What is it about games that holds our interest and keeps us playing? Games are compelling in so many ways; they can make our progress visible unlock new content, experience and powers connect us socially to people we care about offer intellectual, sensory and physical stimulation that keeps us sharp Character transformation is the backbone […]
Last weekend, we visited Glide Memorial Church with our shul, Peninsula Temple Sholom. Glide in an amazing institution – their message of radical inclusiveness was woven into every aspect of the service, and volunteers were actively signing up people for Covered California in the basement. They walk the talk – and their kick-ass rainbow-coalition choir is San […]
“I definitely want to be a part of VR, but I will not work with Facebook. Their motives are too unclear and shifting, and they haven’t historically been a stable platform. There’s nothing about their history that makes me trust them, and that makes them seem creepy to me.” Markus “notch” Persson, creator of Minecraft, […]
We just signed up for our 7th trip at Cazerdero Family Performing Arts Camp. In early August, we’ll make our yearly pilgrimage to a majestic Redwood grove near the Russian River, and setup camp with dozens of other creative-minded families. We’ll spend our days playing music, making art, taking dance classes, eating delicious meals cooked by a gourmet […]
It’s here! Today kicks off the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco — a yearly “gathering of the tribe” AKA the wacky, creative, super-smart people that devote their lives to making games. I’m looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones. Ping me if you’ll be in town for #GDC14 – perhaps we can […]
Recently I wrote about why you shouldn’t rely on Extrinsic Motivation to drive lasting engagement. So if that’s off the table… what CAN you do? What’s the secret? Simple. To create a truly compelling experience, tap into the Trinity of Intrinsic Motivation: Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose. This three-part framework emerged during the 1970s as Self-Determination Theory and was recently […]
In 2007, I gave a talk at O’Eilly’s Emerging Technology conference called Putting the Fun in Functional. In this talk, I identified five game techniques driving successful social media properties, and outlined how websites could become more gamelike by incorporating progression, missions, rich identity, and real-time feedback. Since then, the idea of applying game design to […]
After much experimentation, I developed my Social Action Matrix – a tool to identify the core social activities that MOTIVATE your players. This model is inspired by personality quizzes and player types, but focused around VERBS AND ACTIONS rather than human archetypes. Why make this shift? Why not just stick with player types? I’ve tried both – […]
Human nature is complex – and personality types are convenient simplifications. that help us understand people’s different temperaments, motivations and social styles. Like many game designers, I’ve found Bartle’s Player Types useful, especially for MMOs and online competitive games. A key value of Bartle’s system is to raise awareness that different people enjoy different types of […]
What’s your guilty pleasure? Mine is taking pop-culture personality quizzes – those irresistible categorization systems that popup whenever there’s a new hit movie, game or TV show. I know these quizzes are over-simplified and silly – yet I can’t resist answering a few questions and discovering who I resemble, and how my character fits in the […]