Chapter 3

Game Mechanics, Dynamics, and Aesthetics

n the previous chapter, we reviewed fourteen exam- achievements, appointments, behavioral momentum, ples of gamification and discussed five different def- blissful productivity, bonuses, cascading information Iinitions. We also compared gamification with three theory, combos, community collaboration, count- other related concepts—game, playful design, and down, discovery, epic meaning, free lunch, infinite toys—and clarified how they differ from one another. gameplay, levels, loss aversion, lottery, ownership, For the purpose of this report, I adopt the definition by points, progression, quests, reward schedules, status, Deterding et al. as the most useful one; that is, gamifi- urgent optimism, and virality.2 cation is “the use of game design elements character- The Gamification Wiki also claims that these game istic for games in non-game contexts.”1 But we have mechanics fall into three types: behavioral, feedback, not yet covered what those game design elements are and progression. It refers to these types as “game dynam- exactly. In this chapter, we will take a look at game ics” and provides the following explanations: (a) the design elements in order to better understand how behavioral type of game mechanics (i.e., the behavioral

gamification works. game dynamics) “are solely focused on human behavior TechnologyLibrary Reports and the human psyche”; (b) the feedback type of game mechanics, (i.e., the feedback game dynamics) “com- Game Design Elements plete the feedback loop in a game mechanic”; (c) the progression type of game mechanics (i.e., the progres- By now, you must have noticed some of the game sion game dynamics) “are used to structure and stretch elements that have been recurring in our examples the accumulation of meaningful skills.”3 of gamification, such as points, badges, levels, lead- On the other hand, Priebatsch lists appointment, erboards, challenges, rewards, and so on. Other progression, and communal discovery as three exam-

examples of game elements included avatars, teams, ples of game dynamics. According to his explanation, alatechsource.org narrative, treasures, and ranks. Game elements are “The appointment dynamic is a . . . game mechanic relatively easy to identify, probably because all of us in which . . . a ‘player’ must return at a predefined have played games before. Points generally indicate time to take a predetermined action” (such as “happy how much time and effort a player has spent or the hour”) to succeed; the progression dynamic is used to level of achievement reached. While points represent display “a ‘player’s’ level of success” and to gradually

a player’s state since the beginning of a game, badges improve it “through the completion of granular tasks”; 2015 February/March are used to signify the successful completion of a given and communal discovery is a game dynamic “which task. Levels are a kind of stage in which a player grows involves an entire community working together to abilities and powers until she can unlock a new level solve a problem.”4 to move up to. Levels often function as a reward sys- Schonfeld presents another list of the forty-seven tem to encourage players to continue the game. Lead- game dynamics used by SCVNGR, a mobile, location- erboards list players by their scores or achievements to based gamification company.5 Among those forty- create an environment for competition. The Gamifica- seven game dynamics, the following are the unique tion Wiki has a useful list of gamification mechanics: ones that do not show up in the game mechanics list

17 Understanding Gamification Bohyun Kim in the Gamification Wiki mentioned above: avoidance, take a look at what the MDA model means by these behavioral contrast, chain schedules, companion gam- three counterparts. For ease of understanding, I will ing, contingency, cross situational leaderboards, dis- start with aesthetics and then move on to dynamics incentives, endless games, extinction, fixed inter- and mechanics in descending order of generality. val reward schedule, fixed interval ratio schedules, Under the category of aesthetics are sensation (game fun once fun always, interval rewards schedule, lot- as sense-pleasure), fantasy (game as make-believe), tery, loyalty, meta game, micro leaderboards, modi- narrative (game as drama), challenge (game as obsta- fiers, moral hazard of gameplay, pride, privacy, ratio cle course), fellowship (game as social framework), dis- reward schedule, real-time vs. delayed mechanics, covery (game as uncharted territory), expression (game reinforce, response, reward schedule, rolling physi- as self-discovery), and submission (game as pastime). cal goods, shell game, social fabric of games, variable These aesthetics can be understood as different goals interval reward schedule, variable ratio reward sched- of games and the components of fun.11 ule, and virtual items.6 Dynamics in the MDA model are the game design Each of these is explained in more detail. For principles that create and support aesthetic experi- example, behavioral contrast means the shift in behav- ence. For example, time pressure and opponent play are ior depending on changed expectations; chain schedules two game dynamics that create and support the aes- refers to “the practice of linking a reward to a series of thetic of challenge. The dynamics of sharing informa- contingencies”; free lunch means a situation in which tion across certain members of a session (a team) or a player gets something because of the efforts of other supplying winning conditions that are more difficult to people; fun once, fun always refers to the idea that a achieve alone are for the game aesthetic of fellowship. simple action maintains a minimum level of enjoy- The aesthetic of expression is created and supported by ment no matter how many times you do it; cascad- the dynamics that encourage individual users to leave ing information theory refers to the tactic of giving out their mark, such as systems for purchasing, building, information in the smallest driblets possible to keep or earning game items; for designing, constructing, players guessing and moving forward; and moral haz- and changing levels or worlds; and for creating per- ard of gameplay means the loss of the actual enjoyment sonalized, unique characters.12 of an action itself due to too many artificial incentives Mechanics refers to the various actions, behaviors, to take the action.7 and control mechanisms afforded to the player within These lists were compiled as quick resources for a game context. For example, the mechanics of card software developers and are not based upon any the- games include shuffling, trick-taking and betting, from oretical or empirical studies. As such, they need to be which dynamics like bluffing can emerge.13 taken with a grain of salt. Nevertheless, many seem to Another good explanation of the distinction equate listing game elements like these with under- between game dynamics and game mechanics is found standing gamification itself and identify gamification in Marczewski’s book Gamification: A Simple Introduc- with game mechanics such as points, badges, and lead- tion and a Bit More. He explains that game mechan- erboards. Even the education literature on gamifica- ics are a distinct set of rules that dictate the outcome tion explains game elements used in learning contexts of interactions within the system with an input, a pro- merely by listing game mechanics such as: points, lev- cess, and an output, while game dynamics are users’ els/stages, badges, leaderboards, prizes and rewards, responses to collections of those mechanics.14 progress bars, storyline, and feedback.8 While these are The MDA model is useful because it allows us February/March 2015 legitimate game elements, simple lists do not distin- to consider the perspectives of a game designer and guish the different levels of abstraction in which those a game player at the same time. Players experience different game elements operate. This applies to the game mechanics as the rules of a game, while design- existing literature on games and gamification as well.9 ers think of them as various player actions and con- trol mechanisms. Dynamics appear to game players as the system that creates the desirable game experience, alatechsource.org Understanding How Games while game designers see them as design principles for Work: The MDA Framework the interaction between game mechanics and players. Lastly, aesthetics are the goal of gameplay itself for The MDA framework is a formal approach to under- game players. But to game designers, they are the ulti- standing games, and it provides a useful model for us mate emotional responses or states that they want to to grasp how gamification works. The MDA (mechan- generate in people through the use of game dynamics ics, dynamics, and aesthetics) model breaks down a and game mechanics. player’s consumption process of game into three parts: Armed with this understanding of game mechan- rules, system, and fun. These correspond to the follow- ics, dynamics, and aesthetics, we can now approach

Library Technology ReportsLibrary Technology ing counterparts in a game designer’s design process: the game elements that we have previously seen (a) mechanics, (b) dynamics, and (c) aesthetics.10 Let’s with a fresh set of eyes. Points, badges, leaderboards,

18 Understanding Gamification Bohyun Kim statuses, levels, quests, countdowns, tasks/quests/mis- 3. “Game Mechanics Types,” Gamification Wiki, Bad- sions, and other particular rules and rewards all fall geville website, accessed November 3, 2014, http:// under the category of game mechanics. These consti- badgeville.com/wiki/Game_Mechanics/Types. 4. Seth Priebatsch, “Welcome to the Decade of Games,” tute most of what we immediately notice as game ele- HBR Blog Network, Harvard Business Review, Septem- ments. By contrast, those game elements that are con- ber 9, 2010, http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/09/ cerned with the interaction between concrete game welcome_to_the_decade_of_games.html. mechanics and players at a more abstract level are 5. Erick Schonfeld, “SCVNGR’s Secret Game Mechanics game dynamics. Examples of game dynamics include Playdeck,” TechCrunch, August 25, 2010, http://tech appointment, behavioral momentum, feedback, prog- crunch.com/2010/08/25/scvngr-game-mechanics. ress, time pressure, and certain abilities that game ava- 6. Ibid. tars can develop. Some game elements that we identi- 7. Ibid. fied, on the other hand, are more accurately classified 8. Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah, Qing Zeng, Venkata Rajasekhar Telaprolu, Abhishek Padmanabhuni Ayyappa, and as game aesthetics since they are the desired experi- Brenda Eschenbrenner, “Gamification of Education: ence that games attempt to generate through game- A Review of Literature,” in HCI in Business: First play. Those game aesthetics include elements such International Conference, HCIB 2014, Held as Part of as achievement, challenge, discovery, epic meaning, HCI International 2014, Heraklion, Crete, Greece, June blissful productivity, sensation, and fantasy. 22–27, 2014, Proceedings, edited by Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah, 401–9, Lecture Notes in Computer Science 8527 (Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publish- ing, 2014), doi:10.1007/978-3-319-07293-7_39. 9. Deterding et al., op. cit., 12. Notes 10. Robin Hunicke, Marc Leblanc, and Robert Zubek, “MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game 1. Sebastian Deterding, Dan Dixon, Rilla Khaled, and Research,” in Proceedings of the Challenges in Games AI Lennart Nacke, “From Game Design Elements to Workshop, Nineteenth National Conference of Artificial Gamefulness: Defining ‘Gamification,’” inProceedings Intelligence (San Jose, CA: AAAI Press, 2004), 2. of the 15th International Academic MindTrek Confer- 11. Ibid. ence: Envisioning Future Media Environments (New 12. Ibid., 3. York: Association for Computing Machinery, 2011), 13. Ibid., 4. 13, doi:10.1145/2181037.2181040. 14. Andrzej Marczewski, Gamification: A Simple Introduc- 2. “Game Mechanics,” Gamification Wiki, Badgeville tion and a Bit More, 2nd ed. (self-published on Ama- website, accessed November 3, 2014, http:// zon Digital Services, 2013), Kindle edition, Loc 1119 badgeville.com/wiki/Game_Mechanics. of 1798. TechnologyLibrary Reports alatechsource.org February/March 2015 February/March

19 Understanding Gamification Bohyun Kim