Game design and mechanics vs. Gamification

Game design and mechanics vs. Gamification

Why many professional game design companies loathe gamification (and why they shouldn't)

Let's pretend for a second that you are a member of a big game development company. Your group has invested a lot of time, money and creative juice into your latest, soon to be unveiled creation, and things are looking great. Finally, once your product hits store shelves, you get to bask in the glow of creative and financial success. From your point of view, you don't need any outside gimmicks or marketing tactics to generate interest in your company's creation, it stands fine under its own weight. But in order to release on certain platforms, you had to make concessions with other groups which will help you play, perform, promote and distribute. Gamification is usually one of these concessions.

Just what is gamification exactly? Gamification is basically implementing another layer on top of the principal whereupon certain activities are awarded achievements, medals, or other types of awards for completing certain tasks. For many game designers the mass implementation of gamification elements is almost a slap in the face, or seems to represent a loss of control from their point of view. In some ways they're right, in some, completely off-center.

First off, let's get this straight; gamification is not related to or involved in any part of a mainstream game designing process. Gamification is much more like a 'shrink wrap' coating that covers something; dressing it up so that it can adhere to the rules or environment that exists on its supported system. On the one hand, gamification seeks to increase sales of the game developer's product(s). But on the other, they are in a sense, losing control over how their game is ultimately presented, and /or what their audience's goals are. At some point you have to agree, gamification is in many ways little more than some elaborate form of window dressing that seeks to turn everyday activities into goal oriented achievements. But herein lies the genius of gamification; by creating another layer of engagement for consumers to become entrenched in, you are generating incentive.

In the gaming industry, the game design / mechanics (often referred to as 'gameplay') is what actually entices users to get interested and actively participate. For example, if a game has interesting and addictive gameplay it can still sell well if it has mediocre graphics, but the same cannot be said of the opposite (terrible gameplay and decent graphics). This also perfectly demonstrates why gamification is so good at drawing users in; it is essentially a personification of various gameplay elements, often simplified for more fluid use. Modern gameplay is often complex, and in many ways gamification actually offers users a diversion from difficulty. Users often come to view gamification elements as welcomed diversions from standard activities and in some (arguably most) cases, they actually encourage sales and can occasionally take center stage as the 'Raison d'être' (reason for existence).

It's somewhat ironic that by creating obstacles for gamers you are actually servicing them perfectly. This flies into direct opposition with the kind of thinking associated with sales, for example; where everything is meant to cushion or enable customers. However, the rules are different when it comes to game design and mechanics; users need to be kept in a zone where they are challenged, yet are able to still able to conquer said ordeal. You could say that the true artistic gaming experience is one that is cleverly able to manage and range difficulties, allowing progress but with just the right amount of opposing force.

There are many that might perceive, or even try to classify, gamification as a gameplay element unto itself, however this is misguided. Most gamification components are only designed to sustain the aspirations of designers and developers; this is the exact opposite of what should be happening. Gamification should seek to serve users above all else; if players' needs aren't being fulfilled then what's the point of creating another gameplay layer in the first place? At its core, gamification is simply another way of marketing services or a series of products to consumers by giving them something they'll (either) find interesting or valuable. Game design and mechanics are of concern only to designers and developers; they need not participate in any type of gamification process. To put it another way, gamification is more like dessert than dinner, and should only add incentive for users to indulge in exploring design and mechanics. By the same measure, once (if) gamification begins to impede upon creative/artistic design or get in the way of enjoyment it may be overstepping its bounds.

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