The document discusses gamification and user engagement in social games. It notes that while social games can appear very engaging, the average social game has low retention and engagement rates. Only the top games are truly good at keeping users engaged over time, similar to top websites. The document cautions against seeing gamification as a magic solution, as building engaging games and game mechanics is very difficult. It provides some suggestions for effective uses of game mechanics, like using levels to structure content or processes, and emphasizes the need for testing, learning from failures, and iteration.

1. Game Mechanics? Let’s Talk About Data Digital Shoreditch, Gamification Workshop - London Raf Keustermans, 4 May 2011

2. RAF KEUSTERMANSIndependent ConsultantGlobal Marketing DirectorPlayfish (EA) 2009-2010Marketing Director EMEA Pogo.com (EA) 2008-2009Head of Marketing Western Europe Unibet.com 2005-2008Project Manager & StrategicPlanneratBBDO, Grey and DuvalGuillaume (Publicis Groupe) 1998-2001 / 2002-2005Co-Founder start-up (Cyganet - online communitytools & services) 2001-2002raf.keustermans@gmail.com@raf_keustermans

3. Gamification: two main schools of thought « Certain gamemechanicscanwork as a STANDALONE solution outside a gameenvironment. Evenwithout a narrative, characters, … E.g. using ‘levels’ canbe a great solution to structure content or processes. Usinggamemechanicsdoesn’tmeansomethingneeds to look or feellike a game.» « Gamesonlyworkbecause all the differentelements TOGETHER makeit an engagingexperience; narrative, character & level design, art style, sound, gameplay and gamemechanics. You can’tjusttake one of thoseelementout of it and hopeit has the same impact on engagement. » Main goal : replicate the (perceived?) strong user engagement from (social) games by addinggameelements to a non-game business.

4. Fact: Everyone Is Super Jealous About Social Games’ Strong User Engagement. It’sAwesome.

5. Mythbusting! What Social Games Can Teach Us About User Engagement. Or not.

6. Average social game: 60-70% neverreturnsafter first game session Only 15-20% still active 30 daysafterinstalling the game Only 1-2% spends money In 2010, Facebook killed (spammy) re-engagementchannels: Most social gameslost 30-40% of their audience within 6 weeks Even the most ‘sticky’ gamesneed to remindplayersconstantly about theirexistance CHURN!

7. EA Playfish generated 300M+ game installs since 2008, only 5.5M Daily Actives today Zynga spends $100M on User Acquisition/year to keep audience numbers at the same level.

8. And there’s more… 80,000+ games on Facebook Only 200 gameswith 1M+ MAU Of those, < 100 with 20%+ DAU/MAU (playrate) and < 60 are olderthan 6 months About 0.07% of social games have real scale AND lasting engagement.

9. Even the top studios don’talwaysgetit right… EA Playfish, Pirates Ahoy Zynga, Treasure Isle

10. But thenagain…. 50% of Facebook usersplaygames (300M people) 150B minutes spent EVERY MONTH on social games That’s an average of 10 minutes for everyone on the planet! Or 3,4M years are spend/wasted on social gameseveryyear. Wow. That’s an engaged audience, right?

11. So… The AVERAGE social game is not very good at keeping users engaged. Not better/worse than the AVERAGE website. The TOP social games are greatatengagingusers. Just like the TOP websites.

12. Does That MeanGamificationis a Fad?

13. No. But building games or creating/applying relevant gamemechanicsisvery, verydifficult! There’s a reasonwhysuccessfulgameproducers/designers make £100K+ Game mechanicscan’tfixbroken businesses Retention, monetizationproblems Most gamification programs are loyalty programs More value in other areas (structure, feedback cycle) Stop talking about ‘engagement’, use real metrics Whatis the goal, how to measure, what to measure?

14. Focus on gamemechanicsthatreallywork Use Levels to structure content, processes Make a registration process (or taxform) easier & more fun Break down stuff in little, chewable bits Games have rules, rulescreateorder& clarity, a clearpath to achieve goals. ‘What do I need to do to get a promotion, to getbetterresultsatschool, to improvemy fitness? How do I getthere?’ Feedback loops (direct/indirect) increasevelocity of user feedback Understand drop-out points, funnelleaks Fail fast & cheap. Learn. Iterate.

15. Btw, If You’reReallyLookingFor User Engagement And Great Results…

16. Raf Keustermans raf.keustermans@gmail.com twitter.com/raf_keustermans