Actionable Gamification
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One of the things I like to do when playing financially successful games is to try and play them as seriously as I can while purposely resisting the pressure from the game design to spend money. There were many moments where I had an extremely strong urge to spend a few dollars just to save my time, save my troop, get through frustration, or eliminate some unpredictability.
And so I pay special attention to those moments in a game when I clearly feel a powerful compulsion to spend money in order to solve my problems (as well as boost my happy brain chemicals such as dopamine, endorphins, and oxytocin268)!
From these years of study I derived the 8 Core Drives and the accompanying concepts of White Hat/Black Hat and Left Brain/Right Brain Core Drives to demonstrate and reflect the tendencies and trends I’ve seen in games.
Later on I realized that each Core Drive had dozens of books dedicated to it and so I started reading more to understand their nature better.
Remember earlier we talked about how games are a combination of behavioral economics, motivational psychology, neurobiology, UX/UI (User Experience/User Interface) design, technology platforms, and the obvious game design dynamics? Again, you need all these elements to create a great game.
In this chapter, we will see how Octalysis applies to a variety of behavioral psychology and game design theories. For those newly learning about gamification or behavioral design, this chapter may feel a bit advanced. Don’t worry if you don’t remember or understand all the other frameworks. If you ever stumble upon them again in future settings, this chapter would have prepared you to digest them in a most holistic manner.
Octalysis View of Self-Determination Theory
Up to this point we have mentioned Ryan and Deci’s Self-Determination Theory several times. The Self-Determination Theory is a theory on motivation to understand our natural or intrinsic tendencies to behave in effective and healthy ways269. The theory demonstrates that people are not motivated purely through rewards and punishment, but are actually motivated more through three elements: Competence, Relatedness, and Autonomy.
Competence is the need to feel self-efficacy and experience mastery. Autonomy is the urge to be causal agents of one’s own life and control one’s own choices. Relatedness is the universal want to interact, be connected to, and experience caring for others.
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If you look at the theory from an Octalysis perspective, you will notice that Competence is in line with Core Drive 2: Development & Accomplishment. Following the same line of thought, Autonomy lends itself to Core Drive 3: Empowerment of Creativity and Feedback, while Relatedness naturally falls within Core Drive 5: Social Influence and Relatedness.
In the book Drive, Daniel Pink demonstrates a fourth component to this theory, which is Purpose. (He also re-terms Competence with the more appealing expression - Mastery271.) Again, with our Octalysis Glasses on, Purpose can be seen as directly connecting to Core Drive 1: Epic Meaning & Calling
The diagram above illustrates which Core Drives the Self-Determination Theory corresponds to in a graphical way. What becomes very clear in the diagram is that these elements are also considered White Hat Core Drives. By focusing on Relatedness, the Self-Determination Theory also incorporates Right Brain (Intrinsic) Motivation through Core Drive 5: Social Influence & Relatedness.
The Self-Determination Theory is a very good model that recognizes the power behind positive, White Hat, and intrinsic motivation. However, it does not necessarily explain why people are addicted to gambling or why exclusivity itself often drives our behaviors. Though the theory covers all the positive emotions within motivation, it does not include the “dark side” of behavior, which is demonstrated in the form of the Black Hat Core Drives (which are generally considered “non self-determined” motivations272).
This actually makes a lot of sense, given that the Self-Determination Theory focuses on motivating employees and students, especially towards creative work. For this purpose, the theory is a powerful framework to help guide companies towards creating long-term White Hat motivational environments for their workers.
We learned from the Chapter 14 that since employee motivation requires long-term engagement, we should generally apply White Hat Core drives to its design. That said, there are some Black Hat motivational techniques that companies also use to motivate their employees towards short-term productivity bursts (e.g. scarcity of opportunities, deadlines, social pressure, competition). The Self-Determination Theory does not focus on these, as this type of motivation could lead to long-term burnout if applied incorrectly.
With that said, a framework like Octalysis allows you to put the Self-Determination Theory into broader perspective and understand what it covers and what it doesn’t cover in order to expand and fine-tune your understanding of human behavior.
Richard Bartle’s Four Player Types
Another very well known study in the realm of game design is Richard Bartle’s Four Player Types273. Richard Bartle is a game researcher who invented the first MUD (Multi-User Dungeon) game during the 1970’s, which evolved into the role-playing games (RPGs) we know today. He realized that within a virtual environment there tends to be four main groups of players doing four distinct types of activities.
There are the Achievers who try to master everything there is to do within the game system. There are the Explorers that just want to go out and explore all the content in the world but aren’t as focused on overcoming challenges. There are the Socializers who are really in the virtual world just to interact with each other, have conversations, and build companionship. And then there are the Killers - players that not only strive to reach the top, but take glory in beating down the competition in the process. Furthermore, they need to bask in their victories and be admired by all.
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Many people who work in gamification as well as game design build on Richard Bartle’s Four Player types. Game designer Amy Jo Kim is known to use Richard Bartle’s Player Types, evolving them into Kim’s Social Action Matrix275. In this model, Kim assigns verbs and actions to various Player Types to determine how to design a fun and engaging environment within games. Those action verbs became: Explore, Create, Compete, and Collaborate. (Try to see how those action verbs correspond to various Core Drives.)
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Andrzej Marczewski is also an influencer in the gamification field who has done extensive research to build upon Richard Bartle’s Player Types for the enterprise workplace. He has derived six User Types to design for: Disruptors, Philanthropists, Free Spirits, Socializers, Achievers, and Players277. Each of these User Types are more motivated by different activities and experiences.
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This model is often recommended for workplace environments, as Richard Bartle himself has said that his Player Types may not be appropriate for environments outside of voluntary virtual worlds279.
For simplicity’s sake, let’s take an Octalysis look at Richard Bartle’s Four Player Types to understand what Core Drives motivate each player type. This will help you determine how to better design for these player types.
Achievers are driven heavily by Core Drive 2: Development and Accomplishment as well as Core Drive 6: Scarcity and Impatience. They’re always trying to complete their next goal, which makes them feel accomplished when they do. Of course, to some extent they also care about using their creativity to overcome challenges, as well as accumulating the results of their success (Core Drives 3 and 4).
Explorers are dominantly motivated by Core Drive 7: Unpredictability & Curiosity, which drives them to discover novel content that they haven’t seen before. There are also seeds of Core Drive 2, 3, and 6. They continuously use their creativity to find new ways to test every boundary that constrains them, and when they succeed, they are fulfilled by a sense of accomplishment.
Socializers are primarily motivated by Core Drive 5: Social Influence and Relatedness. They like to mingle with others and bond. To a smaller extent, they are also driven to think up clever ways to
engage others more (Core Drive 3), they enjoy new or unpredictable information or even gossip (Core Drive 7), and sometimes becomes territorial with their friends (Core Drive 4).
Finally, Killers are primarily motivated by a mix of Core Drive 2: Development & Accomplishment and Core Drive 5: Social Influence of Relatedness. They not only need to strive for high goals, but they need others to recognize their accomplishments and acknowledge their superiority. In a smaller sense, they are also driven to come up with the best way to defeat the competition (Core Drive 3), avoid being killed or seen as weak themselves (Core Drive 8), and ultimately, to count their wins and victories (Core Drive 4).
With the chart above, we can better understand what uniquely motivates these player types and can design appropriate Game Techniques for them. Later in your Octalysis journey, you will begin to invest a significant amount of effort in defining your own Player Types and designing systems that uniquely appeal to them with Level 3 Octalysis. (Unfortunately, we won’t be able to cover that within the scope of this book.)
So what about the other Core Drives that are not covered above, namely Epic Meaning & Calling, and to some extent Loss & Avoidance?
Core Drive 1: Epic Meaning & Calling can be utilized by any of the Player Types: to achieve their goals of reaching a higher target, becoming more respected by their friends, exploring new areas, as well as defeating weaker players.
It is simply the context to be in the game environment in the first place. But since Richard Bartle was creating an open virtual world, there doesn’t seem to be any real sense of higher missions beyond virtual world idealism.
Sometimes a smaller sense of Epic Meaning & Calling is created when users within a virtual world band together for a higher mission that they believe in. But this is independent of the player types studied here.
In Andrzej Marczewski’s model, there is a unique user type within the workplace called Philanthropists, which are individuals who derive joy, hence play, from helping others. They are motivated by Core Drive 1: Epic Meaning & Calling, and companies should encourage behavior from Philanthropists to ensure more collaborative efforts and stronger teamwork. Unfortunately, most company environments punish Philanthropists while rewarding those who are exclusively going after their own extrinsic rewards. These Players in Andrzej Marczewski’s model, are highly motivated by Core Drive 4: Ownership & Possession, where the aim is to maximize their bonuses, rewards, promotions, and pay raises.
In terms of Core Drive 8: Loss & Avoidance, there are always threats for not succeeding in any endeavor. Especially, as mentioned earlier, when Killers try to avoid being humiliated. However, there is no real player type that focuses on avoiding bad things. As we have learned, if you are only motivated by Black Hat Drives, you will not want to be in an open and voluntarily virtual world in the first place. That’s often a different story for the workplace.
At the end of the day, these eight Core Drives motivate all of us to some extent, as we universally crave these Core Drives in different measures at different times. The Octalysis Framework allows us to understand whether certain Core Drives are stronger with certain people, so that we can be aware and design for these differences appropriately.
Nicole Lazzaro’s 4 Keys To Fun
The 4 Keys to Fun is another design framework created by game designer and President of XEODesign Nicole Lazzaro280. Lazzaro spent many years researching and designing engaging games. Based on her experience, she has derived four types of fun that engage people within games.
The 4 Keys to Fun are: Hard Fun, Easy Fun, People Fun, and Serious Fun.
Hard Fun is joy that is derived from overcoming a frustration and achieving the Win-State. This puts players in a state of Fiero, the feeling of triumph over adversity.
Easy Fun is the fun from doing interesting activities where you don’t need to try very hard and can simply enjoy the relaxing and playful experience. This is commonly seen in games children enjoy with their parents, such as board games or drawing.
Serious Fun is fun that is engaging because it makes real world differences such as improving oneself, making more money or creating an impact in the environment.
Lastly, People Fun is fun that you have because you are interacting with other people and forming relationships.
If you again try to understand this with your Octalysis Glasses on, you will see that Hard Fun is a combination of Core Drive 2: Development & Accomplishment, as well as Core Drive 6: Scarcity & Impatience – the difficulty and frustration of reaching the Win-State is what drive user motivation as well as the sense of achievement after accomplishing it.
Easy Fun is like a combination of Core Drive 3: Empowerment of Creativity & Feedback as well as Core Drive 7: Unpredictability and Curiosity. It’s like playing with clay or Legos where you can do anything you want and can’t really lose. Whatever you do you are winning because you are enjoying your time and seeing feedback from your creativity.
Situations with inherent randomness also inspire curiosity and make things fun and easy. Playing games like Yahtzee or watching a cartoon makes us enjoy our time without really needing to put in a lot of effort and focus. In fact, in the game design industry it is known that one of the best ways to make a game easier (penalizing hardcore competitive players but benefiting mainstream casual players) is to add more randomness and chance to the game281. A father can play a dice game seriously with his five year old daughter without always winning, but he likely needs to go easy on her if he is playing chess against her.
On the other hand, Serious Fun can be interpreted as a combination of Core Drive 1: Epic Meaning and Calling as well as Core Drive 4: Ownership and Possession.
Epic Meaning & Calling is derived when one is engaged with an activity because they see its real impact in the world. In the case of activities that are exhilarating because they make you money every time you engage them, it is the result of Core Drive 4: Ownership & Possession.
People Fun is generally a combination of the obvious Core Drive 5: Social Influence & Relatedness and to some extent Core Drive 8: Loss & Avoidance.
This is because when you are collaborating with people, you are under a bit more stress while you are trying to avoid looking bad, saying the wrong things, being shunned, or losing your position on a leaderboard. Fun competition also extends out of People Fun, and the thrill of hide-and-seek or catch is often derived from a moderate level of Core Drive 8: Loss & Avoidance.
Of course, I was motivated by a sense of “completeness” (Core Drive 4) to match up all 8 Core Drives with each type of fun corresponding to the 4 Keys To Fun model. If you feel that Core Drive 8: Loss & Avoidance isn’t unique to People Fun, I am willing to accept that as well.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow Theory
I think it is a good time to move on to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow Theory. Csikszentmihalyi is a world-renowned scholar in the fields of psychology and management science, and is best known for creating the Flow Theory which combines the factors of a user’s skill level to the difficulty of the challenge.
The Flow theory illustrates that when the difficulty of a challenge is too high compared to a user’s skill level, the result is a sense of anxiety which may compel the user to drop out quickly. Similarly, if the user’s skill level is dramatically higher than the difficulty of the challenge, the user will feel bored and may also drop out.
Only when the user’s skill level is balanced with the difficulty of the challenge, do they enter the state known as Flow. During Flow, users become completely focused. They “zone in” on their activities, loosing their sense of self, as well as loosing track of time. This is a moment of euphoria, excitement, and engagement.
The tricky thing here is that, more often than not, the player’s skill level increases as time goes by. If the designer gives the exact same experience throughout the 4 Experience Phases (Discovery, Onboarding, Scaffolding, Endgame) the user quickly ends up being bored because they’ve outpaced the difficulty level.
As you can see here, the zone at the top of the Flow is where the challenge is much more difficult than the player can handle. This is driven by a feeling of Core Drive 8: Loss & Avoidance, where users are really just struggling to survive. As we already know, this puts people in a state of extreme anxiety.
Now if you slightly decrease the difficulty relative to the user’s skill level, we now enter the zone of Core Drive 6: Scarcity & Impatience. At this point the user feels challenged and occasionally frustrated. However, there is always a chance for them to overcome the challenge and achieve the Win-State, as long as they take action quickly and surpass a Moat (Game Technique #67) through skill or planning.
Right below Core Drive 6 we have Core Drive 2: Development & Accomplishment. This is the zone where the challenge is moderate and the user feels accomplished and competent. The user is in the Flow and they feel like they are achieving their goals and building their confidence.
A little further down we have Core Drive 3: Empowerment of Creative & Feedback. This is at the heart of Flow where users are again tapping their creativity and adjusting their strategy to discover better ways to do things. This process puts many people in the state of Flow, especially when it rotates quickly between Core Drive 3 and Core Drive 2 - when their creativity lead to accomplishments.
Moving down one level from Core Drive 3, you have Core Drive 4: Ownership & Possession, which is often the mindless act of collecting things, organizing things, and putting things together - what you often do in Farmville-like games. This is usually a lot easier in terms of difficulty, relative to the user skill set and will relax the mind.