Book Review. Game Frame. Lv. 2 – Structure

Last week I talked about how play is exploratory yet purposeful.  This week I will talk more about games and how we can use their structure to fine tune our life experiences.

So what is the difference between play and games?  The function of play is to seek out and acknowledge rules in a particular setting.  A game usually starts with a set of rules within which play occurs.  I tend to think of games as structured play because they consist of notable elements:

1. Games are an activity that can be learned.

2. The player can be measured.

3. Feedback on the players performance can be delivered in a timely fashion.

Many activities can be a game.  Even cooking can be a game.  While watching Aaron Dignan’s presentation on his book Game Frame I had a laugh when he mentioned cooking can be a game.  It certainly can.  In fact, I have taught video-game-loving teenagers how to cook by using game structure.  Building their skills from Lv.1 “Dishwasher” to Lv.10 “The King’s Chef.”

However, using the structure inherent in games is far more expansive than motivating teenagers to chop vegetables.  Games tap into our instinctual desire to improve skills and experience progress.  Here is an illustration of the “Game Frame” I adapted from Aaron Dignan’s presentation.

After taking a long look at this structure I started thinking about places in my life, and life in general, where some of these elements are not clear.

Games do not have this problem.  There is a balance that keeps us enthralled. Lets take a quick look at all the elements:

Objective: What are you setting out to do?

Outcome: What happens if you win?  What happens if you lose?

Activity: Cooking, Cards, etc.

Player Profile: Who is playing the game?

– The Skill Cycle. Represented by the dark blue tiles.  Every game has a cycle which consists of the players action, evaluation (black box), and feedback.

Action: Chopping vegetables, drawing a card, etc.

Black Box: A determination of value. Did you  over cook the brocoli? Does your hand beat your opponents?

Feedback: Explaining the value determination. e.g. “Yes, you overcooked the brocoli try doing this next time instead.”  Or, “no your hand doesn’t beat your opponents. Next time in that situation the odds of getting a straight are better.”

-The Inner Tiles

Skills: What will you be using? Fine motor, dexterity, mental math, counting cards?

Resources: What ingredients will you have at your disposal? How many cards are you dealt?

Resistance: You can fail.

Of all the elements Feedback and Resistance are particularly important.

Feedback should be delivered immediately when possible.  And really, that is how nature works.  To try this out, open your hand and smack yourself in the face.  Ouch, that stings.  Now imagine the sting sensation didn’t come until hours later.  You might not learn to stop slapping yourself for a while.

Without resistance there is no sustaining experiential value.  As they say, “anything worth having is worth fighting for,” implying the chance of failure.  This can be motivational or overwhelming.  How we react to resistance has a lot to do with how clear we understand the other elements of the game.  The same can be said about life.

It looks like I will have to write one more post to conclude this topic.  There are some life experiences I want to share and also some neat products which are using game structure. See you all next week.

P.S. Here is an app I found that seems to use some of the principles I’ve described. Just a word of caution, the term “gamify” and “gamification” are being used pretty loosely as a marketing buzz word.

Take a look at the product and compare it to the Game Frame structure. Does it make the elements clear?  Does it use incentives to bribe your behaviors?  Does it lock you into the skill cycle?