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The Top 10 Game Dynamics
What video
and social game designers know that makes it so fun and addictive to
play.
Make no mistake, the video game, social
media and entertainment industries have studied brain research and
used it to create some powerfully addictive products. The same
elements that they use in high-tech games can be adapted for
low-tech use in our classrooms. Here are some key game design
dynamics to consider when developing new learning modules:
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Achievement
Use rewards like progress bars, points and badges to keep them
motivated.
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Appointment
Create good/bad events that happen at specified times.
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Avoidance
Create things that must be done in order to avoid a consequence.
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Behavior Contrast
Create the occasional random award for a mundane, repetitive
behavior.
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Cascading Information
Some achievements can release the next bit of key information.
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Chain Schedules
Certain things happen at certain times, but you need to have certain
resources available at that time to take advantage of the
opportunity.
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Communal Discovery
Some things that are discovered benefit everybody in the game, even
potentially your competitors.
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Blind Scoring
Create some non-transparent scoring in which participants need to
figure out which behaviors or tasks are being rewarded and at what
value.
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Extinction
Certain resources will be extinct forever at a designated time.
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Modifiers
Bonus rounds, variations in resources, changed timeframes, raising
and lowering prices can all modify a game and make it possible for a
player who is far behind to catch up.
Examine the games that you've played
throughout your life and you will see many of these dynamics at
work. When designing a new learning module, you can use as many or
as few of them as you need to make the game interesting.
Have fun!
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