Sunday, October 09, 2011

Game Never Ends

I am not a big fan of gaming now, but lately I have been intrigued in how regular applications are employing game like features. Points, badges, avatars, bonus features, leaderboards are employed in variety of domains - Enterprise and Commercial Software, HR, Politics, Governance etc. A little more research on this and it reveals the wealth of work around Game Mechanics. 
A field of work that embraces how mechanics, that make games work and engaging, can be employed in making anything and everything fun. This is not new, the techniques were in business a long time. Remember, how our parents come up with stories so that we can have our veggies, or the medicine when we were young. You can say it was Game Mechanics at play. Or should I say - Gamification at work. 

I am intrigued by the opportunities this field has to offer, and how it can be used to make engaging applications in all domains. To further my research, I found the following material that may be helpful for anybody curious to follow my breadcrumbs :-

Technical Talk Videos to watch :- (Google the topics for links)

1. Fun is the Future - Mastering Gamification

2. Meaningful Play - Getting Gamification Right

3. Game On - 16 Design Patterns for User Engagement


Books :-

1. Gamification By Design - Implementing Game Mechanics In Web And Mobile Apps

2. Reality is Broken


Paper :-

1. From Game Design Elements to Gamefulness: Defining “Gamification”