Why are you interested in games?
I’ve been asked this question a lot, lately, partially because of my upcoming class on LEGO Serious Play at Autodesk University and partially for my growing involvement with the Event Horizon School of Digital Arts. A friend recently asked if they could introduce me at a conference as a “gamification expert”. And I had to answer “no”. Not because I don’t consider myself an expert (which is true, but it’s also my imposter syndrome speaking), but because the g-word carries a lot of baggage, and personally I prefer to say I work through game thinking. What’s the difference, you ask? Well, I’m glad you did.
Gamification vs. Game Thinking
Gamification and game thinking are two approaches that draw inspiration from games, yet they have different goals, methods, and applications. While both concepts utilize elements of game design to engage and motivate people, they operate in distinct ways, often leading to different outcomes.
Gamification refers to the application of game elements in non-game contexts to increase user engagement, motivation, and participation. These elements can include badges, leaderboards, rewards, levels, challenges, and progress tracking. Gamification is often used in marketing, education, productivity apps, and employee engagement initiatives, and it’s tricky because it will fall flat or backfire if it isn’t introduced within the correct company culture. The goal is to make mundane tasks more enjoyable by introducing incentives and competition, but people won’t enjoy themselves if the company is toxic, no matter how many badges you create for them.
For example, fitness apps often use gamification by allowing users to earn points for completing workouts, compete against friends on leaderboards, and unlock badges for reaching milestones. By incorporating these elements, the app encourages users to exercise more regularly, turning a routine task into a rewarding and engaging experience.
Game thinking, on the other hand, is a broader and deeper concept that involves designing systems, products, or experiences with the principles and psychology of game design at their core. Rather than merely adding game-like elements to an existing system, game thinking focuses on creating an experience that intrinsically motivates users through a journey, challenges, and mastery. While gamification tweaks and fine-tunes (and often just embellishes), game thinking is about understanding what makes games so compelling and then applying that understanding to solve problems or create innovative solutions in non-game contexts. It encompasses things like behavioral psychology and user-centered design (more on that later), and places its emphasis is on creating meaningful and engaging experiences that resonate with users on an emotional level.
For example, in the context of a learning platform, game thinking would not simply add badges or points to motivate students but would involve designing an experience where students feel a sense of autonomy, mastery, and purpose, much like players do in a well-designed game. The platform might include adaptive challenges, narrative-driven content, and a sense of progression that keeps students intrinsically motivated to continue learning.
In these following days we’ll see some key difference between gamification and game thinking, and I’ll try to articulate why I like the latter better.
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