9.5 Theses
on the power and efficacy
of gamification
Sebastian Deterding (@dingstweets)
Hans Bredow Institute for Media Research, Hamburg University
October 2012
cb

Education

Sustainability

Activism

Life

Everywhere

points badges leaderboards incentives
Tracking, Feedback Goals, surprise Competition Rewards
The blueprint (still)

success stories
sensors & analytics practices & discourses
The Enablers

1 Gamification is
nothing new.

»One purpose of this book is to explore
ways in which even routine activities can
be transformed into personally
meaningful games that provide optimal
experiences.«
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
flow (1990: 51)

Precursors and parallels
Serious Digital Alternate Reality/ Ludification
Games Serious Games Pervasive Games of culture
(1960+) (2001+) (2001+) (2006+)
Precursors Repurposings UX Playfulness
(1980+) (2001+) (2002+) (2005+)
Hedonic attributes
Ludic design Persuasive Tech
(2002+) (2006+)

Precursors

User Experience

Playfulness

Ludic Design

Persuasive Technology

Serious Games

Pervasive Games

Alternate Reality Games

Ludification of Culture

2
Gamification is
the use of game design
elements in non-game
contexts.

Gamification:
The use of
game design elements
in non-game contexts

Gamification:
The use of
game design elements
in non-game contexts

Paidia Ludus
play game
improvisation skill, effort
exploration strategizing
tumultuous ordered
immoderate rule-bound
Roger Caillois
man, play, and games (1958)

Gaming
Playing
Gaming, not playing

Systems Elements
Elements, not whole systems

Game-based Controllers, AI, 3D
technology engines, ...
Game-based practices Serious Gaming
Game-based design Gamification
Game Design Elements

Non-Game Contexts

Gaming
(serious) games gamification
Elements
System
(serious) toys playful design
Playing

3 Gamification is
an inadvertent con.

»Gamification is an inadvertent con. It
tricks people into believing that there’s a
simple way to imbue their thing ... with the
psychological, emotional and social power
of a great game.«
Margaret Robertson
can’t play, won’t play (2009)

si on
fu 1
Con #

»Ninety percent
of everything is crud.«
Theodore Sturgeon
sturgeon‘s revelation (1958)

Con(fusion) #1
Games are not fun because
they are games, but when
they are well-designed.

si on
fu 2
Con #

Score: 964,000,000,000,000
(You rock!)
Earn 1,000,000,000,000 points

Level: 1
(You rock!)
Drop all loot!

Score: 400 princesses
(You rock!)
Get princess!

»Fun is just another word
for learning.«
Raph Koster
a theory of fun for game design (2005)

»Fun from games arises out of mastery. It
arises out of comprehension. It is the act
of solving puzzles that makes games fun.
With games, learning is the drug.«
Raph Koster
a theory of fun for game design (2005)

Extrinsic motivation
http://www.flickr.com/photos/diego_rivera/4261964210

Intrinsic motivation
http://www.flickr.com/photos/areyoumyrik/308908967

»An understanding of human motivation
requires a consideration of innate
psychological needs for competence,
autonomy, and relatedness.«
Edward Deci, Richard Ryan
the what and why of goal pursuit (2000)

Con(fusion) #2
The fun in playing games
chiefly arises from
intrinsic enjoyment, not
extrinsic incentives.

si on
fu 3
Con #
http://www.flickr.com/photos/apartmentlife/6559123353/

»Mowing the lawn or waiting in a
dentist’s office can become enjoyable
provided one restructures the activity by
providing goals, rules, and the other
elements of enjoyment to be reviewed
below.«
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
flow (1990: 51)

Con(fusion) #3
»Gaminess« is not a
feature you can add.

4 Motivational design
is a promising
proposition.

How might we ...
restructure a system to support
intrinsic enjoyment, using
game design as a lens?

Put differently
If this were a game –
in what ways is it broken?

Game Atoms
model/skill goal
action
rule system
success! / failure!
challenge
feedback
immediate/progress

Games in class > Class as game

Games in school > School as game

Games in Undergrad > You get the idea ...

Feedback
Accuracy, speed, friendliness in
comparison, w/ recommendations
Goals
Daily, weekly, monthly,
annually w/ progress
Challenge
Training, job rotation,
job enrichment
Reality Check

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dpstyles/4141140976/sizes/o/in/faves-7834371@N04/

5 Gamification is
thinking inside the box.

Game
The Box
A designed artifact
Playing
A frame of engagement

»Even though we are involved in a
game, we are not always playing …
Even though we are playing, we are
not always involved in a game ...
Playing a game is a special condition
of both play and games.«
Bernie de Koven
the well-played game (1978/2002: 7)

debugging
playtesting/reviewing
presenting gameplay
making a machinima
a scientific study
learning (serious games)
sports (e-sports)
work (goldfarming)

So ...
What about this
frame called playing?

»I need to be very routinized;
I mustn’t let myself drift.«
»I hammer it through.«
»Often, you have to force yourself to do it.«
»You’re under real pressure.«
»It’s extremely exhausting.«
»It wears you out.«
»My friends usually cannot comprehend how
stressful this is.«

»Sometimes, you have to
play, you have to get further –
and then, play is work.«

e nt
Elem #1
»First and foremost,
all play is a voluntary
activity.«
Johan Huizinga
homo ludens (1938/1950: 7)

»The key element of an
optimal experience is that
it is an end in itself.«
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
flow (1990: 67)

»An understanding of human motivation
requires a consideration of innate
psychological needs for competence,
autonomy, and relatedness.«
Edward Deci, Richard Ryan
the what and why of goal pursuits (2000)

Fun Voluntary
Voluntary Fun

e nt
Elem#2
A vs. Quality
…safe space and Variety

»Psychosocial moratorium principle:
Learners can take risks in a space
where real-world consequences are
lowered.«
James Paul Gee
what video games have to teach us... (2003: 67)

e nt
Elem # 3
Attunement
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wondermonkey2k/6188527275

»When mother and child have fun
together, … they are establishing ... the
convention that they take precedence
over the fun. When the child cries, the
mother stops having fun.«
Bernie de Koven
the well-played game (1978: 18)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/iboy/5709372593

http://www.flickr.com/photos/iboy/5709372593

»It is the nature of a fun community to care
more about the players than about the
game. ... We are having fun. We are caring.
We are safe with each other. This is what
we want.«
Bernie de Koven
the well-played game (1978: 19-20)

e nt
em 4
El #
Shared focus & attitude of exploring ...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/docentjoyce/3138887652

… mastery, ...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulgorman/1392988135

… benign transgression, ...

… and most importantly, fun
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bixentro/540642579

e nt
Elem#5
I won‘t let you fall.
I‘ll know and say
when it‘s too much.
Trust
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucianvenutian/439410200

»An understanding of human motivation
requires a consideration of innate
psychological needs for competence,
autonomy, and relatedness.«
Edward Deci, Richard Ryan
the what and why of goal pursuits (2000)

er
ng 1
da #
Rewarded or mandatory games ...
http://albanyny.bitsbytesbots.com/after-school-enrichment

… curbs autonomy through control

… detrains autonomous regulation
http://www.flickr.com/photos/courosa/4955407599/sizes/l/in/photostream/

er
ng 2
da #
the rule of
irrelevance

Framing as strategic instrumental action
http://www.rasmusen.org/x/images/pd.jpg

… crowds out communal ethics, ...

»It is through a community of people
who care more about fun than winning
that the Well-Played game happens.«
Bernie de Koven
the well-played game (1978: 5)

… fixates thinking inside the system and ...
http://www.rasmusen.org/x/images/pd.jpg

… encourages gaming the system
http://www.flickr.com/photos/5tein/2347819903

In short: a ludic mindset
Paidia Ludus
play game
improvisation skill, effort
exploration strategizing
tumultuous ordered
immoderate rule-bound
Roger Caillois
man, play, and games (1958)

er
ng 3
da #
Utopia lost in amusement

»The unreality of games gives
notice that reality is not yet
real. Unconsciously they
rehearse the right life.«
Theodor W. Adorno
minima moralia (1951)

»Simply because the child deprives the
things with which he plays of their
mediated usefulness, he seeks to rescue
in them what is benign towards men and
not what subserves the exchange relation
that equally deforms men and things.«
Theodor W. Adorno
minima moralia (1951)

a thing enjoyed for its own sake
is a moment of life well-lived

»Amusement is the extension of
work in late capitalism. It is sought
out by him who wants to escape
the mechanised process of work
only to become fit for it anew.«
Theodor W. Adorno
dialectics of enlightenment (1969)

6
Playful reframing
is a promising
proposition.

Play

What we usually design
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrlerone/405730185/sizes/o/

Who decides whether this is play
(or playing is allowed)

ip le
nc 1
ri #
P
Support autonomy
http://ascottallison.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/p1030286.jpg

ip le
nc 2
ri #
P
Create a safe space
http://www.flickr.com/photos/charamelody/4613804703

ip le
nc 3
ri #
P
Metacommunicate: »This is play!«

Make a bow
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mccun934/3604759449
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amrufm/2593920251/sizes/z/in/photostream/

Disrupt standing frames

Use cues and associations
http://www.flickr.com/photos/webatelier/5929298899

ip le
nc 4
ri #
P
… vs. Quality and Variety
Model attitude and behaviors

ip le
nc 5
ri #
P
Offer generative tools/toys

Small pieces, loosely joined

»So when designing tools
for play, underspecify!«
Kars Alfrink
a playful stance (2008)

(Obligatory Minecraft slide)

FarmVille

MySpace!

ip le
nc 6
ri #
P
Provide invitations
http://www.flickr.com/photos/purplemattfish/3205907410/sizes/o/in/photostream/

Autonomy
Choice in goals & strategies,
concordant w/ values & needs
Safe space
Culture of trust, forgiveness,
mutual care, zero blame
Shared attitude
Lived focus on exploring, mastery,
benign transgression, shared joy
Generative tools/toys
Inviting openings for exploration
and redesign

7 Gamification is
materializing morality.

ue
iss
#1
Evil mind control?

»If you use the power of games to give
people an opportunity to do something
they want to do, then you’re doing good. If
you’re using the power of games to get
people to do something you want them to
do, then you’re doing evil.«
Jane McGonigal
digital ethics symposium (2011)

Technologies of power

Get your friends to shop more

Technologies of the self

Help me meditate

… are technologies of control

Regularthe game.at the gym.
Get outin exercize associate employees.
Not drinking too Move
Moremore
Happier.
Fitter. with your much. on.
Stay productive.

Stay in the game. Move on.

ue
iss
#2
Implicit values, virtues, normality

»Products ... are vivid
arguments about how we
should lead our lives.«
Richard Buchanan
design and the new rhetoric (2001)
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/philosophy_and_rhetoric/v034/34.3buchanan.html

The Good Life
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amanky/1722371602

Compare. Compete. Be on top.

What vision of
The Good Life
do your designs convey?

ue
iss
#3
“Extended willpower”
Implicit theory of social change

When discipline is reinforced,
revolution cannot fail!

»Commentators blithely assure us that it is ‘all about
who wants it the most’, as though sporting podiums
are arranged exactly according to the amount of
willpower that went into the struggle. Bronze:
considerable self-belief; silver: still stronger self-belief;
gold: self-belief on an epic scale. … Our own age has
indulged a pseudoscientific cult of willpower: the
deification of determination.«
Ed Smith
the voodoo cult of positive thinking (2012)
http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2012/09/voodoo-cult-positive-thinking

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-
business/small-painless-behaviour-change

What theory of
social change
do your designs convey?

8 Gamification is
worth researching.

ic
op 1
T #
Motivational Design
Marrying the psychology
of motivation with the
practice of design.

The Gameful Classroom

ic
op 2
T #
Rule Design Studies
The holistic study and
design of rule systems.

Law Sociology
Governance Social order
Public Policy Institutionalization
Interpretation Scripts (STS)
computer
Economics
science
Game Theory Algorithms
Incentives Modeling, abstraction,
Business processes Game Studies automation, simulation
Design
Dynamics & Aesthetics
Semiotics

ic
op 3
T #
Playing Studies
Understanding and
designing for playful and
gameful reframing.

Are you “playing” or “using” it?

Mandatory or optional?

How to counteract a gaming mindset?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/5tein/2347819903

9 “Gamification” is
a terrible word to use.

ue
ss 1
I #
»Gamification
is bullshit.«
Ian Bogost
gamification is bullshit (2011)
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4294/persuasive_games_shell_games.php

»This is why gamification is such an
effective term. It keeps the term game and
puts it right up in front, drawing attention
to the form’s mysterious power. But the
kicker comes at the end: the -ify suffix
makes applying that medium to any given
purpose seem facile and automatic.«
Ian Bogost
exploitationware (2010)

ue
ss 2
I #
What is a “game element”?*
* Most game definitions have multiple necessary conditions

Game Atoms
model/skill goal
action
rule system
success! / failure!
challenge
feedback
immediate/progress

Rules Avatars
not game-specific
Quantitative feedback
Goals Story
gamification
Notifications
Comments
not game-related
Analytics
Redeemable rewards
Commitment

ue
ss 3
I #
Encourgaing “add-on” thinking

Remember “Playfulness”?

Gamefulness!

Paidia Ludus
play game
improvisation skill, effort
tumultuous ordered
immoderate rule-bound
Roger Caillois
man, play, and games (1958)

Gaming
(serious) games gamification
Gameful Design
System/Artefact
Quality/mode
Elements
(serious) toys playful design
Playing

1 Gamification is nothing new.
2 Gamification is the use of game design
elements in non-game contexts.
3 Gamification is an inadvertent con.
4 Motivational design is a promising proposition.
5 Gamification is thinking inside the box.
6 Playful reframing is a promising proposition.
7 Gamification is materializing morality.
8 Gamification is worth researching
9 »Gamification« is a terrible word to use.

9.5 Ceterum Censeo
You should all read
The Well-Played Game

»Inscribed in gold in our flag is the
motto If you can’t play it, change it,
and woven into our banner are the
words If it helps, cheat.«
Bernie de Koven
the well-played game (1978/2002)

Thank You.
@dingstweets
sebastian@codingconduct.cc
codingconduct.cc