In contrast to the serious games or games with a purpose of the previous sections, gamification addresses individual gaming elements which are used in other contexts. Deterding et al. [70] define gamification as: “the use of game design elements in a non- game context”. Although gamification is inspired by video and computer games, it uses
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only a set of single game elements in a new context to improve the experience of the users. Gamification can further be distinguished from playfulness as gamification has a deeper goal. Whereas playfulness means that the main reason for the activity is fun, the focus of gamification lies in a separate purpose. Gamification only improves the user’s experience in doing something for this other purpose. Figure 2.2 shows how gamification can be delimited against games, toys and playfulness. Whereas playing denotes a more expressive, free-form, and improvisational form of behavior, gaming is structured with rules and a competitive strife towards goals Deterding et al. [70].
Figure 2.2: Gamification between game and play according to Deterding et al. [70].
Computer games are quite popular among typical learners as they are able to motivate them over a long time period. One interesting aspect according to Gee [94] is that computer games have to be learned as well. When combined with real-world topic, gamers engage themselves not only with the game’s originary content, but with issues around the main plot. “This is education at its best, and it is happening at home” [94]. The author refers to an example of playing Age of Mythology in school, a strategy game settled in ancient Greek. The students informed themselves about Greece gods and legends even after school. Gee states that “researchers have to learn about learning from good computer and video games”, as they use learning principles which were supported by contemporary research in cognitive science (see Bruer [38], Clark [56], Lave [134]). The most important factor therefore is motivation. Motivation drives learning, it “is a learner’s willingness to make an extended commitment to engage in a new area of learning” [72].
Games encourage this motivation by following a set of good learning principles. E. g., games give necessary information at the right moment. People are not very good in re- membering and understanding information they have received in the wrong context [37], therefore games usually offer pieces of new information before the player can actually use them. They also confront players with an increasing difficulty, which are challenging but
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always do-able, while lectures often operate at the level of the lowest denominator [72]. Thus, games keep their players within the flow [64, 158], as described in Section 2.1.2. Furthermore, games enable the players to not only consume information but produce something on their own [36]. Players create elements in the gaming world as they build their own military base or a whole empire. Being a producer gives a far better identi- fication and long-term motivation with a given topic than only consuming pre-defined elements.
Charsky [49] takes up these principles and lists further game characteristics which mo- tivate and excite gamers. His first characteristic is competition and goals. Some games allow players to compete against each other or against the computer, and they confront players with goals which can be achieved [24, 25]. In chess they have to capture the opponent’s king, in poker they want to win the money. In a good game, these goals increase in difficulty and complexity, and taking the learning flow of the player into account. An early goal within a strategy game may be the capture of a small outpost, whereas when the player’s capabilities increase, he or she may decide to conquer the rest of the gaming world, too. The second characteristic is rules [49]. Rules are typically fixed and limit the range of actions of the player. They are important as they can be set to represent reality [24, 25]. Playing an omnipotent god without limitations won’t be challenging in the long term. But rules do not have to specify every single bit of the gaming experience. When playing a city simulator like SimCity, rules only define the underlying logic of the game. It is almost impossible to built the exact same city twice, as small events within the gaming rules lead to a different outcome every time. Therefore, rules can be understood as the amount of functionality and control, which is given to the players [102, 140]. Another game characteristic is choice. Charsky [49] further separates it in expressive, strategic and tactical choice. “Expressive choice” has little effect on learning the game, but it is able to improve the player’s motivation. This may be applied towards gamers upgrading the visuals of their avatar, battleship or city. When combined with other game characteristics, expressive choices may increase the immersive experience of the players. This improved immersion should generate a level of motivation which is ideal for higher order learning [71]. “Strategic choice” affects the manner in which a game is played. These refer to the gamer’s ability to configure game attributes like difficulty or time constraints. “Tactical choice” represents the way players make decisions about how they play the actual game. It presents the possibili- ties they have to choose an option ’A’ over ’B’, the consequences for the further game process, and access to some kind of help [102]. E. g., in a strategy game, after the player made the strategic decision to play the Romans in a simple difficulty level, the way actual warfare is conducted is driven by a series of tactical choices. The last motivating game characteristic listed by Charsky is fantasy. Most computer games contain fantasy elements in an attempt to provide exciting and motivating game play [62, 163].
Another characteristic not mentioned yet is the actual presentation to the user. Whereas the characteristics above are meant to give the game a structure and deeper motivation, the first barrier of every software application is the presentation to the user. According to Davis [66], the motivation of the user to apply technology is influenced by its appear- ance. Therefore, the graphical interface and sound effects can be listed as gamification characteristics as well.
Chapter 2. Related Work