The document discusses gamification, which is applying game mechanics and structures to traditionally non-game activities. It provides examples of gamification used in websites like Farmville, Nike+, and HealthMonth to encourage user engagement and behavior through rewards, leaderboards, and competition. However, some argue gamification can be exploitative if the game elements are only superficial and not central to the user experience. True gamification makes play an essential part of interacting with the system and helps users become better players over time.

1. GAMIFICATION
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2. Neil Randall, Director
English Department
Experimental Digital Media Program
Stacey Scott, Associate Director
Systems Design Engineering Department
Collaborative Systems Lab

3. GAMES INSTITUTE GOALS
Collaborative multi-disciplinary research and events
Collaborative multi-institutional research and events
Ongoing graduate student training and research
Courses and programs in game design and development
Hub for games-related research
Hub for the games industry provincially and nationally
Extensive outreach: community and all school levels

4. CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS
Player Immersion, Presence, Addiction
SSHRC Partnership Grant Proposal
Converting Boardgames to Touch Surface Games
Games Institute & Collaborative Systems Lab
Can a Game Make You Cry?
Narrative and Emotional Engagement
Gamifying the Drive
GI, WatCAR, and APC

5. RESEARCH THEMES
Game Technologies – Surfaces, 3D, Sound, VR, etc.
Narrative and Games
Serious Games & Educational Games
Health and Games
Social and Mobile Gaming
Augmented Reality and Virtual World Games
Games for Simulations & Training
and … Gamification

6. EXERCISE
Write down the websites you’ve visited
this week – those you remember.
Write down the websites you visit
regularly
Write down the websites you’d like to visit
more often but don’t get around to

7. SO WHAT?
Nobody knows how many websites are out
there - there’s no way to know for sure.
But all reports seem to indicate that
there are roughly 250 million.
Yup – 250,000,000 – a quarter of a billion

8. AND … ?
Let’s say you’re an amazing human being
and visit 125 of them semi-regularly.
That means that you visit ONE-HALF OF
A MILLIONTH of the World Wide Web.
That’s not much. And it’s pretty typical.

9. MEANING…?
If you have a website …
… NOBODY CARES ABOUT IT.
Well, not quite nobody. But mostly
nobody. Very nearly completely nobody.
Depressing if you’ve spent a lot of time,
effort, and money on it.

10. SO…
Give them.
SOMETHING.
to care about.

11. WHICH BRINGS US TO?
Games … … of course

12. GAMIFICATION
Gamification is the application of game
mechanics or game structures to
traditionally non-game artifacts.
Gamification currently is primarily about
reward systems.
But what about game mechanics and
structures?

13. PlayGen
The biggest obstacle to gamification is the ability of the meta
games to appeal to those who do not normally play meta
games or associate themselves with video games. This has to
be achieved by creating meta games which offer plenty of
rewards and the opportunity of gaining social status. The
prospect of competition as well as achievement are also
important incentives in alluring non gamers via gamification.
Finally the meta games must also be relatively simple and
easily understandable and they must, most crucially,
encourage consumers to come back as this is what creates
success out of a gamification strategy and product.
PlayGen site

14. Farmville
Players are able to provide other Farmville players with gifts
such as livestock or a tree. These gifts are free to give and
the clever part is that they invite reciprocity from the
receiver. This encourages users to invite as many people as
possible to join the game so they can all start exchanging
gifts and kitting out their farms with more desirable objects.
Other than this method, items in the game can either be
purchased through virtual cash or players can actually
choose to use real money to then buy virtual cash. The most
desirable items are usually only affordable with real money
so this encourages players to spend on Farmville.
PlayGen site

15. Insider Circle
• The Insider Circle Leaderboard - Ogilvy developed a brand
advocacy platform called Insider Circle that manages a
scalable community of fans and builds a productive
relationship between brand and fan. Irfan Kamal who
designed the platform argued for a "gamified' premise form
the start. Today it features a full leaderboard that allows
community members to rack up points for actions taken and
gauge how they are doing against other community
members. This simple feature drives a competitive streak
that motivates action.
Digital Influence Mapping Project site

16. VW Roulette
• VW Roulette - VW needed to impress upon car buyers that
a particular vehicle is fuel efficient. To make the message
memorable and drive people to authentically want to
explore the features of the car that contribute to that fuel
efficiency, they create a 'gamified' experience that drew
people in to follow a long driving challenge via a data-
enhanced Google Map. People could essentially bet when
the vehicle would run out of its single tank of gas. The best
part of this model is that people who wanted the best
chance of guessing well explored the features of the car that
might contribute to fuel efficiency. Clearly they came away
with knowledge of how many features were designed to
improve fuel efficiency. Digital Influence Mapping Project site

17. HealthMonth
• HealthMonth - One of the founders of HealthMonth started
43Things, one of my favorite sites to admire (but not really
use). HealthMonth allows us each to set goals for ourselves
in multiple categories from dieting to mental health. these
selections get distilled into "life points" which you track, of
course. You are also directed to groups of people who are
also striving to reduce the amount of fried food they eat
every week or increase meditation. The group support each
other via Twitter. Another great example of behavioral
economics and game mechanics at work.
Digital Influence Mapping Project site

18. Nike +
• Nike + - Showing how gamification can integrate seamlessy
with the real world and stay completely focused on your
brand, Nike offers a good example with the Nike+ tag
running app. Here it links running directly with social gaming
as users who have downloaded the app are then entered
into a game of tag, where you have to tag other users and
keep on running to avoid being ‘it’. If you run the shortest
distance among the people in your game, then you’re it. So
the incentive of course is to keep on running.
Digital Influence Mapping Project site

19. bigdoor.com

20. bigdoor.com

21. bigdoor.com

22. BUILDING BLOCKS
Points
Levels
Trophies, Badges, Achievements
Virtual Goods
Leaderboards
bunchball.com site

23. WHAT IT SATISFIES
Reward
Status
Achievement
Self-expression
Competition
Altruism
bunchball.com site

24. GAMIFICATION
+
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25. GAMIFICATION
+
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26. GAMIFICATION
+
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27. GAMIFICATION
+
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28. GAMIFICATION
+
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29. GAMIFICATION
+
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30. HUH?
+
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31. IN THE CLASSROOM
Badges – helping others, group work
excellence, answering questions, etc.
Badges must come with rewards
Levels – similar to ranks, recognized
achievement
Experience Points – grades, badges,
privileges
Quests and storylines
mrdaley.com sites

32. GAMIFICATION?
+
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33. GAMIFICATION?
+
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34. GAMIFICATION?
+
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35. GAMIFICATION?
+
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36. GAMIFICATION?
+
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37. GAMIFICATION?
+
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38. IS IT JUST MBF?
Ian Bogost calls it “exploitationware”.
MBF means concealment or coercion.
“gamification is marketing [MBF], invented by
consultants as a means to capture the wild,
coveted beast that is videogames and to
domesticate it for use in the grey, hopeless
wasteland of big business, where [MBF] already
reigns anyway.”
bogost.com site

39. SO LET’S CHANGE IT

40. DEEP GAMIFICATION
The game is not just grafted on.
The game is CENTRAL to the interaction
Customers / visitors / users MUST learn to play,
and must learn to play increasingly well. Give
them a way to become great players.
Play is not frivolous. Play is essential. Just be sure
to make it real.
bogost.com site