GAME
THINKING
WORKSHOP




Ricardo Leon
ricardo@pactica.com
CONCEPTS

SHARE

CHALLENGES

RAPID
PROTOTYPE
GAMES CAN EXTEND
FAR BEYOND
ENTERTAINMENT
Temple Run 2	
  
TO ENCOURAGE A DESIRE


BEHAVIOR

	
  
NIKE+ Running	
  
TO REACH AN

OBJECTIVE
WHAT IS A

GAME?
YES 

NO
PLAYERS


NOT USERS


1
Alfred Morris	
  
HUMANS HAVE A
NATURAL DESIRE TO

PLAY	
  



2
WORDS with Friends	
  
HUMANS HAVE A
CAPACITY TO

PRETEND	
  
3
YAHOO! Fantasy Football	
  
A GAME HAS

RULES	
  



THAT DICTATE HOW TO PLAY

4
Twitter	
  
A GAME HAS A

GOAL	
  



THAT THE PLAYERS NEEDS TO ACHIEVE

5
Kickstarter	
  
PLAY

PRETEND

	
  

	
  

PLAYER

GOALS
	
  

RULES
	
  
YES 

NO
PLAY
fun

capture attention &
motivate participation
	
  
HARD FUN	
  

PEOPLE FUN	
  

provides the opportunity to
challenge, mastery, and feelings of
accomplishments	
  

provides the excuse to hang
around with friends
	
  

fun

capture attention &
motivate participation
	
  

EASY FUN	
  
SERIOUS FUN	
  

purposely play changes how players think,
feel, behave, or make a difference in the
real world
	
  

inspires exploration and
role play	
  

* Nicole Lazzaro, XeoDesign: 4Keys 2Fun
	
  
PLAYING IS MORE
MEANINGUL WHEN
YOU HAVE
INTERESTING CHOICES
tinder	
  
PLAYERS ARE ALWAYS
FREE TO QUIT AND
COME BACK
BBM	
  
YOU are a consultant to HOTRIP, an internet travel company
OBJECTIVE HOTRIP wants to reach new markets
AUDIENCE

Millennial, 18-34 age group

BEHAVIOR Increase completion rate in Booking Flow
CHARACTERISTICS Social mindful, globally engaged, wired
generation, peer-oriented, highest unemployment rate
ENTER
TRIP
CRITERIA	
  

SELECT
TRIP	
  

PROVIDE
INFO	
  

PAY
Incorporate ONE fun factor in
the Booking Flow to engage
our audience
People Fun

HARD Fun

provides the excuse to
hang around with friends

ENTER
TRIP
CRITERIA	
  

SERIOUS Fun

make a difference
in the real world

provides the opportunity to
challenge, mastery, and
feelings of accomplishments

SELECT
TRIP	
  

PROVIDE
INFO	
  

PAY

EASY Fun

inspires exploration
and role play
PRETEND
Magic Circle*	
  

Real World	
  

A physical space for playing

*Johan Huizinga
INSIDE THE MAGIC
CIRCLE, REAL WORLD
EVENTS HAVE A
SPECIAL MEANINGS
WATCH ESPN	
  
facebook	
  
THE MAGIC CIRCLE IS A
STORY OF DREAMS
AND FANTASY
Turntable	
  
PLAYING GAMES CAN
BE AN IMMERSIVE
EXPERIENCE
Instagram	
  
Incorporate a whimsical
concept in the Booking Flow to
make people wonder
ENTER
TRIP
CRITERIA	
  

SELECT
TRIP	
  

PROVIDE
INFO	
  

PAY
GOALS
THE PLAYER JOURNEY
Get players into the game as
quickly and easily as possible 	
  

ONBOARDING
Google Drive	
  
Provide training wheels and increase
difficulty through progression	
  

SCAFFOLDING
Duolingo	
  
Frequent encouragement and 
visualize performance	
  

FEEDBACK
LinkedIn	
  
Stipulate positive feelings by 
offering unexpected rewards to the user	
  

VARIABLE
REWARDS
LINE	
  
Get to the point where player has
conquer and achieve a real skill	
  

PATCHWAY TO
MASTER
Identify the type of feedback
we can provide to our
customer to encourage them
to complete the Booking Flow
ENTER
TRIP
CRITERIA	
  

SELECT
TRIP	
  

PROVIDE
INFO	
  

PAY
Fitocracy	
  
RULES
RULES HAVE TO BE
CLEAR TO THE PLAYERS
Stak Overflow	
  
Quora	
  
PLAYERS AGREE TO
THE RULES, BUT THEY
CAN REDEFINE THEM
twitter hashtag	
  
Write 3 simple rules to
describe how to make a
reservation in your
“Whimsical Booking Flow”
ENTER
TRIP
CRITERIA	
  

SELECT
TRIP	
  
1.	
  
2.	
  
3.	
  

PROVIDE
INFO	
  

PAY
Play

Pretend

	
  

	
  

PLAYER

Goals
	
  

Rules
	
  
Players	
  

Behaviors	
  

Objective	
  
ricardo@pactica.com	
  

Game Thinking Workshop