Secrets of amazing
Transformational Games
Jesse Schell
Serious Play 2013

Step One:
Admitting you
have a problem.

Game to teach Geography
Problems Potential Solutions

Lexica Goal Overview
Instill a love of reading
Break down barriers to reading
Exposure to books
and book characters
through quests
and a rich 3D world
Find the right gateway
book
Access to embedded
games that teach
reading skills of
syntax, vocabulary, a
nd spelling
Practice reading skills
Episodic content to get
players talking about
game + Content
creation and sharing
between players
Change how reading is
perceived

PlayForward: Goal Overview
1. Ability to look at a situation and see sources of potential
trouble
2. Ability to envision outcomes and consequences of a
situation
3. Ability to refuse others
4. Understanding of relationship between social dynamics &
risk taking
5. Exposure to some (limited) factual knowledge
6. Appreciation for delayed gratification (choosing long
term goals over short term gains)
7. Understanding of risk - 10% vs 20%; 1 time vs 10 times
8. Creation of a personal aspirational life plan

“Hafta” “Wanna”
Slavery Freedom
Work Play
Efficiency Pleasure

Seven ways games can make me care

1) Make me care by engaging my
curiosity

2) Make me care by putting my ego on
the line

3) Make me care by connecting with
my fantasies

4) Make me care by getting me to
make a plan
A plan is a real thing.

5) Make me care through “completion
desire”

6) Make me care through social
pressure

7) Make me care by letting me break
the rules

Seven ways games can induce a
transformation

1) Show a complex relationship

2) Repetition / Drill

3) Break down a barrier

4) Introduce Incidental Material

5) Put me in “real” contexts

6) Induce a “teachable moment”

7) “…the mind cannot ever be quite
what it was before.”

Three Common Pitfalls

1) Bad Transformation Hypothesis
It doesn’t matter how
beautiful your theory
is, it doesn’t matter how
smart you are.
If it doesn’t agree with
experiment, it’s wrong.
-Richard Feynman

2) Fooling yourself about whether
players care

3) Disconnect between Devs and
Partner about scope
“minigame” “minigame”

Did it work?
1. “Feels Like It”
2. Anecdotes
3. SME’s say “yes”
4. Informal surveys say“yes”
5. Formal Testing verifies it

Ways To Make Me Care
1. Engage my Curiosity
2. Put My Ego on the Line
3. Connect with My Fantasies
4. Get Me to Make a Plan
5. Engage my Completion
Desire
6. Social Pressure
7. Let me Break the Rules
Ways to Transform Me
1. Show a Complex
Relationship
2. Repetition and Drill
3. Break Down a Barrier
4. Introduce Incidental Material
5. Put me in “Real” Contexts
6. Induce a Teachable Moment
7. Use the Slow Wedge
Things that can go wrong
1. Bad Transformation Hypothesis
2. Fooling Yourself About Whether the Players Care
3. Scope Disconnects Between Devs and SMEs

Thanks!
Slides: jesseschell.com
Twitter: @jesseschell
Email: jesse@schellgames.com