We’ve talked quite a bit about Gamification recently and we’re about to talk about it a lot more. I’ve been emailed with questions and met with people here in Nashville to talk about the possible future benefits of gamifying certain aspects of business, fundraising, education, etc. and have been loving every minute of it. What I realized though, is that not everyone who read this blog and has been part of my community (looking at you, oh faithful reader) knows what the hell I’m talking about half the time.
As a way to get around this issue before we dig any deeper into game structure, the relationship of Bartle’s personas and buying psychology, the evolution of gamification, and other topics, I’ve compiled this Gamification Dictionary to which you can refer whenever you want. It will exist as this post and also be duplicated at the top as its own Page. Use it and refer to it as you will.
I’ve compiled these definition from experts like Jane McGonigal, Jesse Schell, Gabe Zichermann, Ian Bogost and blogs I read, so you don’t have to, and my own experiences and opinions. I’ll also add to it as new terms and experiences are discovered and applied.
You don’t have to memorize these. There will be no test. Gamification is making it’s way deeper into our lives and I think you should be ready for it. I’m ready and doing my part to help clear the way. Won’t you join me?
Gamification Dictionary
Achievement – A virtual or physical representation of having accomplished a goal or task. These are often viewed as rewards and commonly take the forms of badges, points, levels, or anything defined as a reward.
Achievers – One of Bartle’s gamer classifications in which players prefer to gain points, levels, equipment and other concrete measurements of succeeding in a game. Achievers go to great lengths to achieve rewards that confer them little or no gameplay benefit simply for the prestige of having it.
Appointment Dynamic – A gaming dynamic in which to succeed, a player must be at a certain place and take some action at a predetermined time. Appointment dynamics are often deeply related to interval-based reward schedules or avoidance dynamics. Farmville and certain aspects of World of Warcraft use appointment dynamics when assigning tasks.
Asynchronous Gameplay – The idea that certain games can be played by multiple participants simultaneously and everyone can choose to place their moves when they feel like it.
Awards – Items granted as merited or due. Similar to achievements, awards manifest mainly as gifts, secrets, or abilities earned for in-game activities.
Badge – A distinctive token, emblem or device shown as an insignia of level, rank, office or membership in an organization. Badges usually hold no value besides the intrinsic reward of achievement and their ability to be viewed by others.
Bartle Game Personas – Categories created by Richard Bartle in 1996 that classifies gamers based on their gaming preferences. Categories are Achievers, Explorers, Killers and Socializers.
Behavioral Contrast – A pattern of responding in which a player evaluates a reward relative to other rewards that are available or that have been available recently. Example: A player would be less satisfied with a reward of 50 gold coins if the same task garnered 100 gold coins the time before, whereas they would be very happy with 50 gold coins had they not known about the possibility of 100.
Behavioral Momentum – The tendency of players to keep doing what they have been doing.
Blissful Productivity – The premise that playing in a game makes you happier working hard than you would be relaxing. In her book Reality is Broken, Jane McGonigal describes the example of people playing World of Warcraft for as much time as a part-time job: “They’re willing to work hard, perhaps harder than in real life, because of their blissful productivity in the game world.”
Cascading Information Theory – The theory that information should be released in the minimum possible snippets to gain the appropriate level of understanding at each point during a game narrative.
Challenge – A particular problem that the player must overcome. Also know as Contingency.
Chain Schedules – The practice of linking a reward to a series of contingencies. An example would be causing a gang dispute at a certain time to access a guarded building to find a rare book to return to a character who then unlocks the next level of game narrative.
Check-In – The act of authenticating and declaring you are at a specific place or taking a predetermined action.
Companion Gaming – Games that can be played seamlessly across multiple platforms.
Contingency – See Challenge.
Convergence – The occurrence where new mediums impact, but do not replace, existing mediums and new systems of usage involving media gradually emerge.
Countdown – A popular game dynamic where players are only given a certain amount of time to do something.
Disincentive – A game element that uses a penalty (or altered situation) to induce a behavioral shift or action.
Epic Meaning – Game theory that believes players are highly motivated when they believe they are working to achieve something great, something awe-inspiring, something bigger than themselves.
Epic Win – A victory so great or awesome that it was not believed possible until completed.
Eustress – A stress that is beneficial, healthy, motivating or gives one a feeling of fulfillment or other positive feelings. Eustress is a process of exploring potential gains.
Experience Economy – The theory that many people, exhausted by the overload of material junk in their lives, are finding greater rewards in the memories and transformations that are the “products” of an experience.
Explorers – One of Bartle’s gamer classifications in which players will spend hours looking for glitches or easter eggs hidden in games simply for the joy of knowing they discovered something. Very rarely do Explorers like to follow a game’s timeline and like to look around at their own pace.
Extrinsic Reward – A positive outcome that is obtained by performing work but which is separate from and not inherent to the task and can be measured in monetary or physical value.
Feedback – The return of information about a process, game or activity by which analysis can be conducted.
Fixed Interval Reward Structure – Fixed interval structures provide a reward after a fixed amount of time. This tends to create a low engagement after a reward, and then gradually increasing activity until a reward is given, followed by another lull in engagement. Farmville and Command & Conquer use FIRS when you have to wait for crops to grow (30 minutes) or wait for a power station to be build (30 seconds).
Fixed-Ratio Reward Structure – A fixed-ratio schedule provides rewards after a fixed number of actions. This creates cyclical nadirs of engagement (because the first action will not create any reward so incentive is low) and then bursts of activity as the reward gets closer and closer. Getglue uses fixed FRRS when you have to check-in to a show 10 times for earn a “Fan” badge.
Flow – The idea that the right combination of response, challenge and applied skill can induce a heightened, pleasurable state of immersion.
Fogg Behavioral Model – The model that states that three elements must converge at the same moment for a behavior to occur: Motivation, Ability, and Trigger.
Funware – Any device, program, challenge, or network that turns an everyday activity into a game.
Gamification – The art and science of using game mechanics in non-game businesses to increase efficiency, customer loyalty and engagement.
Game Layer – A set of artificial limitations on and targeted feedback to peoples’ actions in a semi-public space designed using game mechanics to influence behavior.
Game Mechanics – The elements of a game that allow for a fun and engaging user experience including, but not limited to, goals, points, collecting badges, awards, trophies, rankings/leaderboards, levels, exchange of virtual goods and currencies, and feedback loops.
Game Theory – A branch of mathematics that tried to describe and understand the decision-making in strategic situations such as games.
Gaming – The voluntary participation in a structured activity with the intent on reaching a desired end.
Goal – The desired outcome of completing an in-game challenge.
Intrinsic Reward – A non-material outcome that gives an individual player satisfaction derived from a job well done. Intrinsic rewards are proven to be much stronger motivators than extrinsic ones and can be weakened by too many extrinsic rewards.
Killers – One of Bartle’s gamer classifications in which players prefer the competitive aspets of games and thrive on winning and losing. These gamers love to create destruction and play such games as the Grand Theft Auto series and Halo.
Leaderboard – An important game mechanic for driving user engagement that ranks players according to specific, agreed-upon metrics in numerical order starting with 1.
Levels – The stages of progression for a game narrative or character within a game, usually represented by tasks of increased difficulty or increased physical ability of the character.
Level Up – The act of progressing a game character to the next level of abilities and/or power.
Lottery – A game dynamic in which the winner is determined solely by chance.
Loyalty – The concept of feeling a positive, sustained connection to an entity or brand, leading to a feeling of partial ownership.
Meta-Game – A game which exists layered within another game and generally is discovered rather than explained. Meta-games tend to appeal to less than 2% of the total gameplaying population.
Modifiers – An item that when used affects other in-game actions. Good examples are the X2 or X4 coin modifiers in the Lego games.
Moral Hazard of Game Play – The risk that by rewarding people in a game you remove the actual moral value of the action and replace it with a game-based reward. The risk that by providing too many incentives to take an action, the incentive of actually enjoying the action taken is lost. The corollary to this is that if the points or rewards are taken away, then the person loses all motivation to take the (initially fun on its own) action. Paraphrased from Jesse Schell: “If I give you points every time you brush your teeth, you’ll stop brushing your teeth because it’s good for you and then only do it for the points. If the points stop flowing, your teeth will decay.”
Point – A device used for scoring or counting in a game.
Progression Dynamic – A game dynamic in which success is granularly displayed and measured through the process of completing itemized tasks.
Real-Time vs. Delayed Game Mechanics – Real-time information flow is uninhibited by delay. Delayed information is only released after a certain interval.
Response – The expected action from the player.
Rules – The set of predetermined guidelines put in place by game designers by which all players must abide; a set of options that define unambiguous consequences for players’ actions. Rules are a required attribute to any activity labeled as a game.
Shell Game – A game in which the player is presented with the illusion of choice but is actually in a situation that guides them to the desired outcome of the game designer.
Socializers – One of Bartle’s gamer classifications in which gamers prefer to build relationships while they play. They gain their enjoyment from the game simply by interacting with other players and take full advantage of games that let them join tribes or guilds.
Social Fabric of Games – The idea that people like one another better after they’ve played games with them, have a higher level of trust and a great willingness to work together.
Social Game – A game that people play with friends.
Status – The rank or level of a player.
Uncheatable – A requirement for any game attempting to bridge the gap into real life. If a game system is easily manipulated or cheated, the desired physical effect will not occur.
Urgent Optimism – Extreme self-motivation. The desire to act immediately to tackle an obstacle combined with the belief that we have a reasonable hope of success.
Variable-Interval Reward Schedule – Providing a reward after a roughly consistent amount of time. This tends to create a reasonably high level of activity over time, as the player could receive a reward at any time but never the burst as created under a fixed schedule.
Variable-Ratio Reward Schedule – Providing rewards after a roughly consistent but unknown amount of actions.
Viral Game Mechanics – A game element that requires social sharing, checking in or multiple people to play (or that can be played better with multiple people).
Virtual Currency – The monetary equivalent driving transactions and exchanges in a virtual economy.
Virtual Economy – The exchange and consumption of virtual goods and services using virtual currency and loyalty points by utilizing game mechanics in order to create user engagement, incentivize virality and enable user monetization.
Virtual Items - Digital prizes, rewards, objects found or taken within the course of a game. Often these can be traded or given away.
Great post Joey. I think for your users who are wanting to learn about Gamification, our wiki and q&a would be helpful. Check out http://gamification.org, would love your feedback!