On Gamification

Staffan Björk

Gothenburg University & Interactive Institute

Who am I?

Associate Professor, Gothenburg University

Senior Research, Interactive Institute

Gamer

What do I do?

Some aspects of Games

Rules

Goals

Actions

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Some aspects of Games, cont.

Flow Activity requiring skill Merging of action and

awareness Clear goals and feedback Concentration on task Paradox of control Loss of self-consciousness Transformation of time Activity becomes its own

purpose - autotelic

Skill

Flow

Difficulty

Frustration

Boredom

Czikszentmihalyi

Serious Games

Edutainment

Origins of Games for Serious Activities Olympic Games Communication with

the gods The Origin of

Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (Julian Jaynes)

Early Serious Games?

Ludus Regularis Seu Clericalis Balderic, 12th century

Bowling Heathen Killing

War Games and Simulation Gaming von Reiswitz

Kriegspiel, 1812-1824 Birshtein

Red Weaver, 1930s

Game Theory

von Neumann, 1944 (1928) Economics Biology International Diplomacy

Gamification

Deterding et al. “the use of game

design elements in non-game contexts”

James Paul Gee

Jane McGonigal Reality is Broken

Thinking too small

Games Gamers Gaming

Typically a focus on creating or modifying artifacts Games are needed to

game (play)

Gaming Activities

Gaming Educations

Snyder The Hidden Curriculum unstated academic and

social norms Miller & Parlett

Up to the Mark - a study of the examination game.

Cue-seekers Cue-aware Cue-deaf

Gaming Warfare

MAD Von Neumann

World War I Trench Warfare 1914–

1918: The Live and Let Live System (Ashworth, T.)

Gambling & Stock Trading

Kelly Criterion Thorp & Shannon Gambling

Beat the Dealer (Thorp, 1966)

Stock Market Beat the Market: A

Scientific Stock Market System (Thorp, 1967)

Voting

Dodgson Caucus-Race

Tactical Voting Compromising Burying Bullet Voting Push-over Voting

Religion

Consanguinity Indulgence Nikah mut‘ah Kosher food

Statistics of sinning Wine by gentiles but automated

Sheitels and Tzniut Tirumala Venkateswara Temple Von Neumann & Pascal’s Wager

Why is this important?Why is this important to applied

IT?

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What is Design?

Buildings

ProductsMarkets

Institutions

Processes

Artifacts

Opinions

Communication systems

Transport systems Community services

Festivities

Municipals

Laws

initiate change in man-made things

Typical features of design systems

States Rules Feedback User goals

Definitions of Game and Gaming“playing a game is the voluntary effort to overcome unnecessary obstacles.” (Suits,

Grasshopper: Games, Life, and Utopia)

”...a game is an activity among two or more independent decision-makers seeking to achieve their objectives in some limiting context.” (Abt, Serious Games)

”A game is a form of art in which participants, named players, make decisions in order to manage resources through game tokens in the pursuit of a goal.” (Costikyan, I Have no Words and I Must Design)

”Games are an exercise of voluntary control systems, in which there is a contest between powers, confined by rules in order to produce a disequilibrial outcome.” (Avedon & Sutton-Smith, The Study of Games)

”A game is a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules, that results in a quantifiable outcome.” (Salen & Zimmerman, Rules of Play)

”A game is a rule-based formal system with a variable and quantifiable outcome, where different outcomes are assigned different values, the player exerts effort in order to influence the outcome, the player feels attached to the outcome, and the consequences of the activity are optional and negotiable. “ (Juul, Half-Real)

The Next Generation

Observations

Most systems can be interpreted as games Most systems can be gamed Most systems can be seen as gamified

already But not conscious gamification problem

Takeaways

Gaming can be seen as a stance towards doing many activities Activities including rules and goals make this easy Games are artifacts specifically designed to

encourage this stance through the activities they offer

Designers aiming at creating or modifying activities may benefit from considering users gaming these activities Not considering this may be very problematic…

Thank you!

Questions?