Gamification is a marketing technique that uses game mechanics and structures to engage customers and influence their behaviors. It takes advantage of people's natural tendency to engage with games. Common game elements used in gamification include levels, points, rewards, and challenges to motivate behaviors like shopping more, completing surveys, or visiting websites more frequently. Effective gamification follows the four M's of game design: mystery, mastery, membership, and meaning to create engaging experiences for customers.

1. Gamification 101Why games are becoming a key marketing tool@nathannmiller - Insight Curator

2. © Crayon 2010 Gamification is an increasingly important marketing method which seeks to effectively engage customers and influence their behaviour through game structures and mechanics. It takes advantage of our psychological tendency to engage in games. As a technique it is mainly used to encourage people to engage in behaviours they might ordinarily find boring; shopping, completing surveys, or reading websites. What is gamification?

3. © Crayon 2010 Though game mechanics like adding levels, points or rewards have been used in customer loyalty programmes for many years, it is only now with such behavioural data explosions, that we can really begin to harness the power of games effectively. Gaming culture has become universal… Why is gamification important now?

4. © Crayon 2010 Games are the most engaging medium around: - Games change people’s behaviour and mindstates because they are so engaging; while playing in isolation, games have relieved burns victims of their pains, more than any other medium. - Some online games have had to introduce ‘fatigue systems’ which give less points the longer your play or offer double points for taking a breaks, as some gamers were developing damaging addictive compulsions to play. - Games can get people engaged in eating healthily, Xtreme Xrunch Kart is a racing game that takes the speed of the vehicle from the crunch sound of eating carrots. - There are more than 10 millions gamers in the UK each playing more than 20 hours a week – that’s more than a part-time job! Universal Gaming Culture - Why games?

5. © Crayon 2010 Social media is a part of gamification; the social gaming market is worth billions already. Consoles have infiltrated the mainstream. ‘Every new device ends up being a gaming device.’ Hacks of the Xbox Kinect have crossed over into many different mediums beyond gaming, which will only continue given Microsoft have now released an official software development kit : Digital shadow puppetry. Invisibility. Quadrocopter radar. Shopping accessibility. There are plenty of gamificiation creative executions, both brand-led and hacker-led, taking place right now… Universal Gaming Culture – Beyond Games

6. © Crayon 2010 There are lots brand examples out there… McDonalds Toyota Nike VW Coca-Cola Heineken Mini Brands Using Gamification

7. © Crayon 2010 A clever Foursquare hack recently turned New York into a giant game of Risk. There are many new location-based technologies (here, here and here) that have the potential to engage people further. Maybe we could create a location-based game in London of Monopoly using Oyster card game Chromorma and Foursquare? Hackers Using Gamificiation?

8. © Crayon 2010 There are different kinds of game mechanics that can be introduced into marketing campaigns: Achievements Flowing Information Combos Countdowns Levelling Up Community Collaboration There are lists here and here. So what are game mechanics?

9. © Crayon 2010 Merely adding game mechanics to marketing campaigns does not make good gamification. All games are different so there aren’t necessarily mechanics that you can apply to all games that will make them engaging. Winning badges for everything doesn’t work. The mechanics chosen need to come from how it feels to play. Games that don’t focus on gameplay don’t work. Designing good games should be based on the Four M’s of Game Structure: Mystery; Mastery; Membership; Meaning. Do game mechanics make good games?

10. © Crayon 2010 Mystery is all about exploration-based learning at the beginning of a game. It involves learning about the game environment, rules and goal via exploration challenges. Mystery should compel us to play by asking – Where am I? What’s the story? Why do I want to progress? To gain a sense of Mystery games need: 1) A goal. 2) Rule. 3) Increasing difficulty. 4) Voluntary participation. In short, Mystery is about creating new worlds for us to discover; exploration; designing in flow and giving us the initial urge to want to master the game. Four M’s of Game Design - Mystery

11. © Crayon 2010 This is the step up from Mystery, once we’ve understood the game world and want to continue to play and participate. Mastery is about challenge-based learning through capturing moments of attention, elongating them and repeating interactions to strengthen involvement. The aim is to achieve flow from matching skills to satisfaction. Three techniques can make in-game challenges fun and engaging: 1) Collecting Tasks. 2) Graduated hurdles and enemies. 3) Random rewarding. The Mastery urge emerges when challenges are achievable but an improvement of skill is needed. Mastery is never totally out of reach. Four M’s of Game Design - Mastery

12. © Crayon 2010 This is where social media can fit in particularly well… To understand Membership, it’s often useful to look at the opposite: exclusion, alienation, being an outsider and how the resulting feelings drive human behaviour. Membership is largely about inclusivity and exclusivity as well as defining the boundaries of identity in a given group. The Mac and PC advertising that Apple used for a number of years is an example of these boundaries – it creates vitriolic feelings between members of the two groups. Four M’s of Game Design - Membership

13. © Crayon 2010 Meaning in game structure is derived from the goal of the game, or what impact the game has beyond itself in the player’s life. Different games have different meanings. Some games are typified by being difficult. They require the player to acquire acute skills and punish them for not doing this – even the language can be punishing; ‘lives’ and ‘game over’. Casual games, which are becoming increasingly dominant don’t require skills but rather time and often currency. These games take their meaning from status. Individuals must be able to derive meaning for themselves from a game. Four M’s of Game Design - Meaning

14. © Crayon 2010 All good stories need a good dramatic structure, in a beginning, middle and end. Similarly good game design needs the Four M’s of Mystery, Mastery, Membership and Meaning. Using these structures to evaluate gamificiation will increase levels of engagement in marketing campaigns and will ultimately influence customer behaviour. Going Forward With Gamification…

16. Reality is Broken; Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World = Jane McGonical

17. The Art of Game Design – Jesse Schell

18. A Theory of Fun for Game Design – Raph Koster

19. Total Engagement: Using Games and Virtual Worlds to Change the Way People Work and Businesses Compete – Bryon Reeves

20. Game-based Marketing: Inspire Customer Loyalty Through Rewards, Challenges and Contests – Gabe Zichermann

21. Pervasive Games: Theory and Design, Experiences on the Boundary Between Life and Play – Markus Montola

22. Evaluation Strategies for Pervasive Games – Andre Kuntze@nathannmiller - Insight Curator