Virtual Economies

Economics 1436520799 Virtual Economies

A little free section from the new book 😉

Virtual economies are not as common an addition to a gamified system, but I wanted to include a little bit about them.  Virtual economies can be based entirely in the virtual world, or can break that barrier and have some effect on the real world, depending on how they are designed. If you consider points and badges, they are a type of virtual currency, though they have no real world value, in the system they represent effort and skill. If that virtual currency can then be used to purchase virtual goods, you being to have an actual economy. For example, many games allow you to collect coins or points and then exchange them for in game goods. For example, Fallout Shelter from Bethseda. As you play the game, you earn bottle caps – the in game currency. Those bottle tops can then be used to purchase new rooms for your shelter. Read More ...

Rewarding quality over quantity in gamification

Rewards 1426524987 Rewarding quality over quantity in gamification

Something that I see quite often is people making a simple but important mistake. They reward the behaviours that lead to quantity rather than quality.

Let me explain.

When you build a gamified campaign or activity, you need to consider what quality participation looks like. If for instance you want to create some buzz around a new product and you decide to create a simple Twitter competition, are you looking for the number of people who tweet or are you looking for the number of people whom the message will reach? Read More ...

7 Rules for Gamification

Rules rule 7 Rules for Gamification

I just thought as I had not written a post for a few days (researching for a couple of good ones!), I would put up my 7 rules  for gamification.

  • Be sure that adding gamification adds benefit for the end users.
  • Extrinsic rewards (points, prizes etc) can engage over short periods such as onboarding / enrol and enthuse phases.
  • Intrinsic motivation is essential for long term engagement and if you are looking for quality and creativity over quantity.
  • Be open about what data is collected and why. Trust is essential.
  • Define clear goals.
  • Define and collect metrics.
  • Be flexible and adapt as user needs and behaviours change.
  • Read More ...

    5 tips for good Gamification I learned from designing games.

    Magical Kingdom Cards 5 tips for good Gamification I learned from designing games

    Gamification often takes and claims inspiration from game design. One of my side hobbies is making the occasional game, as well as spending the last seven years reviewing games for my site yars.co.uk. I thought I would just put a few gamification ideas into context based around my personal knowledge of games and game design. I am y no means an expert, but I hope you will find it interesting.

    Tl;TR?

    First up, points. I have made games with point systems and I have made games without. Generally I use the points as a way to represent progression and skill – ie, the higher the score, the further your skills have progressed. This is intrinsic on its own, it is a way for the individual player to see how they are doing and if they are improving. This only works if the points reset each time, that way the player can easily see that if they score higher next time – they have improved. Cumulative points don’t allow you to do this, they just show how many points you have collected over time, which is a little less useful. You could consider a personal leaderboard, that just shows the player their scores over time for an exercise- thus easily showing them their improvement. Read More ...

    Points & Badges Video Tutorial

    Vlcsnap 2014 03 27 11h36m24s217 Points 038 Badges Video Tutorial

    The fourth video in my series of tutorials (finally!!)

    This one is just a short (10 minute) look at points and badges in gamified systems and how to make some use of them. Not all that different from my Points and Badges: Not Totally Evil blog post, but also talks about balancing and best use case.

    Enjoy!