AN INTRO TO

Game the System™

A Proven Method to Level Up Your Training and Development Through Gamification

Monica Cornetti- Gamification Keynote Speaker and Curriculum Designer -

A Publication of

© 2013 EntrepreNow! Press

www.monicacornetti.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction: Game the System™ 3 Making Work Fun!

Chapter 1: Objectives…The Fundamentals 8of Fun!

Chapter 2: It’s Story Time – Create 12an Epic Adventure

Chapter 3: Design Variety into Your 15Learning Activities

Chapter 4: Weave the Game 20Design and Mechanics

Chapter 5: Tally up the Aesthetics so 23They Wanna Play!

Conclusion: The End Game 28

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IntroductionGame the System™ Making Work Fun!

Game the System™ Making Work Fun!

Gamification 101: How the Game is Played

The Game the System™ Model guides you and your team through the process of gamified learning design. By following the 5-step plan, you are essentially assured a successful outcome.

Gamification invites people to participate and engage by integrating game mechanics and game dynamics into such things as a website, online community, marketing campaign, and as demonstrated in this book – even a traditional training and development program.

By adding game mechanics to training, Gamification not only increases interest, it makes training “fun.” 

The goal is to increase learning and engagement through key concepts found in game design and behavioral psychology.

Gamification does NOT equal technology … it is really a way of thinking about the development and delivery of your training programs.

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“Gamification is using game-based

mechanics, aesthetics, and game thinking to engage people, motivate action, promote

learning, and solve problems.”- Gabe Zichermann

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Gamification can play a key role in how your organization trains employees when you learn how to think like a game designer.

The Game the System™ Model guides you and your team through the process of gamified learning design. By following the 5-step plan, you are essentially assured a successful outcome.

Here we’ll introduce you to each of the steps so that you can immediately begin to roll out the Game the System™ Model to level up training and development in your organization.

How the Game is Played

Game the System™ a Proven Method for Curriculum Design.Level 1: Define Learning Objectives… The Fundamentals of Fun!Level 2: It’s Story Time – Create an Epic AdventureLevel 3: Design Variety into Your Learning ActivitiesLevel 4: Add the Game Design and MechanicsLevel 5: Tally up the Aesthetics so They Wanna Play!

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Face it… Figuring out a way to reward your kids for doing their chores or rewarding yourself when you exercise, make the sale, or complete a boring task is a game. The truth is, it’s all a game, and we’re all gamers.

“The reality is…•People enjoy playing games•Popular games inspire extreme loyalty•People are motivated by gaming reward and achievement systems•Therefore, if non-games are made more game-like, we’ll be more likely to ‘play’ them

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CHAPTER

1Objectives… The

Fundamentals of Fun!

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Learning Objectives

Gamification should never be seen as an end in itself or positioned to be able to deliver value all by itself. It should be secondary to clearly defined learning objectives.

To be effective, the gamified program must align with the desired instructional and business outcomes. There are many different game types (action-adventure, role play, strategy, etc.) and it is important that the game-type aligns with the learning goal.

A single, clearly defined overall goal is important. To design a game you begin with the end in mind – you need to know the goal of the game. What do you want to have accomplished by the end of the game? What does victory look like? What’s the take away?

The gamified program should be based around real business issues, dilemmas, or trade-offs, and not right or wrong answers. The right issues will inspire rich conversations and give players the opportunity to learn from each other.

The most useful gamified programs focus on specific company “pain-points” rather than just generic business challenges.

The Fundamentals of Fun

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“What exactly do you want your audience to know, do, and feel as a result of the training?

” - Monica Cornetti

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LIVE Gamification 1.0 : Let them take the platform to demonstrate what their team has learned or accomplished. Although in the beginning they may seem hesitant to present in front of the crowd – in the end, they are all eager to join in.

“How do you think they will be able to use the information and

skills that they develop?”- Monica Cornetti

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CHAPTER

2It’s Story Time – Create an

Epic Adventure

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It’s Story Time

Good games are framed around a compelling story. What do you remember from a training or playshop experience that you have participated in? Facts, figures, and statistics? Not likely. It’s the stories. We learn best from the analogies and remember the stories. The Game the System™ model of Gamification allows you to design your training around a story.

And the good news is that you don’t have to start with a blank page to create your storyline.

Many familiar and popular characters are in the public domain. Works in the public domain are those whose intellectual property rights have expired or been forfeited, and these works are available for public use. Some well known examples include Snow White, Robin Hood, Hercules, Sherlock Holmes, The Three Musketeers and Ayesha (She Who Must Be Obeyed). Conduct an Internet search for ‘public domain characters’, and you will find extensive lists of characters that you can use to build your storyline.

Create an Epic Adventure

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You can use any number of techniques to craft a compelling storyline. If you are unfamiliar with the craft, spend some time researching The Story Coaster, Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth, or even purchase a couple sets of Rory’s Story Cubes.

Basically your storyline will follow a path where your hero ventures forth from the common-day world into a region of magical wonder. Here they encounter and battle a supernatural force. After a decisive victory is won, the hero then comes back from this adventure with the power to bestow good fortune to their community.

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The basic path of the monomyth, or "Hero's Journey".

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CHAPTER

3Design Variety into Your

Learning Activities

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Learning Activities

The key to delivering effective Gamified training is in the design of the activities you use throughout the session.

The right ingredients mixed into your learning activities should allow the participants to acquire knowledge and skill, rather than merely receive them.

In training, as in cooking, art, or music, a desired end can be accomplished by a variety of means and methods. Of course, there is also the risk of things turning out badly. It is only through experimentation, practice, and revisions that you can polish your delivery methods.

Beware… no matter how well you design a particular activity or teaching point, its impact and value for the participants may diminish greatly if it is misplaced in the overall sequence of events. For example, participants may be tired just when you need them to be alert. Or the group may not be able to grasp abstract ideas before experiencing concrete examples.

So begin by gathering the ingredients you need to Game the System™ and create award-winning awesome activities.

Design for Interaction and Reflection

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LIVE Gamification 1.0 : Movement and learning go hand in hand. Don’t be afraid to get ‘em on their feet to reinforce where you, the storyline, and the learning objectives need them to go.

“. . . movement is crucial to every other brain function, including memory, emotion, language, and learning. Our “higher” brain functions have

evolved from movement and still depend on it.” - John J. Ratey, MD Harvard Medical School from User’s Guide to the Brain

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What will you say or do to get participants involved? Help participants understand the big picture as well as specific learning points. Focus on the training goals and objectives and remind them what you want them to retain and apply.

Exercises should be relevant, challenging, and fun so participants want to interact with you and each other. Know your players and mix the appropriate amount of competition, collaboration, group and individual quests, challenges, and achievements to earn points, badges, and other rewards.

Design different activities for different learning styles. Auditory learners tune into sounds, visual learners gain understanding by observation, and kinesthetic learners learn by doing.

Easy activities should be used before demanding ones. Mix large-group and small-group activities with brief instruction and time for individual reflection and application.

How should you set up the physical environment for the design to succeed? Do you have enough empty space in your room for more active activities or will you need to adjust the format in a crowded room.

What technology do you absolutely have to have? What do you have available? Do they match? It not... how can you revise or acquire the your technology needs?

Finally, don’t forget to debrief, debrief, debrief – What remarks do you want to make and/or what discussion do you want the participants to have after completing the learning activity?

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Activities to Reinforce Each Learning Objective: What are the next steps that the participants need, should, or want to take after completing the activity?

The instructor must stop talking and let the audience assimilate the material presented. What activities will you design into your curriculum to double-check that learning has occurred?

In low- or no-tech gamification you have many options to get your participants building, creating, drawing, reflecting, discussing, debating, sharing, competing, collaborating… in reality the combination of possibilities is endless. Find ways to recognize, reward, share, gift, achieve status, etc.

Be sure to get out of your comfort zone which will help your participants to also do the same.

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CHAPTER

4Add the Game Design and

Mechanics

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Remember… the goal is to increase learning and engagement through key concepts found in game design and behavioral psychology.

When participants first encounter a game, they rely upon a combination of visual cues, called game elements, to not only understand how the game is played, but also how success is defined and determined. The most common cues include: 

Points BadgesLevels Rewards or UnlocksCollections LeaderboardsPlayer Pieces AvatarsGame Boards Instructions

People love piling up points. They love to earn them, bank them, and make sure others know how many points they have.

Trophies, badges, ribbons, etc. are the visible recognition of having reached new levels or completed challenges. Challenges give people goals and the feeling that they’re working toward something. Levels are an indication that you’ve reached a milestone or overcome a specific challenge.

Games typically give players a payoff, even if it’s only the enjoyment of playing. It is important to realize that participants in a gamified training activity want some sort of payoff.

Think Like a Game Designer

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Game Mechanics

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The aspects of games that make them fun, addicting, and challenging can’t be reduced to a list of components or step-by-step instructions. This is where game-design techniques come in.

Just like strategic leadership, managing a team, or creating a killer marketing campaign, game design is a strong mix of knowledge, skill, and luck.

“ Fiero: an Italian word for the feeling of personal triumph over adversity.

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Games typically give players a payoff, even if it’s only the enjoyment of playing. It is important to realize that participants in a gamified training activity want some sort of payoff.

In games, people often gather collections of items. These collections create a level of complexity in a game.

Leaderboards increase competition. When participants see where they stand in relation to their peers, they work extra hard to surpass them.

Pieces or avatars show that the person is a player and they are in the game. They give people an identity within the game.

Game mechanics are the rules and rewards that make games challenging, fun, and satisfying. The addition of game mechanics enlivens your training and development programs. Participants are not only eager to get involved, they will also work extra hard to complete the game.

Gamified activities satisfy basic human desires such as winning, competition, overcoming challenges, even working with others to preserve community status.

Start building your own gamified processes to see how they work and test the design to see what actually happens versus what you anticipated would happen. You can also interview your players so that you understand what they liked and didn’t like.  

If users are having fun, they are more likely to stay engaged. And when they are engaged, they are more likely to achieve performance goals.

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CHAPTER

5Tally up the Aesthetics so

They Wanna Play!

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Don’t Forget the FUN!

In the Game the System™ model – we define aesthetics as those extra added touches that wrap your story, characters, learning activities, game elements and game mechanics into a consistent, attractive – even charming and captivating – cohesiveness that ties the entire project together.

Create great visuals that appeal to different senses – touch, sight, and sound – using colors, designs, textures, and manipulatives.

Make your props, badges, chance cards, and rewards fun. They should not only be fun for users to earn, but also fun to look at. Tie them all together with a theme that you carry the entire way through your program.

For instance, let’s say you wanted to design a curriculum for sales training called “Light up the Future”. You could include learning activities using real camping gear and survival techniques: •“How Do You Start a Fire Without Any Matches?” – a competition that generates ideas for finding new leads. •“What To Do When All You Get is Smoke?” – techniques for successfully closing the sale or overcoming objectives•”How to Keep the Fire Burning” – tips on keeping themselves motivated and going for the next “yes”

Tally up the Aesthetics So They Wanna Play

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The Riddle of the Exporter™ creates an 8-step process that serves as a roadmap for new exporters and those seeking export certification. Centered on imaginary characters from Gun Barrel City, TX – participants of this training have a 99% pass rate!

“ Instructional designer and creator of the program, Elyse Eriksson believes there are three components to a good gamified training program: knowledge, skill, and luck… because even when you do everything right in life, some things still rely on simply being lucky.

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Create a theme or epic adventure: Use your story and weave the theme as you build each of the teaching points. This way you’ll fulfill your objectives within fun and clever aesthetics.

“ ASK YOURSELF – WHAT FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS DO YOU WANT YOUR PLAYERS TO EXPERIENCE?

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The bottom line is that just like a game – your gamified training elements are all part of a system, and a system by definition, is a group of interrelated elements that work together to form a complex whole.

When designing your gamified training program, remember the old saying that, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” The elements of your program individually may not seem that significant or impactful. But when you artfully bring them together and put them into motion – they should engage your players, draw them in and allow them to connect emotionally with the experience. Your players should be moved both intellectually and emotionally..

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I Mustache You a Question - Powerful simulation case studies that allow the participants to earn points when they choose the “most correct” option for potential customers. Fake mustaches add to the friendly competition – and serve as a reminder to ask questions during the sales process to build relationship and rapport with the prospect.

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The End Game

The challenge of Gamification is to take the elements that normally operate within a game space and apply them effectively in the real world. For example:

To  accelerate growth and learning in new employees, develop systems and processes that enable fast and meaningful real-time feedback.

Capture data and share with employees in a transparent, easily understood format. Everyone wants to know how performance is being measured, and how they are being compared to others.

Challenge and reward specific actions and your people will be naturally motivated to engage more directly and intensely with information or activities.   

Gamification of real-world activities is a powerful technique which can motivate people and help generate loyalty to the organization, its products, or its messages.

At its core, Gamification is about finding the fun in the things that we have to do. Making business processes compelling by making them fun is about the most fascinating and coolest thing that I can think of!

A Real World Adventure

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“If someone asks the participants what they learned from your training, how would you like them to answer? ” - Monica Cornetti

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Ready to Level Up?

Game the System™ LIVE Playshops

The ultimate playshops for Chief Learning Officers, HR Managers and Professionals*, Training & Development

Specialists, Innovators, and Entrepreneurs.

A 6-hour immersive, intensive playshop to create a game-based training solution with the Game the System™ proven

method.

Learn best practices, tips, tools, and techniques to engage people and get training results that stick from experienced

Gamification Curriculum Designers.

Book a Playshop in your city or attend our next scheduled Regional Playshop.

*HRCI Credits Available

A Publication of

© 2013 EntrepreNow! Press