behavior while under the influence

Jeremy Pesner

A brief overview of gameplay, decision making,

and focus

(of gaming)

Introduction (or, what am I doing here today?)

• Many institutions are focusing on gaming

• Financial/Business, Learning, Social, etc.

• Games for Change conference next week

• Games aren’t always interesting... or fun

• Not everyone who wants use games knows them well or even plays them

• Time to get back to basics - why we’re all here

• Examine different reasons we play games and see them in practice

• Gain a better understanding of how different games encourage different thought patterns

agenda

• Define “game”

• (to the best of our ability)

• Examine why games are worth playing

• Figure out what is motivating about games

• PLAY games

• ?????

• Profit

• Remember, this is a two way presentation

DEFINITION

• Has a reachable goal

• Has rules

• Has a defined domain space (area of play)

• Is meant for FUN (primarily)

• This doesn’t do much good

• Games have certain characteristics which make organizations interested in them

Game (gām), n. -

Games are motivating

Gaming can be a motivating and inspiring force for..• Continuing to play

• Artists & Musicians• Future game makers• Social experiences - arcades, LARP (more on that shortly)

Games are complex

Millions of gamers learn complex

controls like these in every game

games are engaging

...and it’s not about how high-end they are

games are ubiquitous

JesseSchell(see “DICE

2010: Design

Outside the Box”)

Look to success of:• I Love Bees• Foursquare• DARPA’s Red Balloons

games are social

• Games have always been social - D&D, Arcades• Most people enjoy playing some social game• A good way to connect with others• BUT... a social game doesn’t have be multiplayer

games are culturally significant

People can talk about games even if they

haven’t played them together

Famous games and game mechanics - GO!

People may find a game enjoyable because...

• It engages curiosity (“I wonder how this will play out”)

• It pulls players in quickly (“This doesn’t seem so hard”)

• It has an appealing narrative (“I want to experience this story”)

• It’s familiar (“I’ve seen this before”)

• It’s unfamiliar (“This is a great new idea”)

• It appeals to the achiever, explorer, killer or socialite

• See Richard Bartle’s “player types”

• Any other ideas?

a crash course in gaming• Will use simple games to engage discussions

about what gamers find fun

• General principals are consistent across genre -gamers often like many games of different types

• You - yes, you - will play these games

• Not a random sampling. These games can all be learned & played very quickly

• Try to be mindful of what you do and don’t enjoy. Don’t play into expectation, but answer questions

• Let’s play a game!

What did you (dis)like about this game?

I’m going to make some lists

Conclusion• We’ve discovered several different opinions

on several different games

• I hope this has offered perspectives on how to make games fun AND educational, eye-opening, etc.

• I also hope you better understand how people think about and play games

• Fun FIRST. Always

• Everyone else: I hope you had a bitchin’ good time

• And remember... games CAN solve our social issues!

well...

Most of them, anyway

I’d like to thank the academy...

• David Solomonoff and the Internet Society

• The people who have listened to this before

• Joly McFie (the videographer - grab his card)

• Fellow presenters

• The game players

• All of you who came specifically because I asked you to

Thanks to...

Call me, we’ll do lunch• thepezman@gmail.com

• I’m open for business

• Don’t have business cards on me, just great slides

but wait, there’s more!

y+30 Meetup!

• Panel: Internet Communication in 30 years• Organizer/Moderator: Yours truly• Venue: 92Y Tribeca• Date: December 13, 2010• Panelists: ??????

(google it)