These are my notes on this session from the Mobile GDC. It’s got significant overlap with the previous posting on this topic, but there’s a lot of new material too.
Amy Jo Kim and Scott Kim
Putting the Fun in Functional
Uses Zimmerman/Salen’s definition of game, but an informal definition is “a structured experience with rules and goals that’s fun.” Under that definition ebay is a game.
How do games shape behavior?
– They leverage primal response patterns — consider the slot machine, powerful behavior modifier, using schedules of reinforcement.
– They also engage us in flow, where the challenge needs to be between too high a challenge and too low a challenge.
