I just had a (friendly) discussion with a colleague from gamification. It struck me that it is becoming increasingly common for a behavior-oriented approach to be labeled as gamification simply because it addresses a human need (which every behavior-oriented approach does). First, this is complete nonsense from a scientific point of view. Just because something plays on a person's loss aversion, for example, does not mean it is gamification. And secondly, because gamification wants to be everything (if you go by what many providers in this field say), outsiders don't really see it as a discipline with a ‘profile’. This in turn leads to ‘zero’ USP and makes it very difficult to argue and demonstrate its real benefits.

Really? Lists? a list is a game mechanic? Well... a list is a series of elements. We can use a list in whatever context we want so when we connect it to our design, it can become a game mechanic. All we have to do is give the list a context within the narrative. "This is the list of ingredients to create the ultimate cake. You must go find all of them so we can greet our guests with this delicacy" And now the list has value. If you lose the list its an issue. If you don't get all the items the cake won't be real and then the story can't flow. :) That's it. When we give the right context, the tool becomes a game mechanic :)

This mechanic ties very well when I explain the concepts of Cool Monsters, Friends and Punches. The idea is to design a threat to the user. Something that won't allow them to stay idle. If there is a threat, there must be action. Usually we tie this to the story but it's not required. It can simply be a timed challenge but the timer isn't a countdown clock but the room filling with water. The point is to add pressure and guidance. The users learn they are at risk and not doing something will result in progress loss.

So talking about the #dailylive of a #gamification #designer, I just finished working on a new website for a client that no longer exists. They closed the company and didn't care to let me know before I finished the work. Yes, they paid a part but I was left in the dust. So... sometimes it sucks. It just sucks.

Who did that? Where was it? What should we do? How do we solve this? Why is this happening? All valid questions that allow you to create Mystery. The goal is to reward the users with ACCESS. The Mystery mechanic isn't about the object they receive but what happens because of it. The creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, have a core narrative technique often referred to as the "But, Therefore" model. Instead of only adding to a story, learning why things keep happening build engagement. It allows us to kind-of reverse engineer a story as we play through it discovering more and more to it without weak or invented justifications. Think of this as avoiding using Aliens as the obvious next step in the story. Mystery is really powerful and works wonders when tied with a storyline.