Gamification Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass of Player Motivation
Welcome back to Wonderland, dear travelers! Today, we're not just playing games – we're diving into the rabbit hole of player motivation. After all, what good is a mad tea party without guests brimming with curiosity and thirst for adventure?
Meet the Mad Hatter's Menagerie of Players:
Like the quirky characters who populate Wonderland, players come in all shapes and sizes, driven by vastly different desires. Understanding these motivations is critical to crafting a content game that captivates everyone.
Enter the Bartelian Labyrinth:
One beneficial map comes from gamification researcher Richard Alan Bartel, who devised the Bartel Model. This model categorizes players into four distinct types:
Explorers: These whimsical Alice-like souls crave discovery, novelty, and a twist on the familiar. Think riddles, hidden paths, and unexpected encounters with talking birds!
Achievers: Driven by progress, goals, and tangible rewards, achievers are the Mad Hatters of the bunch, always striving for a perfect tea party. Points, badges, and leaderboards are their catnip!
Socializers: Like the White Rabbit chattering away, socializers thrive on interaction, collaboration, and sharing. Give them forums, group challenges, and opportunities to learn from each other!
Killers: These Cheshire Cat-esque players wield strategy, competition, and a laser focus on winning. Puzzles, boss battles, and high-stakes challenges are their cup of tea (or poison, depending on the outcome!).
Painting the Roses Red with Motivation:
Imagine your content as a vast Wonderland landscape. Can every player type find something that speaks to their soul?
For Explorers: Plant seeds of curiosity with hidden codes, secret levels, and unexpected twists in your narrative.
For Achievers: Erect mountains of progress bars, award shiny virtual trophies, and track their ascent to the top of the leaderboard.
For Socializers: Build bridges of shared tasks, collaborative challenges, and forums buzzing with lively discussions.
For Killers: Hone their blades with strategic puzzles, challenging riddles, and high-stakes competitions where only the fittest survive.
Beyond the Model:
A Wonderland of Character: Bartel's model is just the beginning. In Wonderland, we delve deeper, crafting rich characters that players can identify with and relate to. Stereotypes, prior knowledge, and relatable narratives all play a part in forging connections that drive motivation.
Remember the econoME financial training workshop? We challenged participants to question their assumptions about money and value by assigning financial profiles to diverse characters.
This deeper understanding fueled their engagement and learning through the game.
The Verdict:
A Mad Hatter's Toast to Motivation: When it comes to gamification, understanding your players is the potion that makes the tea party genuinely magical. Use the Bartel Model as a compass, but remember to explore hidden paths, invent fantastical characters, and infuse your content with endless curiosity. Only then will your Wonderland captivate all players, from the dreamy explorers to the cunning killers.
Dear readers, are you ready to embark on a quest for player motivation?
May your gamification adventures be as mad, merry, and motivating as a Cheshire Cat grin!
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