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?
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