You just got one gazillion points in your wallet! Are they good for something? Is it good to have that many? Is the goal of the game getting as many or as few points as possible?

The progression is the way for the players to know where they stand at any given moment. When a soccer player looks to the score board, they know if they are winning or losing based on a simple number and just a little bit of math.

When you define your progression you have to make sure there is a clear mechanic keeping track of it and a perfect order the players which way is north.

Let’s say in our example, getting a gazillion points (GP) is good but the goal of the game is to get 8GP You know you have 7 GP to go, you realize its not even half time and you see there are still plenty of opportunities for you to build upon those points. We know, we are moving TOWARDS the goal.

Now, in terms of categories, I divided progression into Alternative and Linear. In a Linear progression you have to go in  order from activity to activity to progress, so to reach goal 8 you need to finish tasks 1 through 7 first. However, in alternative progression you don’t have to follow a set of objectives in order, you just finish them in any given order according to your liking. You don’t have to reach goal 8 because they aren’t in order, but you have to complete 8 tasks to finish.

Other ways to see these is offering the players multiple paths. You will become either a doctor or a web designer but it’s really hard to become both, however if the goal is to achieve a degree in something, it doesn’t matter which way you go. Now, you can have systems that offer multiple choices (like paths) but, once in the path, you have to follow a linear progression to get to the goal and can’t change that road until a certain point in the system.

A cool idea is to tie each path to certain skills so the players will actually require such to move forward and overcome the challenge.

On our next post, we will check how players interact with the system: The Relationship dynamic

There is a huge difference between time running out and winning the game, right?

The Win State dynamic is ABSOLUTELY fundamental. Unless of course you think you can keep your players playing forever which is impossible.

After you have decided what your Narrative is, make sure you are clear on how the game ends.

What condition MUST be met in order to declare a win or a loss? In soccer, you know if you are 3 goals ahead that you are winning, but you DON’T WIN until the time is over and that goal difference stays the same.

Making it clear on the conditions of winning should clear out any doubts in the players’ head. Think of it as when you read the instructions on a new board game. You want to know what’s the point and how to win. All other details are usually figured out by doing the most outrageous thing: playing.

Make sure that even if your system can’t be beaten (like tetris, where you literally CAN’T win) there has to be some indication of success on each attempt. Always show how they are performing and make sure it FEELS in the right or wrong direction.

Maybe it’s all about how many points you manage to collect this day and everyday the points are reset but, knowing how many points you got today vs yesterday will give you a sense of accomplishment.

Our next post is about feedback. Once you know where to go, you have to plan your trip: The Progression Dynamic

 It’s not the same to play with your friends than against them. The Environment dynamic will dictate how the players will feel through their playing.

I always address this with a simple question: Is it a competition or a team effort?

Do you want a classroom to feel more cooperative and work together towards a goal or do you want them to prove who is better between the players?

It’s known that cooperation is preferred by women and competition is usually favored by men, however, you must be careful in your choosing towards each mechanic tied to this core.

If you promote a cooperation environment in a place that needs competition (like the sales department) you might end up demotivating your players. On the other hand, if you have players that want to work together as a team and won’t let them, it will result in catastrophe.

You can alternate between modes, just like a game where you can invite friends to play and help you when a level is too hard but, you will always keep your personal score.

Competition is really fun as long as it won’t stumble upon other players. Unless of course your players are all disruptors looking to take all the others out of action and you just want the last survivor.

Cooperation can also make people the game is unfair if not all players are “sort-of” forced to contribute to the same effort.

Just make sure you have defined your audience and are sure how they should feel why playing. It’s all about these emotions what will drive them towards our next post: The Win State Dynamic.

Reference:

In terms of #gamification and #gamedynamics, the narrative is not just a story or a writing technique/style or whatever the term for writers mean (hehe).

Narrative is really a powerful tool. It can guide your system into success within seconds or destroy it forever. You must be very careful when writing as it will prove its sensitivity to player behavior far more than any other dynamic. It is used to connect the players to the reason why they are playing. It will help them visualize objectives easily and always return to the path without having to analyze or process a lot of information.

When you tell people they have to save the world, it becomes way to ambiguous, however, if you say they must save it from a specific threat, they will always know WHY they are doing/learning whatever it is you are trying them to learn/do and they’ll know what will be a victory or a failure.

I have divided narrative into two game mechanic categories: Story and Objectives. This basically means that you either work towards a series of objectives or you are told a story you want to be part of.

When using a Story, you tell your players something like “Here you will become the best web designer on the planet, however, the road is unclear and heavy, but we will guide you into it”

When you use Objectives, you tell your players something like “In order to become the best web designer, you must finish the following tasks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6… ,938”

There is NOTHING wrong in combining mechanics and there isn’t one better. Both of them work wonders on your system as long as the goal is clear.

The narrative is the answer to WHY the players are playing. How do you want them to find such answer lies in the choice of the category.

Let me know if you find a different way to organize the categories and your thoughts!