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Wednesday 13 November 2013

Gamification

Besides providing a definition for games, McGonigal (2011, pp.19-22) writes about stepping away from the negative bias on games and explains their usefulness in this first chapter of Reality is Broken. She argues that our everyday lives are rather boring (McGonigal, 2011, p.29), but games on the other hand are much more exciting with their intensive feedback and goals with reward systems. Our daily routine would be more interesting if it was more like a game: instead of "reminding each other: This isn't a game. We can actively start encouraging people (...): This could be a game" (McGonigal, 2011, p.34). Indeed it could be a good idea to see 'useful' things such as studying, charity work, recycling or our daily jobs more as games.

This is the idea of gamification. In his TEDx talk, author Gabe Zichermann describes this as "the process of using game thinking and game mechanics to engage audienes and solve problems" (TEDx Youth, 2011). An example of gamification could be Duolingo, a website on which people can learn a new language. Duolingo tries to make this difficult task more interesting by adding game elements that are also described by McGonigal (2011, p.21), such as an extensive feedback system and clear goals. By being able to compare your progress with friends or by receiving rewards for coming back every day, Duolingo users can also experience fiero (McGonigal, 2011, p.33), making learning more exciting and game-like.



However, the idea that this sort of gamification could for instance revolutionise eduction might be utopian, because it does not fit in McGonigal's (2011, p.21) definition of a game, namely when gamification is part of school or a job it is not voluntary participation anymore. We normally like a game because we can choose to do and to stop doing its work (McGonigal, 2011, pp.21-22). With educational or professional gamification this is not the case. Furthermore, in these cases the 'game' has real life consequences so the stress it produces is not eustress anymore (McGonigal, p.32). In other words: for now it seems that Gamification might help people do useful things, but only if they choose to do them, otherwise it does not classify as a game.

Bibliography
McGonigal, J. (2011). Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World. Penguin Press HC.
TEDx Youth (2011) TEDxKids@Brussels - Gabe Zichermann - Gamification [online] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2N-5maKZ9Q (Accessed: 9 November 2013).

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