Secrets of amazingTransformational Games

Jesse Schell

Serious Play 2013

Step One:Admitting you

have a problem.

Game to teach Geography

Problems Potential Solutions

Lexica Goal Overview

Instill a love of reading

Break down barriers to reading

Exposure to booksand book characters

through questsand a rich 3D world

Find the right gateway book

Access to embedded games that teach reading skills of

syntax, vocabulary, and spelling

Practice reading skills

Episodic content to get players talking about

game + Content creation and sharing

between players

Change how reading is perceived

PlayForward: Goal Overview

1. Ability to look at a situation and see sources of potential trouble

2. Ability to envision outcomes and consequences of a situation

3. Ability to refuse others4. Understanding of relationship between social dynamics &

risk taking5. Exposure to some (limited) factual knowledge6. Appreciation for delayed gratification (choosing long

term goals over short term gains)7. Understanding of risk - 10% vs 20%; 1 time vs 10 times8. Creation of a personal aspirational life plan

“Hafta” “Wanna”

Slavery FreedomWork Play

Efficiency Pleasure

Seven ways games can make me care

1) Make me care by engaging my curiosity

2) Make me care by putting my ego on the line

3) Make me care by connecting with my fantasies

4) Make me care by getting me to make a plan

A plan is a real thing.

5) Make me care through “completion desire”

6) Make me care through social pressure

7) Make me care by letting me break the rules

Seven ways games can induce a transformation

1) Show a complex relationship

2) Repetition / Drill

3) Break down a barrier

4) Introduce Incidental Material

5) Put me in “real” contexts

6) Induce a “teachable moment”

7) “…the mind cannot ever be quite what it was before.”

Three Common Pitfalls

1) Bad Transformation Hypothesis

It doesn’t matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn’t matter how smart you are. If it doesn’t agree with experiment, it’s wrong.

-Richard Feynman

2) Fooling yourself about whether players care

3) Disconnect between Devs and Partner about scope

“minigame” “minigame”

Did it work?

1. “Feels Like It”

2. Anecdotes

3. SME’s say “yes”

4. Informal surveys say“yes”

5. Formal Testing verifies it

Ways To Make Me Care

1. Engage my Curiosity

2. Put My Ego on the Line

3. Connect with My Fantasies

4. Get Me to Make a Plan

5. Engage my Completion Desire

6. Social Pressure

7. Let me Break the Rules

Ways to Transform Me

1. Show a Complex Relationship

2. Repetition and Drill

3. Break Down a Barrier

4. Introduce Incidental Material

5. Put me in “Real” Contexts

6. Induce a Teachable Moment

7. Use the Slow Wedge

Things that can go wrong

1. Bad Transformation Hypothesis

2. Fooling Yourself About Whether the Players Care

3. Scope Disconnects Between Devs and SMEs

Thanks!Slides: jesseschell.comTwitter: @jesseschell

Email: jesse@schellgames.com