Serious games and how they can do

great things in the real world

John Ferrara

Creative director, Megazoid games

Author, Playful Design

@PlayfulDesign

PlayfulDesignBook.com

Playful Design

Gamification

Embedding elements borrowed from game design

(usually PBL) within things that aren‟t games.

Serious games

Creating true games that achieve some effect

beyond the boundaries of the experience.

… or at least that‟s the theory.

Let‟s get a few things straight

“I don‟t do „gamification,‟ and I‟m not

prepared to stand up and say I think it

works... If the game is not about a goal

you‟re intrinsically motivated by, it

won‟t work.”

–Jane McGonigal

“Gamification is bullshit.”

–Ian Bogost

A growing backlash

What‟s wrong with gamification?

Mostly it‟s the “ification”.

It’s reductionary.

Gamification robs games of their fundamental appeal.

It’s backwards.

It‟s about how players can serve the designer‟s ends.

It’s unrealistic.

Not everyone will be charmed.

Serious games

are the

way forward

Games for...

HealthGames for Health Conference

June 18-20, Boston

EducationGames, Learning, and Society

June 10-13, Madison WI

ChangeGames for Change Festival

April 22-24, New York City

Capabilities

Games can…

Explain

Motivate

Persuade

Games for…

Education

Health

Change

Purposesvs.

Games can

explain

Learning by doing

Practice is rolled in with theory.

Helps illustrate ideas in a concrete way.

Getting it wrong builds greater understanding.

Totally safe “virtual lab”.

Failure-based learning

Agency

You‟re in charge.

Players feel driven toward mastery.

Working with dynamic interacting parts

“21st century thinking skill”

Systems thinking

Living thought experiments

How might the world be different if...

“What if”-ing

Demo: http://youtu.be/TluRVBhmf8w?t=43s

Your performance in the game is a test.

Easy to track individuals‟ progress.

Built-in assessment

Games can

motivate

Human computation

Useful outputs as a by-product of play.

“Games are algorithms that run on people.”–Luis Von Ahn

Reframing

Casting actions in a different light.

Builds a sense of self-efficacy.

Reframing in-the-moment.

A fantasy world is superposed on reality.

Real-time overlay

Intrinsic rewards for extrinsic actions.

If people value the game, this can be very

motivating.

Optional advantages

Games can

persuade

Games are a form of procedural

rhetoric

Procedurality makes games

unique as a communications

medium

Example

Virtual pets. Real nutrition.

Player is responsible for maintaining

the health of a virtual pet

Must shop for the critter's food, cook

for it, and feed it

Each day the player must fill the

critter's green bars without filling the

red bars

Pilot StudyRun by Univ. of Mass. Medical

SchoolNorthbridge Elementary, MA

100 5th graders, 4 class periods

Significant increases in positive attitudes

toward nutrition and fitness

Significant increases in students' self-efficacy

Moderate increases in nutrition knowledge

(They tested well initially)

Games for… evil?

Games for…

Gatorade “Bolt”

game‟s goal:

“...to position Gatorade

as the hero helping drive

better performance and

higher scores with water

as the enemy that

hinders performance.”

Media agency OMD‟s

case study video

evil?

Games for… evil?

Serious games

need ethical

guidelines

PlayfulDesignBook.com

Thank you!By the way, you can get 25%

off of Playful Design when you

enter the code “ferrara” on