These two articles, one from Matthew Farber, one from Vicki Davis, provide both a nice overview of the concepts of gamification as well as direction for the future of this transformative pedagogical framework. (Ahh, there's the academic voice again.)
In reading both, I noticed a little gap in their discussions. One element surfaces in every compelling, cognitively-engaging game I've ever played -- whether digital or no -- and that's story. Great games are thick
Vicki Davis makes reference to the emergence of story in games when discussing a student's relationship with gaming and learning.
My so-called "killer" student (and we really should rename this when applying it to education!) simply saw things as a battle between good and evil and wanted to fight on the side of good in an epic quest to make the world a better place. Points don't matter in gameplay, and grades don't matter, either. But when we tweaked the kinds of work he was doing in ourGamifi-ED project to focus on "world-changing games," he was suddenly engaged.
And I think it goes even further than that. I'm of a mind, and mind you I'm just starting to explore these ideas, that if you've got a great story, you've got a great game and vice versa.
Mario. Full of pathos? No. On a mission? Yes. Lowly plumber fights against a tyrant and legion of minions to rescue a princess. Mario-centric games require not just hand-eye coordination but strategy, management of multiple variables, quick recall of information and such. Why do players keep playing and keep wanting more? Why does he continue to be relevant: the story.
Pac-Man the original is fun, but simplistic. And every effort to make him relevant again? Fails. Really. He's a bit of nostalgia. Why hasn't he endured? The story is just four ghosts want to get him and he wants to get away. Who cares? No one. Why? There's no story.
Think of games you've heard students talk about lately. Minecraft. Assassin's Creed. Animal Crossing. Call of Duty. Halo. World of Warcraft. Titanfall. Even if these games do not feature singular stories, they provide worlds in which players create their own narratives. Produce their own stories. Play out the scenarios that interest them. (One should note, Assassin's Creed has a rich mythology, as do games such a Bioshock and Portal.)
Sandbox games such as Minecraft offer huge opportunity. Players literally build a world and the journeys through them. As players, they start right in the middle of things with little available to them. They build skills. They acquire materials and tools. They achieve. They face struggles and conflicts, with opposing forces and themselves. There is story. And players craft protagonists to their specifications.
And they may keep coming back because it is fun. Why is it fun? I believe it is because with every restart, they are telling another story. Every restored saved game is a chance to continue the story.
If the game mechanics stink, you can't craft an effective story. You can't tell the story you want to tell. That's what really drives players nuts -- when they can't make the character DO the things, experience the things, go through the narrative arcs, they have shaped in their heads just moments before.
Can this explain Cookie, Candy and Tooth Decay Crush? No. Does Cookie Crush have the opportunity to teach us much? Not really.
However, pattern-recognition games have been developed to help map genomes & explore possible cures for cancer. What makes people want to keep playing those more meaningful versions? Well, the game play is familiar and "mindless" fun, yet now people are part of a story.
And becoming an active part of a story? That's what excitements me about bringing gamification to students.
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