Octalysis Gamification Workshop for Runway

A Framework for
Actionable Gamiﬁcation
For: Runway Incubator By: Yu-kai Chou
@yukaichou / #octalysis / yukai@yukaichou.com

Guild Leader:Yu-kai Chou

Early Pioneer of Gamification for 11 years

Serial Tech Entrepreneur

Original creator of the Octalysis Framework

Regular Keynote Speaker/Lecturer at Stanford
University,TEDx,Accenture, SxSW

Rated #1 Gamification Guru at World Gamification
Congress in Europe (2014).

Exercise
Think about ONE game you enjoyed playing:
Farmville? Candy Crush? Angry Birds?
Starcraft? WoW? DOTA? Halo? LoL?
Poker? Golf? Majong? Crossword Puzzle? Sudoku?

Think about what made that game fun/
enjoyable
Exercise
We’ll come back to this later.

The Magic
Kids nowadays have bad work ethics?

No Discipline?

The Magic
Waking up behind parents’ back 3AM in the
morning to level up = AMAZING work ethics

The Magic
In Role-Playing Games (RPG), Leveling up often
involves killing the same monsters in the same stage
over and over again for hours or weeks

The Magic
Gamers call this “grinding.”  
It’s Fun & Addicting.

The Magic
In the real world, this is called Grunt
Work. It’s Boring & Torturous.

The Magic
If games can get kids to voluntarily do hours of
secret grunt work, it can get anyone engaged to
anything

The Magic
If it is well designed

“Human-Focused Design”
• As opposed to “Function Focused Design”

• System that is designed to optimize for the
motivations and feelings of the human inside

• ...instead of assuming the people within are robots
that will complete the task
vs

“Human-Focused Design”
• Gaming industry = ﬁrst to master Human-Focused Design

• Games have spent decades/centuries mastering how to
engage people without a mandated purpose

• Now we are learning from games, hence “Gamiﬁcation”
vs

90+ Gamiﬁcation Case
Studies with ROI Stats
http://bit.ly/gameROI
Outside Reading

Every truth passes through 3 stages before it is
recognized:
!
The Schopenhauer  
Truth Hype Cycle

Every truth passes through 3 stages before it is
recognized:
!
I. First, it is ridiculed.
II. Second, it is violently opposed.
III. Third, it is regarded as self-evident.
The Schopenhauer  
Truth Hype Cycle

History Lesson
Many Years Ago A Few Years Ago Now

History Lesson
!
DUH! Every organization
needs a Talent Strategy!

!
This Website thing is a
fad...where’s the ROI?

!
Who needs a Website?

It’s a distraction to
business!

!
Just fad-chasing
enthusiasts and
conferences talk about
Websites...

History Lesson
!
needs a Website Strategy!

!
This Social thing is a

!
Who needs Social Media?

It’s a distraction to our
employees!

!
Just fad-chasing
enthusiasts and
Social Media...
!

!

!

business!

!
Just fad-chasing
enthusiasts and
Websites...

History Lesson
!

!

!

business!

!
Just fad-chasing
enthusiasts and
Websites...
!
needs a Website Strategy!

!
This Social thing is a

!
Who needs Social Media?

employees!

!
Just fad-chasing
enthusiasts and
Social Media...
!
needs a Social Strategy!

!
This Gamification thing is
a fad...where’s the ROI?

!
Who needs Gamification?

employees!

!
Just fad-chasing
enthusiasts and
Gamification...

Global Movement
Gartner predicts 70% of Fortune 500 will use
Gamiﬁcation by 2014

Except...
Gartner also predicts 80% of the gamiﬁed apps
will fail due to bad design

Agencies and individuals claim to be experts at
whatever is the new “Buzzword”
The Cause

The Cause
Everyone focuses on PBLs (Points, Badges &
Leaderboards)
Points
Badges
Leaderboards

The Cause
Similar to “Social Media Marketing” 6 years ago

The Cause
Similar to “Social Media Marketing” 6 years ago
Real SMM is not simply creating a Twitter
Proﬁle and Facebook Page

The Cause
Beginning with “game mechanics” instead of
the Core Drives

Bad Game Designer
We need swords...where can they go? Oh yes, monsters. Of
course! We need cows! And friends that can fertilize crops!
+ + + = ????

Bad Game Designer
+ + + = ????
++
+ +

Bad Game Designer
+ + + = ????
A game can have all the right “game
elements” but still be stupid/boring.
++
+ +

Bad Game Designer
+ + + = ????
In fact,ALL games have “game elements”
but most games suck and are boring.
++
+ +

Bad Game Designer
+ + + = ????
It’s naive to think that once you plug game
mechanics into your company, it will be successful
++
+ +

Bad Game Designer
+ + + = ????
Only a few well-designed games achieve
the status of Winning & Addicting
++
+ +

Good Game Designer
How do I want my users to...

Good Game Designer
How do I want my users to FEEL?  
Inspired? Proud? Scared?

Good Game Designer
Hmm, Okay. What game elements do I need in
order to accomplish that goal?
? ? ? ?
How do I want my users to FEEL?  
Inspired? Proud? Scared?

Good Gamiﬁcation
!
does not start with
Game Elements
!
but starts with our
Core Drives

The Basics of  
Octalysis Gamiﬁcation

Octalysis
Avoidance
Ownership
Empowerment
Meaning
Unpredictability
Accomplishment
Scarcity
Social
Inﬂuence
-Narrative 
-Elitism 
-Humanity Hero

-Higher Meaning
-Beginners Luck

-Free Lunch

-Destiny Child

-CoCreator
-Points 
-Badges (Achievement Symbols) 
-Fixed Action Rewards 
-Leaderboard 
-Progress Bar

-Quest Lists

-Win Prize

-High-Five 
-Crowning

-LevelUp Symphony

-Aura Effect

-Step-by-Step Tutorial

-Boss Fights
-Milestone Unlock

-Evergreen Mechanics

-General’s Carrot

-Real-Time Control

-Chain Combos

-Instant feedback

-Boosters

-Blank Fills 
-Voluntary Autonomy

-Choice Perception
-Virtual Goods

-Build from Scratch 
-Collection Set

-Avatar 
-Earned Lunch 
-Learning Curve

-Protection

-Recruitment

-Monitoring

-Bragging

-Water Cooler

-Thank-You Economy

-Mentorship

-Social Prod
-Friending

-Social Treasure/Gifting

-SeeSaw Bump

-Group Quest

-Touting
-Appointment Dynamics

-Fixed Intervals

-Dangling

-Prize Pacing

-Options Pacing

-Patient Feedback

-Count Down

-Throttles

-Moats
-Glowing Choice

-MiniQuests 
-Visual Storytelling

-Easter Eggs

-Random Rewards

-Obvious Wonder

-Rolling Rewards

-Mischief

-Sudden Rewards

-Oracle Effect
-Sunk-Cost Tragedy

-Progress Loss

-FOMO

-Evanescence Opportunity
-Status Quo Sloth

-Scarlet Letter

-Visual Grave

-Weep Tune

Octalysis
Avoidance
Ownership
Empowerment
Meaning
Unpredictability
Accomplishment
Scarcity
Social
Inﬂuence

Octalysis
Meaning
Epic Meaning & Calling

Octalysis
Accomplishment
Development &
Accomplishment

Octalysis
Empowerment
Empowerment of
Creativity & Feedback

Octalysis
Ownership
Ownership &
Possession

Octalysis
SocialInﬂuence
Social Inﬂuence
& Relatedness

Octalysis
Scarcity
Scarcity & Impatience

Octalysis
Unpredictability
Unpredictability & Curiosity

Octalysis
Unpredictability
Unpredictability & Curiosity
Skinner Box

Octalysis
Avoidance
Loss & Avoidance

Right
Brain
Left
Brain
Octalysis
Avoidance
Ownership
Empowerment
Meaning
Unpredictability
Accomplishment
Scarcity
Social
Inﬂuence

Right
Brain
Left
Brain
Octalysis
Avoidance
Ownership
Empowerment
Meaning
Unpredictability
Accomplishment
Scarcity
Social
Inﬂuence
Extrinsic (tendency) Intrinsic (tendency)

White Hat Gamification
Black Hat Gamification
Octalysis
Avoidance
Ownership
Empowerment
Meaning
Unpredictability
Accomplishment
Scarcity
Social
Influence

White Hat Gamification
Black Hat Gamification
Octalysis
Avoidance
Ownership
Empowerment
Meaning
Unpredictability
Accomplishment
Scarcity
Social
Influence
Zynga figured out how to do a lot of Black Hat techniques,
which led to great engagement and monetization metrics for
each user. But in the long run, users leave when they CAN
because they don’t feel like they are in control over
themselves.

Self-Submission to Black Hat Gamiﬁcation
Just because it’s called Black Hat
doesn’t mean it’s necessarily bad

-Sharing whatever you want

-TONS of Facebook games 
-Instant feedback of friends “liking”
-Friend Invites

-Conformity

-Social Prod

-Social Treasure

Group Quests

-Touting

-Envy

-Completed Profile

-More friends

-Increased likes and comments

-Aura Effect
-Photos/Profiles  
-Friends

-Memories

-Protection

-Recruitment

-Earned lunch

-Monitoring
-Inner Circles

Note: (Early
Facebook has
HIGH scarcity
score with certain
universities only)

 
-Glowing Choice

-MiniQuests 
-Refreshing Content 
-Suspense
-Scarlet Letter 
-Sunk Cost Tragedy
Avoidance
Ownership
Empowerment
Meaning
Unpredictability
Accomplishment
Scarcity
Octalysis Score: 448
-Elitism

-Staying in touch with friends

-Stalking
Social
Influence

Octalysis
-No higher meaning besides being a farmer
-Allows the ability to “paint” with
your farm
-Leaderboard 
-Group Farming 
-Free Social Gifts

-Neighbors
-Farm getting Bigger & Better

-Difﬁcult badges for sorts of crops 
-Reward Loops
-Ownership of Farm 
-Virtual Goods
-Appointment Dynamics 
-Milestone Unlock 
-Real-money Only Crops 
-Free Social Gifts 
-Season-based Gifts
-Waiting for what’s next in the game
-Avoid plants withering

-Avoid losing opportunities

-Avoid Sunk-Cost Tragedy
Avoidance
Ownership
Empowerment
Meaning
Unpredictability
Accomplishment
Scarcity
Social
Inﬂuence

Octalysis
-Saving the world of “Sanctuary” 
-Diablo II Legacy 
-Help others
-Massive Skill Combinations 
-Different challenges each stage
-Multiplayer Game 
-Friend gear and hours 
-Mentoring
-Leveling Up

-Plot line 
-4 Difﬁculties

-Skills

-Gear
-Characters 
-Items

-Auction House
-Item Drops 
-Skill Sets 
-Storyline 
-Item Drops 
-Randomized Maps 
-Randomized Elites

-Repetitive Plot
-Item Durability

-Bottleneck  
-Avoid Sunk-Cost Tragedy
Avoidance
Ownership
Empowerment
Meaning
Unpredictability
Accomplishment
Scarcity
Social
Inﬂuence
Octaylsis Score: 284

-Microblogging Wave
-Character Limit 
-Witty/valuable content
-Friends on Twitter

-Followers 
-Responses

-Companionship 
-ThankYou Economy
-Follower Gain

-Retweets

-Responses

-Unique Information
-Followers

-Information
-Fail Whale 
-Character Limit

-Follower Count 
-Interesting Tweets 
-Surprising content 
-Will someone respond? 
-Quick news
-Friend Loss
Avoidance
Ownership
Empowerment
Meaning
Unpredictability
Accomplishment
Scarcity
Social
InﬂuenceOctalysis Score: 267

-Helping a weird monster solve problems
Avoidance
Ownership
Empowerment
Meaning
Unpredictability
Accomplishment
Scarcity
Social
Inﬂuence
Constantly looking for better comb
and planning boosters
“Sweet” “Delicious!”

Level tracks and “Boss Stages”

1-3 Stars

Defeating Chocolate
Quest to accumulate more
points and boosters
Social Treasure - Lives

See friend progress
Always waiting for the right
gems

Seeing levels ahead

Countdown timer/moves

Balancing Owl Gems
Unpredictable Gems

Random Combos
Avoiding Loss

Fear of the chocolate
encroaching candy

“You need a LinkedIn Account”

Finding that dream job you are passionate about
Avoidance
Ownership
Empowerment
Meaning
Unpredictability
Accomplishment
Scarcity
Social
Influence
Better ways to “dress up” your profile
and build reputation in communities.
Progress Bar

“X People saw your profile”

Recommendations

Endorsements

Your life.Your Job.

Accumulating more contacts.
Social Treasure -
Recommendations

Social Prodding -
Endorsements

X People saw my profile

Want to see her profile?
Upgrade to Premium!

Want to connect? Upgrade to
Premium!
Are recruiters Googling my
name and seeing my profile?

How many people view my
profile?
Avoiding Loss of Career

Avoiding Bad Reputation

Octalysis Tool
http://yukaichou.com/
octalysis-tool

Discovery Onboarding Scaffolding Endgame
Design for All 4 Phases
Level 2 Octalysis

Discovery Onboarding Scaffolding Endgame
AchieversExplorersSocializersKillers

The Game You Like
Now that you have learned the basics of
the 8 Core Drives, think about which Core
Drives made the game you enjoy fun?

The 8 Core Drives"
of Octalysis

Write Down a Problem
1. Something you want to improve

2.Needs to deal with human motivation

3.Could relate to your customers, clients,
employees, teammates, or yourself

1) Epic Meaning & Calling
Part of something bigger than yourself

2) Development & Accomplishment
Feeling Progress and Achievement

Nike+

Nike+ lets people see their progress and improvements in
order to FEEL growth and accomplishments. It turns long-
term beneﬁts into short-term gratiﬁcation.
Nike+

“I overpaid for my product, Suckas!!”

3) Empowerment of Creativity
& Feedback
The creator inside of us

Example:Autodesk
Increase Trial Usage by 54% and  
Sales Revenue by 29%

Kids who play Card Games like Magic the Gathering
need to remember a ton of information

…more information than the periodic table

4) Ownership & Possession
The more you have, the more you want

CustomizingYour Avatar
Makes you feel more ownership over it as your own identity

It feels very awkward when you only have 2
or 3 of the four-season deers, so players
would do a lot to complete their collection
instead of waiting for another 36 months for
the right season

5) Social Inﬂuence & Relatedness
What others think can kill you

Game Technique #22:
Group Quests

6) Scarcity & Impatience
The Grass OnThe Other Side

Mozzy

Laurelix

7) Unpredictability & Curiosity
What kills the cat

The Boy Is the Toy

8) Loss & Avoidance
The threat is stronger than the execution

Octalysis
Avoidance
Ownership
Empowerment
Meaning
Unpredictability
Accomplishment
Scarcity
Social
Inﬂuence
Relatedness
Autonomy
Competence

Speed Camera Lottery

-Narrative 
-Elitism 
-Humanity Hero
-Beginners Luck

-Free Lunch

-Chosen One
-Points 
-Badges 
-Fixed Action Rewards 
-Leaderboard 
-Progress Bar

-Quest Lists

-Win Prize

-High-Five 
-Crowning

-LevelUp Symphony

-Aura Effect

-Juicy Feedback

-Boss Fights
-Milestone Unlock

-General’s Carrot

-Real-Time Control

-Chain Combos

-Instant feedback

-Boosters

-Blank Fills 
-Step-by-Step Tutorial

-Virtual Goods

-Collection Set

-Dangling 
-Earned Lunch 
-Learning Curve

-Protection

-Recruitment

-Monitoring

-Avatar
-Bragging

-Must Marketing

-Thank-You Economy

-Mentorship

-Social Prod
-Friend Invites

-Social Treasure/Gifting

-Envy

-Group Quest

-Touting
-Appointment Dynamics

-Fixed Intervals

-Prize Pacing

-Options Pacing

-Patient Feedback

-Count Down

-Throttles

-Moats
-Glowing Choice

-MiniQuest 
-Visual Storytelling

-Easter Eggs

-Random Rewards

-Sudden Tips

-Rolling Rewards

-Mischief

-Sudden Rewards

-Suspense
Octalysis
Avoidance
Ownership
Empowerment
Meaning
Unpredictability
Accomplishment
Scarcity
Social
Pressure
-Sunk-Cost Tragedy

-Lost Progress

-Guilting
-Grounded

-Scarlet Letter

-Visual Grave

-Weep Tune

Applying Knowledge

Actionable Gamiﬁcation:"
Strategy Dashboard

Strategy Dashboard
1. Define: Business Metrics - Game Objective

2.Define: Users - Players

3.Define: Desired Actions - Win-State

4.Define: User Stats - Feedback

5.Define: Incentives - Drives

BUSINESS METRICS
1. END RESULTS OF WHAT YOU WANT TO
IMPROVE

2.IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE

3.NEEDS TO BE QUANTIFIABLE

4.LEADS TO GAME OBJECTIVE

PROCESS
BUSINESS
METRICS

DEFINE USERS
1. DEMOGRAPHICS

2.WHAT MOTIVATES THEM

3.WHY ARE THEY DOING THE CURRENT
ACTIVITIES (8 CORE DRIVES)

4.WHAT ARE ANTI-CORE DRIVES? (REASONS
WHY THEY DON’T DO THE DESIRED
ACTIONS)

PROCESS
BUSINESS
METRICS
PLAYER

PROCESS
BUSINESS
METRICS
PLAYER
?

DEFINE DESIRED
ACTIONS
1. ALL THE LITTLE ACTIONS YOU WANT USERS
TO DO

2.CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

3.NO ACTION IS TOO TRIVIAL

4.LEADS TO WIN-STATES

PROCESS
BUSINESS
METRICS
WIN-STATE
PLAYER
DESIRED
ACTIONSCOMMITS
RESULTS
IMPACT

DEFINE Feedback Stats
1. WHAT USERS USE TO KEEP TRACK OF THEIR
PROGRESS TOWARDS WIN-STATE

2.Examples: POINTS, LEVELS, STAGES,
TROPHIES, AVATARS

3.SHOULD REEMPHASIZE ON THE CORE
DRIVES

PROCESS
BUSINESS
METRICS
WIN-STATE
PLAYER
DESIRED
ACTIONSCOMMITS
RESULTS
IMPACT
FEEDBACK
STATS
PROGRESS
TRACKS

DEFINE INCENTIVES
1. Within your power, if you could give users
everything they want, what would it be?

2.“Within your power” is important to deﬁne

3. Rewards, 8 Core Drives, or SAPS

4.Strategically place them in different Win-
States

Reward Context
1. Fixed-Action Rewards: Earned Lunch

2.Random Rewards: Mystery Box

3.Sudden Rewards: Easter Egg

4.Rolling Rewards: Lottery

5.Social Treasure: Gifting

6.Prize Pacing: Collection Set

PROCESS
BUSINESS
METRICS
WIN-STATE
PLAYER
DESIRED
ACTIONSCOMMITS
RESULTS
IMPACT
FEEDBACK
STATS
PROGRESS
TRACKS
INCENTIVES
EMBEDDED

!
For the excellent understanding and application of
Gamification Core Drives and Motivation
!
Average Joey
!
is awarded this certificate in honor of achieving
!
THE OCTALYSIS FRAMEWORK - LEVEL ONE
!
standards and conditions for mastery
Yu-kai Chou
Octalysis Certificate of Completion

ThankYou.
Truly.
Octalysis.com @yukaichou
yukai@yukaichou.com

Octalysis Gamification Workshop for Runway

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