You’re never too old to learn the magic of learning. But it’s easier if you learn it in childhood, because of the positive impact it’ll have on your schooling. If you’re a parent, then it’ll be too late to go back in time and learn to love learning yourself, but you can instil it in your child. In this post, we’ll take a look at some effective, easy-to-follow tips for doing just that. 

Don’t Make It Too Serious

Many children end up disliking school and learning because it all seems so serious. They can be having fun playing with their friends, but then when it comes to getting down to learning, the fun very much stops. It’s no wonder that so many kids have a negative view of learning! You can do your best to help this by treating education seriously but not too seriously. It’s more important to focus on the process of learning rather than on outcomes such as exam results. If they build good learning habits, then the results will come in time!

Learning done properly, of course, is more like play than ‘work’, and there are many off-the-shelf (OTS) games which can help to instill learning skills, such as critical thinking, as you and your family enjoy time together.

Cluedo has been used to teach propositional logic, deductive reasoning and computer programming for example, and all of those thinking skills are exercised when playing – even if you are not deliberately ‘teaching’ those things.

Cluedo (Clue) is available on Amazon

Pandemic is, rightfully, very popular, for its engaging cooperative play and asymmetric player abilities. Playing allows the practice of problem-solving, as well as encouraging cooperation and strategic planning.

Pandemic is available on Amazon

Encourage Their Interests

It’s unlikely that your child is going to be interested in every single subject. They’ll have a natural affinity for one of them, even if they don’t fully know it themselves. You can help to inspire a love of learning in your child by gently encouraging their interests and passions. If they’re interested in the universe, for example, then this may involve watching documentaries or listening to podcasts on the subject. You never know what a little encouragement might lead to!

And what about making those less favoured subjects a bit more palatable. Maths is often dreaded by many children, and an engaging game might be just what is needed to get them to practice those skills, maybe without even realising it.  City of Zombies is a favourite in our house, which still gets played regularly, even though we’re all now past the age of needing to practice arithmetic skills. Defeating zombies, and saving the human race, by practicing, and showing off, your addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and squaring skills, just never seems to get old somehow.

City of Zombies is available on Amazon

Fun Field Trips

Some children can learn all they need by sitting in a classroom all day. But many kids find that boring. It’s not learning that they dislike, but the method of learning. Of course, you can’t change the entire educational system all on your own. But you can ensure that your child has access to other forms of learning. For example, by signing them up for the residential trips that their school organises. It’s much more fun to learn on a fun field trip, after all! You may also organise your own day trips to museums, art galleries, and other interesting places from time to time. 

And on days where going out just isn’t an option, how about bringing those hubs of knowledge to you, with games themed around art, museum collections and more.

• Wingspan – with beautiful cards representing the birds of the world, their habits and nests.
• PARKS (and all its expansions) – to appreciate the beauty and variety of America’s National Parks
• Museum: Pictura – features 180 of the worlds most famous paintings and gameplay where you must curate them by ‘domain’ or ‘period’

Wingspan is available on Amazon

And,of course, I can’t miss the opportunity to introduce my very own Museum of Impossible Objects – a tool for creativity, imagination and learning.

PARKS is available on Amazon

Ask Their Thoughts

Finally, look at asking for their thoughts and opinions. There’ll be times when you’re very much the teacher, but there’ll be other times when they should use their own minds. Simply asking their thoughts about something is a good way to get their mind working. The earlier they begin using their brains, the more they will develop. 

The post How to Help Your Child Fall In Love With Learning first appeared on Ludogogy.

Motivation Theory

Motivation is a basic research area, which is given much importance in many social science fields including psychology. In a complex modern society, the ‘how-to’ of helping people to become immersed in an activity, has to be carefully considered.

In traditional motivation theory, sources of motivation are divided into extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation.

Extrinsic motivation means that the reasons people are driven to make efforts are related to external rewards, recognition, or pressure. So, behaviour is changed, because of things such as monetary payment, praise, recognition, reward, or punishment, or gain or loss of status or level. This is ‘carrot or stick’  motivation, depending on whether it drives towards or away from something.

On the other hand, intrinsic motivation means that people make efforts because of internal drives. These might include value or meaning, passion, curiosity or pleasure, fun, growth, and so on, and seeking these will drive behaviour. The phrase ‘Self-development’, is related to this concept.

The overall consensus of modern motivation theorists is, that in the past, in simple & repeated production / consumption environments,  that ‘carrot and stick’ based on extrinsic motivation was effective in performance improvement. However, in the current environment, where there is a greater requirement for creative results, this will be counter-productive. Enhancing intrinsic motivation will be more effective. This has been shown in psychological experiments.

Gamification

Gamification is composed of ‘game’ and ‘-fication’, meaning that work can be created as gameplay, or that gameplay can be created as work. It’s a convergent concept. The most simple and representative definition of gamification is ‘using the game elements for users’ participation and motivation enhancement in non-game areas’. In other words, game elements such as points, badges, leaderboard, performance graphs, levels, and quest design, avatar, competition, randomness, and story in commercial or public non-game areas can be utilized for enhancing participation and motivation.

Motivation can be enhanced by gamification in what kind of fields?

From my experience, gamification can be applied in almost every ‘work’ field for participation and motivation enhancement. It’s related to learning, problem-solving, participation and flow, change, performance improvement, communication, and so on.

• Learning –School education curriculum, Adult education
• Problem-solving – Solving chronic (social) issues, Creative ideas
• Participation and flow – Participation/feedback, flow
• Change – Change of thought and behavior, Continuity of changed behavior
• Performance improvement –Productivity, Speed, Quality of product or service
• Communication – Internal communication, External PR/Advertisement

Gamification from the perspective of motivation theory

If gamification is added in these kinds of non-game areas, ‘work’ is made into something fun and people are motivated. However, there is no guarantee that this will lead to sustained, and sustainable, passion and flow to the extent that we want, because we become easily accustomed to ‘fun’ and ultimately feel bored. Because of this, we have to think about gamification in terms of enhancing the ‘intrinsic motivation’ which will maintain passion. This is what the motivation theorists put forward.

Gamification considerations for enhancing intrinsic motivation

Any game elements which bring about fun and provide stimulus can be used in gamification  But for sustainable passion and flow, the following design factors have to be deeply considered.

• Meaningful value and mission: Clarifying the value that is found in the individual and the team and in the mission of carrying out the (target) gamified job well.
• Story: Creating the appropriate narrative structure for the real-life or game-world story, as well as the gamified struction for the task or mission.
• Objective and challenge: Allowing individuals and teams to set their own performance targets, which will be appropriately challenging, including competition between players.
• Feedback: Sufficient feedback and encouragement for intrinsic passion and meaning.
• Comprehensive approach in change management: Structuring the gamified work for supporting and enhancing the real environment. Design which complements the real work and activity process (out-of-game) and the principles of the organization and its operation.
• End-game: Designing the process of continuous improvement and development after the game.

In conclusion, if the approaches from the second box are carefully designed in addition to approaches from the first box, gamification motivation will be much more complete.

The post Motivation and Gamification first appeared on Ludogogy.

However, it is increasingly becoming the focus of primary school trips. Exasperated parents and teachers are looking for new ways to get kids outside. And they see orienteering as a way to do it. But why?

That’s the topic of this post. We take a look at why educators all over the world are embracing the adventure sport and introducing it to more children than ever before.

It Gets Children Away From Their Screens

The average child spends several days in front of their screens every day. And while a couple of hours in the evening before they go to bed probably won’t do them any harm, fourteen hours per day probably will. 

Orienteering is a challenging sport. Kids have to use maps and compasses and traverse over vast stretches of open land to reach their targets. It’s both cognitive and exercise-based. 

Because of this, it has the potential to relieve them of their handheld devices for the entire day. They get to experience what it’s really like living in nature without all the modern technology to which they’ve become accustomed. Pivotally, it frees them from the constraints of city life. It gives them a taste of what nature is really about. 

It Builds Teamwork

Orienteering isn’t something kids can do by themselves. They need a whole team to work together to get to the next objective.

We live in a society which needs people who have team-working skills. We need personalities that can fit certain business environments and bring people together. 

Orienteering is a team sport because it involves so much negotiation and feedback. Each team member is constantly making their views heard while encouraging others to follow their plans. They must also listen to the instructions of other team members and appoint a leader, someone who will make the final decision. 

It Builds Fitness

Education that’s active kills two birds with one stone. Children learn while moving around, which is beneficial for both the mind and body. Walking across muddy fields and up and down mountains is challenging, taxing all areas of the body. And doing it all day is particularly demanding, helping to build muscle tone and set children on the proper course in life 

It Teaches Them How To Look After Themselves

So, while it could be argued that children can always look to their smartphones to tell them where they are, using a map and compass are valuable skills for life. And those are tools that can even be used in places where there is no signal, or when your gadget is uncharged or unavailable. Peoplae with those skills don’t have to resort to guessing or constantly asking other people for directions.

It can also help children improve their spatial and directional intelligence, something that can remain significantly underdeveloped if not built from a young age. The more they practise being in nature and finding their own way around, the more competent they can become. 

Other (Playful) Ways to Enjoy the Great Outdoors

Back when Pokemon Go was taking the world by storm, one of things which was noted as a benefit of playing, was that players got lots of exercise while seeking out particular pokemon or running to cash in when they spotted that a Lure was underway. And while this may be true, the player’s attention was still mostly on a screen and on the mechanisms of a game app, rather than on the their surroundings; a fact that was borne out by a number of accidents in the early days of the game. So while they were getting exercise, maybe it wasn’t the best way to appreciate being outside or in nature.

This aside, it is much easier to imagine an app facilitating a outdoor experience, than a board game, which has always been traditionally associated with being indoors. One of the standout game successes of 2022 is just this, however – a board game which encourages you to go outside and have adventures in nature.

Nine Arches is a truly beautifully realised ‘board’ game which invites you to construct your own true life advantures using a deck of tarot-like cards (in the world of the game they have come from an ancient civilization). With it’s emphasis on being together, being outside and reconnecting with nature, this could just the start of a new trend in ‘tabletop’ games which do their best to keep you away from the table.

Nine Arches is available on Amazon

The post Orienteering Is Making A Big Comeback, And The Kids Seem Happy first appeared on Ludogogy.

Interestingly, the 2nd and 3rd categories are education and business respectively. Food for thought – given there is an indication that the greatest demand from phone apps is that of entertainment, learning, and productivity respectively, could there be a way to merge these in some way?

A significant section (~58%) of mobile games are puzzles, mostly to be solved in a single-player mode. Also fondly called brain training games, they are shown to improve cognitive functions, reduce anxiety, enhance memory, etc. There are different factors behind the success and effectiveness of such games, two of which will be discussed in this article.

Simplicity, The Ultimate Sophistication – Sudoku

Hitting its peak of popularity in the mid-2000’s, Sudoku was on every second newspaper reader’s mind as they were opening the pages to find the puzzles section. Next to the crossword and jumbled words would be Sudoku, a numbers-based pattern puzzle that takes just a minute to get familiar with – and at least a few weeks to properly conquer.

Sudoku players testify to the efficacy of this game – they feel more relaxed after playing a game or two. Sudoku has surprising benefits beyond mathematical confidence – from building focus to dealing with wrong choices, it brings a growth mindset to its loyal audiences. The puzzle, which originated in Europe before surging in Japan, has simple secrets in its recipe that make it an instant hit.

The first of these secrets is the simplicity of trying the game, and it goes beyond the simplicity of the rules. Most puzzles involving numbers need some mathematical knowledge, the bare minimum being operations like addition and subtraction. In Sudoku, however, no prior knowledge is required. The game is driven completely by logic – with or without mathematical experience, the game has a similar level of challenge for everyone. Even knowing the sequence of numbers from 1-9 is not necessary – they are simply different symbols whose order in the number system does not matter much inside the game.

The second factor is the continuous stream of dopamine hits the player receives, making correct entries. Providing small and rapid completion checkpoints to a player keeps them on the right track. Once they know they are moving in the right direction, they get a sense of confidence and are more motivated to continue (and finish) the puzzle. Small successes like correctly completing a row, a column, or a smaller box in the game are great ways to motivate the player and make them feel good during the game. If it were the opposite – if you get to know you are playing the game right only upon completion of the 9*9 grid, it might be too long of an exercise to correct your mistakes or enjoy the parts you got right.

Sudoku is highly engaging, to the extent that players wait for the puzzle on an almost daily basis. They even collect old newspapers or archives from other providers, just to solve a different puzzle once in a while. Veteran players of the game swear by playing the game with a pencil, so that prior errors can be erased – a direct result of seeing visible results inside the game.

Atomic Habits Put To Practice – Wordle

Wordle was the most popular puzzle game from last year, bringing a positive and welcome change to the general netizen conscience. You could not spend a single day on Instagram or Twitter without seeing a 5-unit wide set of emoji squares, in three different colors, shared with captions like “phew, almost blew this one” and “is that even a word?”. Curiosity often drove more audiences to play the game, enjoy the simplicity of the puzzle, and endorse it even further. This resulted in a virality of unprecedented scale, taking the game to 2 million people in just a matter of 3 months!

Games on language have existed for a long time; from Scrabble to Spelling Bee, they engage players in application of vocabulary skills on different levels. What Wordle did differently came to light after its spinoffs failed to achieve similar success – variations where you get unlimited puzzle challenges instead of one per day did not take off, and neither did the ones where the word length varies every day. The brilliance of Wordle can be attributed to some key design principles, which are resonant with James Clear’s ideologies from his excellent book Atomic Habits.

You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.

– James Clear, author of Atomic Habits

Clear opined that since man is a creature of habit, most of our decisions are guided by how our semi-conscious mind reacts to situations. By slowly building habits, we can drastically improve our lives in the long run. The tenets of making consistent habits have been described in his book, one of which is consistency. Consistently and regularly putting a skill to practice, even for a small objective, yields great results – something the Wordle puzzle can be applauded for.

By making one problem and just one problem available to a player for every day, the task is so well-defined and small-scale that it feels almost foolish to skip the puzzle. Moreover, the amount of challenge in these problems is not too high, and yet deceptive enough to ensure exertion is required. The stakes get higher with every try, and the real-time feedback by coloured squares guide the player to the correct word effectively. Moreover, sharing the puzzle results makes us feel more involved in a social movement. In fact, it created a culture of accountability – people felt they OUGHT to share their results, bringing to life another aspect of Clear’s ideas.

The social and mental aspects of game design make a large difference to the players’ experience. You can engage and hook your players with more meaningful rewards and challenges, for which they keep returning to the game not as an endless empty pursuit, but for self-improvement and mental refinement. There is a lot of potential in exploring these opportunities, and we hope this article gave you some actionable insights to put you ahead in your game design journey.

The post Elevate Your Next Puzzle With These Design Secrets first appeared on Ludogogy.

Here are five tips, backed by research, and proven in practice by students and educators. And, of course, this being Ludogogy – games that support the underlying concepts. These are all about encouraging a mindset around learning which will enagage them outside of school, and have them hitting the ground running when they return.

Encourage Your Child to Ask Questions

The cure for boredom is Curiosity. There is no cure for Curiosity. It must be outgrown or endured. A child is born with its mouth in position to utter the word “Why?” and when, at some later date, it is punished for asking too many questions, it thinks up enough additional questions during its punishment to make the Encyclopedia Britannica look sick.

– Ellen Parr (probably)

Asking questions is obviously a great way to learn more about a subject, and it shows that your child is interested in the material. When kids are curious about something, they’re more likely to pay attention and retain information. Furthermore, asking questions also demonstrates critical thinking skills – a valuable asset in any academic setting. So next time your child comes home from school with a question, don’t just give them the answer – encourage them to research it themselves. This will help them develop their inquisitive nature and learn how to find answers on their own. As we games-based learning afficionados are only too are aware, when learners are actively engaged in learning, they retain more information.

Some games that focus on questioning skills include those specifically for the job like the Questioning Skills Board Game (on Amazon) for children 6+, but there are also an abundance of deduction games like 221B Baker Street (on Amazon) or party games for discovery about yourself and your friends and family like Sussed – the ‘Would you Rather’ card game (on Amazon)  or Conversation Cubes – with 36 sides of conversation starters per pack (on Amazon)

Encourage Your Child to Take Notes

Taking notes is another great way to help kids learn more effectively. It allows them to organize information and refer back to it later. Additionally, taking notes helps students develop their listening skills and attention span. There are a few different ways to take notes, so find what works best for your child. Some students prefer to write down everything the teacher says, while others only jot down key points. Encourage your child to experiment with different note-taking methods until they find one that works for them. In addition to taking notes in class, encourage your child to review their notes regularly. This will help them solidify the information in their mind and better prepare for tests and quizzes.

To hone this skill through a game experience try games which require meticulous note taking and analysis of information to solve a central problem. Cartographers (on Amazon) or several which use a Cluedo style deduction mechanic, such as Spy Alley (on Amazon).

Help Your Child Organize Their Thoughts

One of the challenges of school is learning how to organize information. This can be a difficult task for kids, as they often have trouble distinguishing between important and unimportant details. As a result, they may have trouble remembering what they’ve learned or understanding complex concepts. There are a few ways you can help your child overcome this challenge. First, encourage them to take notes in class (as mentioned above). This will help them identify key points and sort through information more easily. You can also help your child organize their thoughts by teaching them brainstorming techniques. Brainstorming is a great way to generate ideas and come up with creative solutions to problems. There are many different brainstorming methods, so find one that works best for your child.

Tools for older children to use which introduce them to ideation and information processing techniques which will be useful in school and beyond might include Thinkertoys (on Amazon), and for younger children Found It! (on Amazon)

Educational Travel and Field Trips

One of the best ways to learn is by experiencing things first-hand. That’s why educational travel and field trips can be so beneficial for kids. They provide an opportunity to see new places, meet new people, and learn about different cultures and history. Educational travel doesn’t have to be expensive – there are many affordable options available. You can even plan a day trip to a nearby museum or historical site.  Many museums and historical sites offer educational programs for school groups inside term time, but also for familiesin the holidays. These programs are often very affordable, and they provide a great learning opportunity for kids.

Sometimes this isn’t possible of course. The need to accompany smaller children may make if difficult for working parents. The current heatwave is a good reason to stay at home, so many of the more ‘themed’ online and tabletop games can provide brilliant ‘field’ experiences, of everything from living in a different time, to living on a different planet. Particular favorites of Ludogogy – if you are looking for the educational benefit of games based in ‘real’ history, science or in literature that might pop upon the curriculum, are Crusader Kings, Genotype (on Amazon) and Marrying Mr Darcy (on Amazon)

Let Them Be Bored

The final tip is a hard one for some parents and may appear to go against all the above, which has focused of giving your children something ‘to do’. However, not being scared of your kids being bored, may well allow them to use the resources identified above even more effectively.

Our children, in this age of devices and always available entertainment are very unlikely to be properly ‘bored’ as those of us who grew up in earlier times will have experienced. According to experts this lack of opportunity to be bored is not a good thing. It has negative impacts on creativity, problem-solving capabilities and can even cause anxiety and self-esteem issues.

The key, according to many experts is to allow self-directed activity – and not to act as some kind of entertainments manager for your kids. All of the above are great, and it would be brilliant to timebox family time to experience them together – but also try just making them available and giving your kids time and space to chose when and why they use them.

Talk to your children about the benefits of boredom,and encourage them to put aside their devices, just for short periods to begin with, and see what emerges from these weeks of freedom.

The post Five Ways to Keep Kids Learning in the Holidays first appeared on Ludogogy.

Get Experience – Play As Many Games As You Can! 

One of the first steps that you should always be aiming to follow before you enter into the gaming industry is to know your stuff. The only way that you’re ever going to become a master of gaming is by actually playing as many games as you can, as you need to develop some experience to know what sells and what doesn’t. This doesn’t mean that you should exclusively play every fighting game there is, as you need to expand your play and try out various games from various genres and backgrounds. For example, you should play a few racing games like drift hunters 2, while also testing out a few adventure games too. There are so many game developers out there, so this means that there are thousands upon thousands of different ideas for you to choose between. When you can take the opportunity to game more often, you’ll soon start to realize what components need to come together to develop a great game. You’ll figure out what doesn’t work, as well as what gamers actually look for when they buy a new game. Getting some hands-on experience before you start your game design journey will be more valuable than you could ever truly know!

Get A Degree

There are no strict formal education requirements in the game design industry, as many employers are willing to hire individuals with a raw talent for the job. However, completing a game design degree program offers you a competitive edge in the job market. Therefore, it is prudent to apply to universities offering game design as an undergraduate or postgraduate course to improve your field knowledge. You can also get a bachelor’s degree in a related field like computer science, graphic design, and software engineering to get started in game design. If you target top universities like Cambridge or Oxford, you can rely on a great application support service to help you gain admission. For instance, application experts with experience in helping candidates navigate Oxbridge interviews can help you through this daunting phase of the application process.

Gain Experience

Video gaming is a highly competitive field, so it is vital to gain experience immediately after graduating. You can find a job as a junior designer directly after university, although you will likely have to search for similar opportunities in related fields. Don’t shy away from exploring animation, software development, and graphic design opportunities since these areas can help you gain valuable experience and build an impressive portfolio. Alternatively, consider volunteering at places where you can develop your design and programming skills. Finally, you can gain self-guided experience by designing small-scale games on your own. A 2018 study in the UK revealed that employers favour relevant experience or apprenticeships over university degrees when hiring. Therefore, you will help your career advance rapidly by gaining significant experience after graduating.

Learn New Skills

It is also crucial to learn and develop fresh skills and abilities to pursue a career in game design. Software and coding languages constantly evolve, so you must remain current on industry developments to position yourself as a leader in the field. As such, commit to skillset expansion by familiarising yourself with the latest programming and scripting languages, design software, game engines, and the game publishing process. Also, learn soft skills such as project management and effective communication to position yourself for leadership roles. This way, you can soon be in charge of managing different design projects, leading a team of designers, or handling any other top-level duties.

Build A Solid Resume And Portfolio

A well-written cv (resume) and an attractive portfolio can make you more attractive to hiring managers in various industries, including game design. Therefore, include your experience and previous projects when crafting your resume. If possible, highlight specific games you have designed, the coding languages you used, and the soft skills you possess. In addition, create a stunning portfolio filled with gaming reviews, videos of gameplay, and game screenshots so prospective employers can easily see and appreciate your work.

The post How To Pursue A Career In Game Design first appeared on Ludogogy.

In 1992, the word ‘metaverse’ first appeared in the novel ‘Snow Crash’ by Neal Stephenson, an American SF writer. It combines the words ‘meta’ meaning ‘beyond’ or ‘transcending’, and  ‘universe’. Normal, real, life is extended into virtual spaces, with multiple different implementations, making it possible to carry out activities that would be impossible in real life. Activities in this imaginary arena can be realized in the virtual world, and the immersion blurs the lines between real and virtual worlds.

One characteristic of games based in the metaverse is that players participate in co-creation. In the traditional concept of games deign, the roles of developers and gamers are separate. However, everyone can participate in creative work in the metaverse, and share the output with each other. Free movement in the virtual world and creation at any time by gamers are defining features of games in the metaverse.

Gamer and also Developer

A Metaverse game offers the space and resource to freely express the gamers’ imagination. Now, the gamer’s role is beyond simple play inside games, environments and content pre-defined by developers.

The platform, DITOLAND, which combines the metaverse with the game, consists of UCC (User Created Content). This means that everybody can freely make and upload games. This is different from the typical concept of game development where, ‘If the developers make the game, gamers just play’. People interact here as both gamers and developers.

Co-creation in the metaverse is mainly achieved through coding. Coding provides the necessary tools for creating, modifying, and combining objects that are the basic elements in the virtual world, as well as  making more complex entities such as characters or buildings.

Even gamers who initially do not have the ability to code can participate. They can utilize templates and code created by other users. They can easily participate in the process of game development using ready-made materials without the need for complexity.

Also for the beginner, there are tutorial guides provided by the development company. If they use these, people can learn coding step by step, and make their own content.

The Core of Co-creation is Community

Let’s assume the the player wants to create a simple platformer game. A simple summary of the steps needed to create the game would be:

1. Set the game concept
2. Set the style and texture of objects
3. Make the background, and arrange the buildings
4. Define the presets (jump pad, score coins in case of win, obstacles with game over on collision)
5. Arrange the characters, and set their abilities (speed, number or range of jumps, etc.)
6. Register the game

The first two steps; setting game concept and setting the style and texture of objects is easily done by beginners. The basic structure choices such as ‘What kind of buildings will be made?’ and ‘What kind of materials will be used?’ is also not that hard. The simple arrangement of stable objects is not difficult. The challenge comes when adding interaction between objects and with the player. If the character cannot be moved, or certain items cannot be utilized as being intended, the power of community to help the beginner coder becomes really important.

Gamer communities are very active in the metaverse platforms. If people encounter difficulty in creating any aspect of their game, the community is more than happy to help and share opinions. Community is more than simple Q&A or the updating of a notice board. There are various features including discussions about education or research, bug reporting about the platform, co-planning on projects, and feedback on each others work, etc.

This type of ‘Co-creation’ is transformed into learning, which is linked to the education program. Because of this, DITOLAND is included in the curriculum of Game Studies in universities, and utilized in  Game Jams to help teenagers to learn to code. Through game development with many people, people naturally learn how to code.

Practising coding is the process of learning a new language. This means that learning is not easy, and people can lose interest. However, if the game is linked to this process, and people can learn how to participate in free group discussions, almost all students are able to accept this process as a game-making play, not as an educational course. It is not ‘learn the language’, but ‘make the game’. So, the overall satisfaction level in the courses is high.

Movement and Separation of Powers

In the still-evolving metaverse, co-creation is more than simple technology, know-how, ideas, and discussions. We need to look at what may evolve in the future. The traditional concept that a small group of developers who created content has almost all rights, and gamers just provide feedback, can be expected to change dramatically.

The powers previously held by developers are gradually moving to gamers and communities who participate in the virtual world. The metaverse is still mostly used in the field of games, but it will develop and be expanded into various commercial areas. Beyond games, co-creation in the extended metaverse will change into creating virtual structures and utilizing the knowledge of industry, education, and other commercial entities.

Knowledge and information has previously been monopolized by individuals or small groups. And now, that situation has changed into a more open and cooperative structure which people can freely access. The participants in co-creation rapidly share and reflect on the process. Through this, unnecessary processes and wasted resources can be streamlined, and the cycle of development and innovation is shortened. This democratization will give power for the next generation of creators.

In the future, co-creation in the metaverse will not be just about simple cooperation and creation. It will be about a shift in the balance of power, to be distributed across all participants in the virtual world.

The post Co-creation in the Metaverse first appeared on Ludogogy.

The player experience is something that we all shoot for in game design. That’s because the player experience is what the player goes through when they play the game.

That experience can be as simple as gamified mechanics in gamification; a games-based learning class; a simulation; or a serious game. The player experience dictates how our creation, our game, is received by our users.

The player experience can be broken down into six major areas which include:

1.     Motivation

2.     Meaningful Choices

3.     Balance

4.     Usability

5.     Aesthetics

6.     Fun

Here’s a review of these six major areas of the player experience and what it’s like to design for them.

Motivation

To address motivation you have to ask the question: “Why is the player playing the game?” For an entertainment game it could be for the player to try something different; to escape from their everyday realities; or to satisfy their own curiosity.

For simulations; serious games; or games-based earning that motivation will be different. They could be playing as part of a class, work, or another reason that isn’t entirely clear yet.

No matter the application, we can determine that that their motivation is based on at least two different areas. Those two areas include: interest and a demonstration of competence.

Interest is the factor that most applies mostly to entertainment games. That is because the player is interested in the game and wants to be part of the experience. Demonstration of competence is different. When players demonstrate their competence they are motivated to play and do well. But to continue playing and improve.

This underlying motivation is important for players to return, progress, and keep playing our games. Demonstration of competence gives the player the agency to continue to improve and get better after the first play, second play, and subsequent plays. This engagement demonstrates to themselves: “I can do this. I can win.”

Meaningful Choices

That demonstration of competence in player motivation doesn’t come without choice though. And not just ordinary an choice. Meaningful choices are ways for players to demonstrate their competence through what they choose to do. Those choices are  broken down into three different and distinct areas: agency, strategy, and tactics.

Agency is the ability for a player to make a choice. If players do not have that ability, then they cannot make a choice and a situation or simulation plays out without any player input. That isn’t good for engagement. So the availability and ability for players to make choices is important.

The impact of those choices affects both a player’s strategy and tactics. Strategy represents the player’s overall impact of their choices throughout the entire game and other opponents. Strategy represents a culmination of a series of choices that affect the game state.

Tactics, on the other hand, represent a much smaller effect. Tactics are the results of choices that affect the game state or other players for a limited duration (often for just one turn or less)

Players must exercise their agency to make decisions regardless of their strategic or tactical importance. However, the structure of those decisions is decided by the designer. Part of the impact of that structure comes from balanced design.

Balance

Balance is a tricky thing to design in games. True balance is incredibly hard to achieve and is relatively unimportant if your goal is to maximize the player experience. Though balance is important in maintaining a player’s engagement with the game through the engagement curve.

The engagement curve balances periods of high player intensity and engagement with areas of lower engagement. Having a player engage constantly can be tiring. Though, to not let them engage at all would be boring.  That means that designers need to carefully balance both so that players can ideally engage in a state of flow.

Flow state is the period when a player is attempting a challenge at the height of their abilities. They are competent in the activity but they are still challenged.  Think about doing a speed run of your favorite platformer game like Super Mario Bros. You know how to play the game. You know what to expect from the game. But you still need to concentrate on all of the moves you make to play the game as fast as possible.

Fiero

Success through flow ends in periods of high intensity celebration called Fiero. Fiero is the universal cultural symbol for success and achievements in challenging and difficult scenario. You’ve probably seen it before. It’s when we throw our hands up over our head in excitement. This is an excellent outcome for players because they have invested in their competency in order to earn a difficult reward.

The best games for balancing engagement are the ones that are described as “easy to learn but hard to master.” They introduce core mechanics and concepts that are easy for new players to learn and adapt to. But the challenge becomes evident through play. That play demonstrates just how deep the game can be.

Popular examples of this are Go, Poker, Chess, and other classic games that players often spend their lives mastering.  But they wouldn’t have reached that point if the game was not playable. That is where usability comes into the player experience.

Usability

Usability addresses three questions for the players that also affects their agency in making meaningful decisions. Those questions are:

1.     What is happening in the game?

2.     What is happening to players?

3.     What actions can players take?

Usability addresses core mechanics of the game. Those core mechanics focus on what is happening in the game. Are points scored to win? Is it a race to the finish? Should players focus on their own success, stopping others, or a combination of both?

What is happening to other player also affects the core mechanics of the game. Roll-and-write games are accessibly for their high player counts.  There are often no limits (beyond components) that would stop an unlimited number of people from playing. But in this style of game: there is no interaction between players.  Think of Bingo. None of your actions affect my actions, and vice versa.

Player Interaction

But there are other games like Risk, Warhammer 40,000, and Cosmic Encounter where player interaction is critical. In these games everything that players can, and will do, is based on what other players do.

Lastly, the actions that players take affects the usability of the game. If I can only take actions that stop others then that game relies highly on contention. If I can take actions that help me and stop others then I have more choices. If I can take actions that help me and only the players to my left and right (i.e. Between Two Cities and 7 Wonders) then my actions are even more informed. I must think about I can do that puts me in the best position to win.

Those usability choices are informed by the mechanics the designer has included. But often those mechanics are defined through both the rulebook and play. Designing in aesthetics goes a long way towards reinforcing the usability of the game for players.

Aesthetics

The five sense of sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell are what most people rely on to experience, interpret, and make sense of the world. Many games will only use some of these senses; but a more comprehensive approach (i.e. Nyctophobia) demonstrates just what games are capable of demonstrating through sense.

Digital games can also make sure of interaction through features like haptics which provide physical feedback for the player in the game environment. Table top games have yet to really advance in this area; but they do communicate much through both style and theme.

Game style and theme promote and communicate something about the player experience  staring with the box’s art. Much can be gained by just reviewing the artistic choice from the box. But more can be gained when aesthetics also inform player choice and style.

This is evident in table top games like Photosynthesis where shadows cast by trees prevent other trees from growing. This is both a design and stylistic choice that is represent by actual taller tree pieces; theme; and mechanics.

The combination of motivation, choice, balance, usability, and aesthetics, will affect much of a player’s play style. But one of the strongest underlying motivations for the player experience  is fun.

What about fun?

Fun is subjective and something that emerges from the player experience. Game designers cannot directly design for fun. Rather the combination of the different elements that make up the player experience can setup players for a fun time. But that fun is never guaranteed.

This is all the more true with games-based learning; simulations; and serious games where fun may not even be top design priority. Though educational applications of games here don’t necessarily need to be fun; they should remain engaging enough to have players continue to play.

You can see this in classic games-based learning designs like Oregon Trail and Typing of the Dead where fun comes from the game design. In addition to this, players continued to engage in a way that helped them reach the games’ intended learning outcomes.

Takeaways

Player experience can be a daunting task to design for. But understanding motivation, meaningful choices, balance, usability, and aesthetics goes a long way towards creating experiences where our players and students continue to engage.

That engagement can earn them entertainment, education or (hopefully) both.

This article focused on player experience in game design. If you’d like to learn more about how the structure of the player experience affects gamification then click here to access my free course on Gamification Explained.

If you have enjoyed this article – consider getting yourself lifetime access to his Games-Based Learning Digital Library containing all of the content from the past two Games-Based Learning Virtual Conferences; past webinars and courses he’s created; as well as his complete back catalog of articles; podcast episodes; and videos. And more content is being added all the time.

Readers of Ludogogy can get a $50 discount on this valuable resource by using this link.

The post The Player Experience of Games first appeared on Ludogogy.

While to a large extent, knowing is equal to doing, in the functional skills domain, the same does not hold true for behavioural skills, because of the layers added in the form of one’s personality, environment, mindset and so on. All these layers impact our demonstrated behaviour which might not always align with what we know to be the right thing to do.

Therefore, the best learning experience would be the one that gets the learners to see the difference between what they know and what they do.

This is where the power of game based learning truly comes alive, where you get participants to play a game which requires them to demonstrate a specific behaviour to achieve or improve on the game’s objective.

Here there is a direct correlation between the behaviour they demonstrate (or don’t) and the quality of result of the game, thereby exploring the Knowing-Doing gap.

And when the game is a group activity, the the experience is even more rich as it mimics the true nature of behaviour skills, which are never really demonstrated in isolation as the people around have as much influence on one’s behavior as one’s own attitudes and mindset.

As an added benefit, the interactive and participative nature of the experience (virtual, in-person or digital) is a refreshing change from a typical content-based programme – be it instructor-led or digital.

The problem for learning professionals

Many people involved in designing learning interventions, who are new to game-based learning, often struggle to construct such a programme, including choosing the game experience, deriving the learning outcomes, and answering the ‘what’s in it for me’ (WIIFM) for the learner.

To get such learning professionals started on this journey I’ve put together a simple framework which is universally applicable to any game-based learning intervention that one might be designing.

Over the last 17+ years I have successfully used this model to design every learning experience from programmes for new joiners to leadership teams.

I call it the A.B.C.D of game-based learning. In this article I’ve chosen to keep this part brief as each of these steps, in detail, could fill an article by themselves, which I hope to publish soon for those interested in delving deeper into the model. So here goes..

THE A.B.C.D framework

Every session should start by giving an introduction to the competencies it covers. This is obvious, of course, but the idea is to go beyond programme coverage and establish context – the WIIFM for the learner. This is better done using appreciative enquiry where you help the learners land the WIIFM for themselves. This helps create buy-in and a reason the learner to stay engaged.

This is done very well using online live polls (god bless mentimeter!) that enable open sharing owing to their anonymity; not everyone may be keen or open for sharing right at the beginning of the programme. This also helps to establish also that your programme is not just about the game, but that the game itself is only a means to an end; the end being immersion.

ACTIVITY

The ACTIVITY or Game sits at the centre of every module. Each activity should be carefully selected in a manner that success or failure in the activity is directly a result of demonstrating (or not) the behaviours associated with that competency. The game environment helps create a non-judgemental, non-threatening and a fun-filled learning atmosphere. Pick activities where your confidence is high in their ability to deliver the desired responses which will in turn will help you land the learning conversation.

BEHAVIOUR

Instinctive responses and real emotions lead the individual and group to make choices and decisions. And these decisions lead them to positive or mixed results. Exploring this ‘Cause and Effect’ forms the basis of all learning where the experience acts as a mirror for the participant, of the gap between knowledge and demonstrated ability. Your job is to provide the right questions that will drive the right reflections so that you may guide the participants into having their own A-ha moments. Patient and mindful exploration is the key, not calling out behaviours or making pointed remarks.

CONTEXTUALIZATION

The next step is to move the participants from generalised learning outcomes to those which are relevant to their own specific job roles and functions. Behavioural competencies are not black and white and may challenge each learner differently.

Each module should contain simple tools or frameworks that will address this critical WIIFM to make the learning personalised and practical. A simple approach will be to map elements of learners’ job roles and aspects or elements of the competency or learning topic. The key is to make it so simple that it is self-explanatory.

DEMONSTRATION

Change, especially in the behavioural context is about creating a new habit or changing an old one. It is therefore important to move the learners from deep learning and realisation to articulating actions, which, when practiced consistently, may become new habits. Learning to Action tools have to be an integral part of every module to complete the learning cycle as the participants leave with concrete actions to be shared and committed to their line managers and stakeholders.

I hope this has interested you enough for me to later put in the effort to provide a guide, templates and sample on how each of the ABCD steps is operationalised.

Keep watching this space.

The post GAME BASED LEARNING – As Easy as ABC (and D) first appeared on Ludogogy.

I have often come across the idea that Monopoly can teach people about economics. If you want to teach the lesson the original creator intended—that gaining vast wealth at the expense of others is problematic—then you could argue that Monopoly does it well. But that’s more a philosophical position than a set of skills.

What many people mean when they say ‘teach economics’ is ‘teach people the skills to operate well in an economic system’. And this, Monopoly is not very good at. For a game to build skills that are useful in a real-life system, it needs to do two things:

• Give meaningful choices, where good decisions tend to good outcomes, to build the ability to make good decisions in the context
• Provide a reasonable analogue to key elements of the real-life system where these skills are to be used

In Monopoly, you mainly choose to buy or not buy the properties you land on by the roll of the dice, which is neither a very meaningful choice nor very representative of real-life. Luck is part of real life economics, but our choices are rarely so constrained. A game that does a better job (although not specifically intended as a learning game) is Acquire.

In Acquire, players draw tiles, much as in Scrabble, and keep them on their own rack, choosing one to play on their turn. Instead of letters, each tile represents one square on the gameboard. The gameboard is simply a grid of empty squares, each marked with a number for the column and a letter for the row. So I have the tile ‘1-A’, I can place it in the top-left square, marked ‘1-A’.

As the board starts to fill with tiles, sooner or later a player will place a tile next to another. When they do this, they form a hotel chain—they can choose from seven named chains, some cheaper, some more expensive. The player gets one free stock in the chain, represented by a card. From that point on, at the end of a turn, players can buy up to three stocks from any hotel chain on the board.

If two hotel chains sit next to each other, a player could place a tile that links them together. When that happens, the smaller merges into the larger, shares in the now-defunct smaller chain earn a choice of compensation, and the biggest stockholders in the smaller chain get bonuses.

Why does this make for a good economics teacher? What should learning game designers do to emulate it (rather than Monopoly) if they want their game to build skills for real-life situations or challenges, whether economic or any other?

Present interesting choices that represent real-life choices

In Acquire, when you hold stocks in a chain that merges into another, you have three options—sell them, trade two-for-one for stocks of the bigger chain, or keep them in the hope that the merged chain will re-form anew. This can be a tough choice.

Maybe the two-for-one deal right now is a net loss, but it makes you into the majority stock owner in the larger chain, which could rise in value. Kept stocks lose the opportunity to profit now, but if the chain reforms, you’ll have a head start towards a majority holding. Selling the shares might let you buy some expensive and valuable shares you otherwise couldn’t afford.

Players are forced to balance short-term with long-term gains, to consider probabilities of various outcomes, and to calculate expected returns—all key skills for real-life economic systems. Learning game designers should look to build in choices that are not clear, and force the kind of problem-solving and decision-making that we want learners to take from the game into real life.

Allow players to determine priorities and goals

There are many things you could prioritise in Acquire. If you own a lot of stock, or a majority holding, in a chain, you may want to prioritise increasing its size. If you need ready cash, you may want to prioritise merging it into another chain. When buying stocks, you might choose to prioritise getting a majority stake in a chain, or you might look to spread your investments so that you profit from activity in many chains.

This goes beyond immediate choices—it’s not just ‘how do I achieve my goals?’, it’s ‘what even are my goals?’. Although there is a single win condition—be richest at game end—there are many paths and sub-goals. Again, this is reflective of the real-life system we’re considering here.

Learning game designers should look to give players control over the route they take and the sub-goals—or even the ultimate goals—they set. To go back to Monopoly, the only real choice of goal is which set to collect, but that’s strictly limited by which you land on. Acquire’s freer choice is more meaningful and skill-building for the player, and more reflective of real life. If games give this freedom in a way that mirrors a real-life situation, players can build skills to navigate that situation.

Build real-life considerations into game decisions

To help players learn to invest wisely, a game needs to make players consider risk versus reward. Monopoly’s risk versus reward consideration is mainly a simple one around the risk of buying/not buying a property, once you land on it. You can’t choose to take the risk of landing on another player’s hotel in hopes of a big reward, or assess the expected return on turning a chance card before deciding whether to turn it.

Acquire asks players to consider risk and reward in many ways. Should you start a new chain now, to get the free share, and risk having to split your buying between the new chain and an existing one you’re already competing for a majority stock holding in? Should you merge two chains now while you know you’re a majority stockholder, or take a risk and allow them to grow first, even though somebody else may overtake you?

Risk versus reward is a key factor in many good games, so game designers should consider the risk and reward in players’ decisions for any game. But here, it’s a key skill for the real-life situation in question. Learning game designers should look at the skills they’re trying to build in players, and ask: how can I make this a consideration in the decisions and actions that make up my game?

Set variables carefully to represent real-life challenges

In Acquire, there are 25 available stocks in each chain. Players get one stock for starting a chain, and can buy—if they have funds—three stocks each turn. These numbers are not accidental or random. 25 is an odd number, meaning that 13 stocks guarantees a majority holding. This can be achieved with the free stock for starting, plus four turns of buying only that stock (with your three permitted purchases per turn) and nothing else. So whoever starts the chain, can get majority holding if they can afford it and focus all their efforts on doing so.

But what if you have two races on at once? You may have to choose. Or, what if you’re a turn away from getting that majority, and somebody merges another chain into the chain, and trades in some stock in the acquired chain to overtake you? All these concerns, and the specific numbers that facilitate them, represent very well a simplified model of the dynamics and challenges of scarcity.

Set the stocks at 26 per chain, or allow players to buy as many stocks as they like per turn, and the dynamics change, as do the lessons and the skills. Learning game designers should consider and play with the variables in their games, with an eye to the challenges they put to the players, and the skills they build as a result.

Few elements, many possibilities

What Acquire doesn’t do is model real-life economic scenarios by including many complex elements that bring the intricacies of real-life stock trading and the hotel business into the game. The rules and components are fairly simple. I explained the core of the game in three paragraphs above, and the components are simply the grid board, the tiles, the 25 stock cards for each of the seven chains, and a reference card showing the costs and values of each chain. That’s it.

But from the interrelations of those elements emerges a set of complex—but not over-complicated—possibilities. The simple rules about how chains grow and merge give rise to options and possibilities around growing your chain or merging it into another. The way stocks are bought and majority bonuses are given gives rise to scarcity and tactical competition for control.

By limiting the number of elements, but making each interrelate to others in a number of carefully thought-out ways, Acquire models many important decisions and skill-building moments from real life, without confusing players or muddying the lessons. Learning game designers should resist the urge to represent real life by including every little element and agent separately, and try to represent them in spirit, simply, but in a way that brings into the game the important decisions or considerations.

Terry’s innovative learning design tool, The Transform Deck is available to buy from his shop.

The post Acquiring Real-Life Economics Skills from Games first appeared on Ludogogy.