I write this having just missed the express bus at Heathrow Airport.
One of the things that fascinates me about my life is that I seem to respond to little wins. Catching that bus, finding there was more in my bank balance that I'd expected, navigating elegantly through the Underground and sundry other achievements make me feel good.
It's not actually a game (as the rules are unclear and the outcomes rarely fair) but it does bear some similarities. Cleaning the house can be a win. Doing the garden. Cooking an awesome dinner. Clearing your Inbox. Exploring a neighbourhood and finding a new club. Claiming a deal at a restaurant. Getting to first base with that girl. Tagging a wall with your graffiti.
Some of these require numbers (and so seem game-like to gamificators) but I think that they are actually a valuable source of game dynamics: You can break an activity into loops, make them fair and extend the actions, leading to a game dynamic. Could we then say that the trick to creating a great game dynamic is to focus on delivering progressively better little wins?
Food for thought as I wait for the next bus. Maybe it will get me home faster than normal if the traffic is kind. Little Win!
Reminds me of a conversation I got into the other day about nested compulsion loops. The idea that small wins can act as tasty snacks between bigger, more obvious wins. If you can get the pacing right, you can stagger such wins so that beginnings and endings of quests exist simultaneously.
The element that intrigues me is the linkage between these loops - making little wins add up to a bigger win, choosing between a big win for more work, or little wins achieved more simply etc etc, and signposting that to the player.
A characteristically thought provoking post. Cheers.
Posted by: MikeBithell | 31 January 2011 at 03:34 AM