment. A moment that will only happen live once. If you were not there, you will never get to experience it properly.

It was exclusive! Its exclusivity created a group of people who shared a particular bond formed on the simple basis of “we were there”. It may not seem important, but it is to them in the context of Fortnite.

In gamification it is often easy to lose sight of the fact we are dealing with real people, not just business objectives. They like to feel that those communicating with them, via whatever medium, value them in some way. They also like to feel that they are special!

Implementing Exclusivity in Gamification

There are many ways to create the feeling of exclusivity in your gamification solutions and they don’t have to be difficult.

  • Taking the time to create Easter eggs that only the most dedicated of players will find is a simple way to create that exclusive feeling for some.
  • Adding content that only players who have achieved certain things can access. For instance, if you have an avatar in your system, create a special hat that only players who have completed everything by the second Tuesday of the month get to wear.
  • Taking a leaf out of Fortnite’s book, create events that only happen the once, invite only or time sensitive.
  • Creating communication campaigns that target certain players is another. How many emails have you had that say things like “You are invited” or “You have been chosen”. You know that that email has gone to thousands of other people, but it feels personal, special. You were chosen, you are part of the special group.
  • Build up curiosity by hinting at things, like the TV screens in Fortnite. Create anticipation!

 

6 Tips for Short Term Gamification

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A question I get asked a great deal is “Are points, badges and leaderboards enough?” The stock answer from me is usually a resounding “No, you must consider motivation and the needs of the user, think RAMP and more…” In fairness, this is good advice and you should consider intrinsic motivation over extrinsic and the like. However, the answer really should be “Sometimes, it depends what your goals are.” You see, if you are looking for a short term or short sharp engagement, PBL may well be fine. Very often in gamification we are trying desperately to get people to consider long-term motivations and engagements. Really, it is likely that it is just a single simple task that people want completing. Read a new policy, complete the training, check out a new product.

If you are not after a long term engagement, then there is less need to push people towards an intrinsic level of mastery and therefore an intrinsic reason to stay on. You just need something done and want to encourage user to do it and try to give them something engaging or at least bearable to work with.

So here are some tips that I have picked up over the years to help with these kinds of short engagements.

1. Points

Points are fine, but will not drive any level of engagement unless they lead to something. This could be prizes (more on that in a moment), it could be social recognition, employee recognition etc. They need to have some meaning to the user in the long run.

2. Badges

Badges are also fine – if they have meaning OR are entertaining. I have spoken about that in the past. A badge saying “well done, you clicked a button” really means nothing to the user. “Well done, you have mastered level one of the training and this will go on your permanent record of achievement” has more meaning. “Well done, you got 42 points and now know the meaning of life, but what is the question” may at least make a few smile!

3. Prizes

Prizes have a place, but can be very, very dangerous. If the prize is too valuable, it can encourage very bad behaviors in the system. People cheating or bending the rules to make sure they win, irrespective of whether they have done what was initially being asked for. Consider moving away from physical or financially valuable prizes and think about what might mean more to people. In the enterprise, you could look at giving people time off, team dinners, a team trophy, a meeting with the CEO, recognition in the company. You could also consider making use of altruism, converting points into charitable donations.

4. Leaderboards

Leaderboards can be fun for the right audience. If you have a particularly competitive culture in the organisation they can be great. However, they can lead to divisions in teams as well as feelings of inadequacy and exclusion for some. If you want to use leaderboards often it is best to make them team boards. This encourages collaboration in the teams, whilst keeping some friendly competition. One note though. If you are considering team competition, but part of the task is to generate knowledge – be sure to promote and reward knowledge sharing between teams!

5. Narrative

Narrative and communication. I love a good story and have in the past used simple story lines to engage people without the need for anything else. This can be tough and really you need to try and make the story or narrative not just compelling but also branching. This gives people the feeling that they are in control of the outcome. My top tip for working with branching narratives is to get TWINE, which is a text adventure engine! I have used this and my own similar tools for a few games but also to build prototype narratives for people.

6. Curiosity

Curiosity is also powerful, as I was explaining recently. Just getting people to explore and discover things in their own time. They feel that they have control and are not being forced into things.

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As ever, the key is to take your time, think about your goals and be willing to spend some money. If it is important, that should not be an issue. This is an investment after all!

Using Boredom and Curiosity to your Advantage

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Curiosity is something that always interests me. I have written about it in the past, but was drawn to looking at it again recently. There are several theories about what curiosity is and how it works; Curiosity Drive Theory, Optimal Arousal Theory, Incongruity Theory and probably more. They all deal with different aspects of what curiosity is.

Drive Theory considers that curiosity is part of a human need to reduce the discomfort felt when we are uncertain about somemthing.

Incongruity Theory suggests that we seek to resolve incongruity (differences) between something that happens and our existing understanding. So if something happens that doesn’t match our preconceived ideas of what should happen, we become curious and want to understand it.

Optimal Arousal Theory is more interested in why we seek out new and novel experiences. This is the account I am interested in for this article.

This theory, proposed by Berlyne in 1960,  suggests that humans need to maintain an optimal level of arousal. If we lack stimulation, ie. get bored, then we will seek out more stimulation – we will explore.

I have seen this represented as a bell curve most often, comparing level of arousal and level of performance and optimum level being the top of the curve.

In video games, this concept could explain emergent gameplay. This is where players take the rules into their own hands and develop new ways to play. Based on this theory, as they hit a point where they are bored with the current state of the game, they find new ways to play. A game like Minecraft caters for this in extraordinary ways. When you are bored with the environment, change it. When you are bored of the gameplay, create new gameplay or even new games.

At the same time, if we are too stimulated, we may seek out a way to reduce the stimulation, otherwise, it can lead to stress or anxiety. It reminds me of Flow in many ways. You have to keep the level of arousal at an optimum level, in the same as you need to keep challenge and skill at an optimum level maintain engagement.

There are a few ways to make use of this information in gamification design. The first is to try and treat the way information is provided a bit like a mystery writer would. They never give you all of the information up front, they give you just enough to keep up those levels of curiosity – based on the Drive Theory ideas. You want to see the resolution of the mystery as it is uncomfortable to not know the answer. However, it is pleasurable to get the clues and solve them as it triggers the release of several neurochemicals (yes, there are theories about dopamine, noradrenaline, and serotonin – I will let you look into that, though.). That is probably why you don’t just skip to the end of the book, the anticipation of reward provides a more extended level of pleasure than the instant gratification of the reward itself!

So give just enough information for the user to perform the necessary actions, but leave them wanting more.

If for some reason you feel that there could be a dip in stimulation, that boredom may kick in, then leave things for them to find. Make reference to more information that they can access at their own leisure. Leave easter eggs or clues from them to find. Leave tools for them to build things.

Also, with our understanding of Flow, we could deliberately engineer curiosity by creating a temporary lul in the challenge presented to them. If we look at the flow graph, this would happen when they have a low level of challenge and a relitivly medium level of skill.

Curiosity is in us all, let’s see if we can use it to drive some more engagement!

 

 

Playful design vs Game inspired design

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When I first started to describe Game Thinking, I talked about gameful design or game inspired design. Part of me was always split about what I really meant. In my mind, these ideas were based on user interface more than anything. So creating menu systems that mirrored ideas seen in games, or creating slightly more fun look and feel.

It wasn’t until I was messing around with the Snapchat interface that I realised what I was really thinking about – playful design. Design ideas that add to the pleasure of using something whilst not necessarily altering the functionality. The example that Snapchat gave me was something I discovered just by playing with the interface. If you go to your chat stream and slide up, the image at the bottom becomes an animation. At the moment it is of the Snapchat ghosts playing football.

Not much going on
Game on
Gooooaaal!



There is no need to do this, it is just a bit of fun. It is a playful reward for exploring and messing with the interface and one that I totally appreciate!

Reward your users for curiosity and exploration or just playing, it may not directly relate to what you want them doing, but it does endear them to the product!

Mystery, Curiosity and Surprise

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Most people seem to like surprises and mystery. It also seems that curiosity has the power to drive us to do strange and counter-intuitive things. We like to know what is in the mystery box, what is behind door number 3, what happens after the season finale, what the red “do not press” button actually does, if we can climb to the top of the rickety looking rope.

Curiosity can also be seen around problem solving. Whilst at times we need to solve the problem, there is no need for us to do puzzles like crosswords or to learn languages that we do not really need. These kinds of drives seem to fall in or around curiosity. Think of children and how they learn. I remember being told and told and told that the berries in the garden were poisonous, but curiosity got the better of me – I had to find out if they really were. The resulting vomiting supplied me with the answer to my curiosity. I could not deal with this idea that I just didn’t know for myself. Curiosity lead me to learn about Gamification and learn how to programme.

It is something games make use of all the time. They keep the player wondering what happens next, ramp up the suspense to make the player keep going “just a moment longer” to see the next surprise or resolution of a mystery. Some players find that curiosity will drive them to test the boundaries of the environment, looking in every cupboard, finding every secret. They use surprise to keep that feeling of uncertainty – because it may lead to another surprise.

My curiosity was peaked as I realised that I had no idea why this may be the case – I like to understand these things!

There is some research on curiosity and how we deal with it, but it seems that there is no definite answer. I am not a psychologist, so won’t insult you by trying to pretend that I understand everything that I have read. However, some think that it is purely an internal (intrinsic) drive (drive theory). This theorises that curiosity is a drive similar to thirst. When your curiosity is peaked – you have to satisfy it in some way. This explains (to an extent) why we seek out puzzles and mystery. We don’t need to, but we do it anyway.

Another strand of theory is called incongruity theory. This states that curiosity is triggered by external events that don’t fit in to our “normal” view of the world. You see a box in the middle of nowhere with a sign saying “open me”. As well as the drive to satisfy your curiosity about what is in the box, you will probably also be curious about why on earth it is there.

It may be because we need to make sure that we are safe. How do we know if something will harm us if we don’t investigate? It could be the sense of achievement when curiosity is satisfied – when the mystery is solved.

There are many more theories out there, it is quite interesting if you are curious about such things!

In gamification we can make use of curiosity, mystery and surprise. Let people explore (this is especially important if you are looking to encourage Free Spirit behaviour), don’t feel you have to explain everything. Nudge people towards things, but don’t over explain them. Peak their curiosity and let them discover it for themselves. They will get a sense of achievement from solving the mystery themselves. Reinforce this with surprises for solving and finding interesting things.

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