Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Gamificating reality
Have you noticed that some real-life duties, even very simple ones, are always re-
garded as boring and exhausting; however, any gaming activity, even very complex
ones, in contrary are perceived as very interesting and entertaining? Players may
spend hours on video games without losing interest and attention, which means that
so much of intellectual energy is concentrated on one particular process and is lost in
space! What if it can be turned into something really useful? In such a case, a per-
son may have some pleasant gaming experience and solve some real problems in
one full swoop. This initiative became known as gamification. It turns a needful task
into a game process by finding the right metaphors and mechanics. For example, it
would diversify the meaning of domestic chores: a washing machine in the form of an
arcade cabinet or a robotic vacuum cleaner transformed into a rover, exploring some
unknown corners of some planets (this illusion is created using the AR technology).
The basic type of a "gamificated" job is a system of various achievements and
trophies, so there is no gameplay as such, rather a system of rewards for various or-
dinary life actions. Did you do something good today? Say helped a colleague, called
your parents, read a good topic, fed your goldfish, ate some healthy food, or walked
a mile? If the answer is yes, introduce some special achievements in each category.
People like prizes, as they have a very strong motivating power, and also like to share
them with others. So social networks in this context are very useful.
The EpicWin application brings in a reward system from RPG video games into real life
There is an interesting application called EpicWin (
http://www.rexbox.co.uk/epicwin/
)
that can turn any activity into a list of achievements. Moreover, it brings RPG Mechan-
ics into the real world. The application turns any task in the user's sheduler into some
sort of a game objective, once a task is complete the user gets some points. Then
some special achievements can be attained. That sound funny, but it works, to get
some virtual rewards user try to succeed in real world. It is not a surprise that many
fitness-oriented applications use such approaches to encourage sportive accomplish-
ments of their users. Another good example is various educational or training soft-
