Putting the Fun in Functional: Applying Game Mechanics to Functional Software

[zoeth42]

Bah, I watched 20+ minutes of this before realizing that "functional" didn't mean "functional programming". Please don't use words that have a rather strong meaning in the field already :(

[BlondBomber106]

Fantastic presentation! Good solid information which was first presented and then put into relation to concrete situations, making it all stick in my mind. Awesome!

[Coolworldleaderguy]

"Games that are designed not to screw up your life and get you addicted, and thats good for your lifestyle."

YES! Thank you Amy Jo Kim and ShuffleBrain. I personally am interested in this pursuit myself. I know the importance of this from first hand experience.(myself)

[DreamCastrsDuel]

@monokrome "then people wouldn't sit on it all day hoping to get a sell and posting new items that they've acquired just to sell on EBay."

Right, what POSSIBLE motive could ppl have for buying and selling goods and services if it weren't for game mechanics?

[unocname]

@monokrome The things you listed are just things you CAN do in minecraft, nothing says that you should or need to do them. Like you said, the are arbitrary, so technically that makes sense, but by your definition everything in the world has an objective. ex. the objective to a water bottle is to see how small of a ball you can crush it into. No one told me to but I think it's fun so I made it my objective. I'm pretty sure that's not what was meant by game objectives.

[DreamCastrsDuel]

We've all taken lit crit 101, we're all familiar with deconstructionism, but sorry, not everything is a game. Ebay.com is not a game. Nobody has ever said, "let's play ebay." She needs to make the distinction between game and TOY, in much the same way the creator of Line Rider did.

[unocname]

minecraft has no objective nigga

[Cruzzzzz1988]

@unocname

thats why its a f*ckked up game

[emilianohorcada]

re-thinking applications now.... :)

[orias6891]

Man, she is a MILF.

[gamedevMike]

This is an interesting video, but her slides are repetitive with the same content.

[spaceman420]

devhub put gaming mechanics into website building...

[herb7000]

Where are the closed captions?

[rajatrocks]

My company, Bunchball, provides many of the game mechanics that Amy Jo describes as a web service that can be integrated into any site or application.

If you're interested in more info on this topic, we tweet whenever we find interesting examples of game mechanics in the wild, just follow "bunchball".

[PuerinTheHunter]

A game is a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules, that resuls in a quantifiable outcome. (from "Rules of Play")

The Sims is a structured experience with rules and goals that is fun.

Games tap into our primal response patterns (reinforcement schedule: the frequency at which rewards are giving to make the subject give a response, the best being a unpredictable schedule - variable rate/intensitity).

[PuerinTheHunter]

If the skills are high and challenge low - boring game.

If the challenge is high and skills are low - anxiety.

When both are low and progressively higher - good flow of game.

Social Media is player-created content, in a social infrastructure which has tools for sharing.

[PuerinTheHunter]

Game mechanism types:

* collection (completing a set) of tangible things

* earning points (given by the system or other players, with redeemable prizes, leaderboards)

* feedback (so that the players becomes better)

* exchange (taking turns, social exchanges, each player giving mutual feedback, trading, making allies, going back and forth, customizing interfaces, ...)

Trends:

* accessibility (UI, devices, open APIs)

* recombinant data objects (mash ups, customization)

* syndicated

[RyanCTucker]

@PuerinTheHunter We've actually been utilizing this into our online SAT Math solution at Perfect800 to keep students engaged. If we meet that right balance, we're able to prevent boredom (no easy task with the SAT's!) and reduce anxiety on the tough problems.

[darkof]

@PuerinTheHunter

"If the skills are high and challenge low" - child games like Winnie the Pooh

"If the challenge is high and skills are low" - Street Fighter

When both are low and progressively higher - RPGs

[drporridge]

This was very useful for my game mechnics assignment, thanks a bunch :)

+1 to social points lol

[mirwox]

That blouse of hers is just perfect for chroma keying!

[parallax7d]

manipulative bs

[grampaj0e]

It is manipulative, but it's certainly not BS.

[parallax7d]

all these techniques are bs. make a good product that is useful to people.

[grampaj0e]

I'm guessing you've never played a video game, or pretty much any game for that matter. These techniques would work on me.

[parallax7d]

I've played my fair share, and it's frustrating when you are tricked into wasting your time because of techniques like this. Now the only games I play are actually fun and make me feel like I'm having a good time.

[oghgo]

What she said is interesting. She said : You spend more time being virtually social than being really social (as in real life).

[Quast]

Most of the things you do are virtually social. Try to see it this way, how many times you think about talking to people about subjects and how many times u really do. Most of the social life you think you have is made up by your imagination anyway.

[bonastar1977]

really enjoyed this!!

and seriously...

who the hell is that blonde cutie???????

:o)

[wizsaad2k]

Thanks!