T.J. Cook

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5 Mar 2011

Casino Training
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Went to a party at Chuck E. Cheese's today. Yes, one of those parties.
Does anyone else feel like half the games in Chuck E. Cheese's are casino training simulations? Dump a coin in here, maybe you'll get the jackpot by rolling it into the octopus's mouth. That's craps. Drop it in here and then hit the big button at the right time to catch the swirling light. That's roulette.

I'm proud to say Kenny stayed away from those games and wanted to try those that tested skill: racing, football toss, shoot 'em ups. Not that those games get off scott free, of course.

All games balance chance and skill. The ones that form bad addictions are those that trick us into thinking there is a good balance when in fact your skill couldn't matter less.

Darn addicting mechanisms.

Chuck E. Cheese, com'on, man.
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23 Feb 2011

Shadow Cities - location-based MMORPG
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via techcrunch.com

I don't put a lot of stock in apps that require such a real-world level of effort as this--but then again, Foursquare is still around because it gives users fake stuff for doing virtual things...
Something that turns an entire city into a massive game could indeed be special--if it every reaches a critical mass of users.
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21 Feb 2011

Essential Experience
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Whatever you're designing: whether a marketing campaign, a mobile app, a family, or a country--it's good start by thinking about what the essential experience of your audience, users, members, or citizens is going to be. Don't start with features or even with user stories. All those come after you decide what the essential experience is going to be.
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20 Feb 2011

Games are Stupid; Long Live Game Thinking
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How stupid are games?
Very. People give of their lives to conquer a constructed, false world in order to receive meaningless badges, rewards, and points. People spend tons of money on this pursuit. They forsake friends. They avoid society. They insulate within countless digital cocoons that never transform into something truly alive. Games are stupid. And yet.
We need to depend more upon them. They are much better at motivating than the current structures that seek to motivate, mobilize, and provide meaning for us in order to conquer the kingdoms of social issues. Consider: People will devote a large portion of time, energy, and money to a game. Do we do the same for work?
Perhaps we need to turn work into meaningful games.
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17 Feb 2011

Plusoneme.com, "Gold stars for grownups."
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Sometimes specific, public praise is just the right touch for a situation.
http://plusoneme.com gets it.
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17 Feb 2011

What is Game Thinking?
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Just got off a Skype call with a friend I greatly respect--someone who has created a successful and growing business, written a best selling business book, and impacted countless organizations through bootcamps and consultations around the world.

Our conversation was around an idea I had for a book, and he got to the heart of the matter very quickly by asking, "Do you have a definition of 'Game Thinking' you could point me to so I can start to wrap my head around this." In other words, he was interested in my ramblings but not clear about their focus.

This one's for you, Sam.

What is Game Thinking?

Game thinking is the art of applying the best approaches in game design to the systems of real life.
- Game thinking focuses on an individual user's experience within a system, and designing systems around an optimal experience for each user.
- Game thinking places a high value on what rewards will best contribute to both a user's experience and the system's efficiency.
- Game thinking knows that weaving a story into the fabric of a system is an important part of that system being sticky and meaningful for those working within it.
- Game thinking builds collaborative economies working toward common goals rather than combative systems that create winners and losers.
- Game thinking seeks to define the entire system differently rather than simply applying game mechanics to a part of it. In this way game thinking will most likely change the process within systems, not add on to existing ones.
- Game thinking provides users within systems the ability to stay in a state of flow. This flow fosters a culture of innovation and empowerment.
Because game thinking is an approach to problems rather than a method for solving them, it can be applied to any industry, system, or problem.
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16 Feb 2011

Are games a better framework for learning?
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via q2l.org

Quest to Learn is a new school built around the idea that games make a better framework for designing the education experienc than factories.
I tend to agree, but before seeing this school I wasn't sure what the application could look like. The models and methods I'm seeing from the site and different case studies around the web are inspiring to say the least, speaking as a former public schoolteacher.
What do you think about this school and the emerging model?
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8 Feb 2011

Game Thinking is not a fad, it's a growing recognition
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From Jane McGonigal's Reality is Broken, my emphasis:

Where, in the real world, is that gamer sense of being fully alive, focused, and engaged in every moment? Where is the gamer feeling of power, heroic purpose, and community? Where are the bursts of exhilarating and creative game accomplishment? ...they experience them almost constantly when they’re playing their favorite games.

Those attributes of a gamer sure sound like the attributes that we as champions of great causes desire from each person vested in our mission, our goal, the future reality we're striving for.
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5 Mar 2011

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What is Game Thinking?

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