Seth Priebatsch gave an interesting TED talk, The game layer on top of the world. He lists for game dynamics thatcan be used to motivate people.
- Appointment Dynamic – you have to return somewhere to achieve something
- Influence and Status – you play to get badges and other indicators of status
- Progression Dynamic – you have to work up through levels
- Communal Discovery – people work together to solve problems
He argues that the last decade was the decade of social and the next is the decade of games. He wants us to develop the game infrastructure right and use it for good. Facebook dominates the social by running what is effectively the great social graph that joins us. Do we want a single company monetizing our game layer?
A related project is XPArena – “a learning experience points platform” that allows educators to define points for learning achievements. This lets educators turn things into a game.
Thanks to Peter for this.