Lecture L22
GAMIFICATION
Play more
computer games
Jane McGonigal:
Gaming can make a better world (2010)
Games are the
one of the
most powerful

force in the
world
Can we use games to solve (boring, untasteful…) problems?
http://ellahelga.blog.is/blog/ellahelga/image/953139/
http://ellahelga.blog.is/blog/ellahelga/image/953139/
http://ellahelga.blog.is/blog/ellahelga/image/953139/
Gamification
Gamification is the process of 

using game thinking and 

game mechanics to engage 

audiences and solve problems
game me•chan•ics
Techniques used by game 

designers to make games 

fun and addictive
lederboard
progression
Influence and status
Games are the most 

powerful motivation to 

influence behaviour
How can we use
game mechanics to

change the 

real world?
Too many cars…
Too many parking spaces… waste of space
20,7 circles around the world
Game play as a resource?
Each week we spend
3 billion hours playing computer

games
At the age of 21 people have spent
10.000
hours
playing 

computer games
Compulsory 

school is
10.000
hours
The time people have spent playing

World of Warcraft is
5,93 million years
Evolution of
man took
5,93 million years
Fluid intelligence is the capacity to think logically and
solve problems in novel situations, independent of
acquired knowledge
Crystallized intelligence is the ability to use skills,
knowledge, and experience
Evolution of Man gave us Intelligence
Playing games for 10.000 hours means you are a virtuoso
in something
What about games?
Real life can be so
boooooring
But this will change…
And we
know

who will
change this
Gabe Zichermann:
How games make kids smarter (2010)
Why should we take games

seriously?
Clearly people are wasting time
How will this impact jobs, society and
everything?
But we need scientific evidence
Ok, step into the lab
Daphne Bavelier:
Your brain on video games (2012)
“ ... people who play
action games far
outperform the
people who don’t”
- Green and Bavelier’s experiment
Better in problem
solving
Better in unknown
situations
Better in exploring
new options

Track more objects
Better in monitoring
cluttered world
Better at processing
visual stream of
information
And when you are hiring a person to do a job
for you, what is your first interview question?
Do you play video games?
Play more
computer games
And make sure your
kids plays computer
games
Next: IoT and Robotics

L22 Gamification