Experience Points

Games for Adult Learning On today’s episode we’ll cover games for adult learning. Adult learning represents a substantial field of higher education. Though, in media and pop culture, they don’t often represent the quintessential college student.  That is often why games are not always included when discussing applications for adult learning and development. If you liked this episode please conside...

Decision Space On today’s episode we’ll cover the decision space in games. One can say that decisions are the heart of many games. It’s why we play: to see the impact of our actions. As game designers; we want to empower players to live their fantasies through our games.  If you liked this episode please consider commenting, sharing, and subscribing. Subscribing is absolutely free and ensures that...

Core Loops On today’s episode we’ll cover core loops in games. The core loop is what most players engage with and remember when they are playing your game. The core loop is the most engaging and active element of your design. The core loop matters whether creating the next great video game; table top game; or serious game. If you liked this episode please consider commenting, sharing, and subscrib...

Abstraction in Games On today’s episode we’ll cover abstraction in games. Abstraction is not something that we often think about deeply when we play games. Most of us play games for fun. That’s what most games are for. But abstraction is the heart of what makes games… games. If you liked this episode please consider commenting, sharing, and subscribing. Subscribing is absolutely free and ensures t...

Achievements On today’s episode we’ll cover achievements in games. Achievements in life are a way to commodify what we’ve accomplished. Some can say that achievements are the way that we commemorate a major life moment or event. But achievements in games are different. While we might recognize most of them occurring in video games; there are other ways to award achievements to players in games. If...

Score Points On today’s episode we’ll cover point scoring in games. Scoring points is something that most people are familiar with in games. Scoring can be as easy as earning money in Monopoly or scoring the longest road in Settlers of Catan . But scoring points overall is just one method of giving feedback to players based on their actions. Points can be used for so much more when they are integr...

The User Experience On today’s episode we’ll cover the User Experience. This episode is based on Celia Hodent’s post: Understanding the Success of Fortnite: A UX & Psychology Perspective . See the show notes or description for a link to the original article. If you liked this episode please consider commenting, sharing, and subscribing. Subscribing is absolutely free and ensures that you’ll ge...

Gaming with Motivation On today’s episode we’ll cover Gaming with Motivation. Intrinsic motivation is one of the most powerful motivating factors for people. Intrinsic motivation is what keeps players playing. They play for the love of the game instead of for a particular reward. But what is intrinsic motivation? What is motivation in general? This episode will address intrinsic vs. extrinsic moti...

Weaknesses of Games Based Learning On today’s episode we’ll cover Weaknesses of Games Based Learning. Games-based learning is a serious method for us to meet the needs of our students in way that is both engaging and impactful. However, there are still some limitations to games-based learning that need to be considered before educators can use it in practice. If you liked this episode please consi...

Make More Mistakes On today’s episode we’ll cover how we learn through games by making more mistakes. Mistakes happen to be just one part of life. They are something is common to anyone anywhere. We’ve all made mistakes at some point in our lives. Games are no different. In fact, games are hot beds for mistakes. If you liked this episode please consider commenting, sharing, and subscribing. Subscr...

Flow State On today’s episode we’ll cover the “flow state” we experience when playing games. Engaging in a state of “flow” is one of the most mesmerizing things that your players can do. They are engaged with your game. They are performing at the top of their ability. They are so engrossed that they begin to lose track of time. If you liked this episode please consider commenting, sharing, and sub...

Game Dynamics On today’s episode we’ll cover game dynamics. Dynamics and loops are some of the most important elements of your game design. When thinking about your game dynamics it’s important to consider the following two questions: 1) What actions can players take? 2) How do those actions help them achieve the game objectives? If you liked this episode please consider commenting, sharing, and s...

Game Theme On today’s episode we’ll cover game themes. Table top game designers often think of the question: what comes first, mechanics or theme? The same can be said about educators when it comes to developing curriculum: content or learning outcomes? If you liked this episode please consider commenting, sharing, and subscribing. Subscribing is absolutely free and ensures that you’ll get the nex...

Player Interaction On today’s episode we’ll cover Player Interaction. Player interaction is an important characteristic to consider when designing games. The designer has to answer the questions “How is the player going to interact with the game? How will the player interact with other players? What kind of decisions can the player make?” All of these questions should be answered when designing fo...

The Player Experience On today’s episode we’ll cover The Player Experience. The player experience is something that we all shoot for in game design. That’s because the player experience is what the player goes through when they play the game.  That experience can be as simple as gamified mechanics in gamification; a games-based learning class; a simulation; or a serious game. The player experience...

Game-Based Learning vs Gamification On today’s episode we’ll cover Game-Based Learning vs Gamification. Both gamification and games-based learning have entered popular culture. That means there’s been debate and misunderstanding about what they are; what they’re used for; and what differentiates them. Some people want to use games-based learning when they mean gamification. Others want to use gami...

Roguelike Learning On today’s episode we’ll cover “Rougelike Learning.”  There’s a special appeal to playing really hard games. Games were you have to grind it out over time to get anywhere. A type of those really hard games are called roguelikes. But what makes them hard? What makes them appealing? Most importantly: how can we use the difficulty of roguelike games for games-based learning? If you...

Play is Work On today’s episode we’ll cover the relationship between play and work. Games are a type of work if you think about it. We invest our time in games. We give games our attention. We give games our mental capacity. But why do we do that? If you liked this episode please consider commenting, sharing, and subscribing. Subscribing is absolutely free and ensures that you’ll get the next epis...

Motivation in the New Year On today’s episode I connect with my colleague Tim Collings from 4i Leadership on finding and capitalizing on motivation in the new year.  If you liked this episode please consider commenting, sharing, and subscribing. Subscribing is absolutely free and ensures that you’ll get the next episode of Experience Points delivered directly to you. I’d also love it if you took s...

Narratives, Toys, Puzzles, Games On today’s episode we’ll cover the differences and similarities between Narratives, Toys, Puzzles, and Games. Narratives, toys, puzzles, and games all share some similar characteristics. But what makes them different and how do games tie them all together?  If you liked this episode please consider commenting, sharing, and subscribing. Subscribing is absolutely fre...

Meaningful Choices On today’s episode we’ll cover Meaningful Choices. A more serious definition of games is that they are a collection of meaningful choices.  But these choices are often difficult to create. Choices can extend from many different things such as where a player should travel to; how they should spend their resources; and how a character is created and customized. If you liked this e...

Fun Factors On today’s episode we’ll cover fun factors in games. It’s no surprise when someone tells you that games are fun. Fun is one of the reasons that we play games. But what makes games fun and how can incorporate that into our designs? If you liked this episode please consider commenting, sharing, and subscribing. Subscribing is absolutely free and ensures that you’ll get the next episode o...

Fired Up Fiero On today’s episode we’ll cover that feeling of triumph called “Fiero” we get when playing games.  Have you experienced that feeling of triumph before? The one you get from completing a really difficult level or beating an experienced opponent? You know, when you throw your hands up over your head in triumph? That feeling is called fiero. If you liked this episode please consider com...

On today’s episode we’ll cover the gamer grind.  One of the most characteristic things about today’s crop digital games is the grind. The grind, grindyness, or grinding aspect of some games is an aspect that most gamers have experienced at one time or another. But what does that mean? How do players experience it? How can designers and educators of games-based learning address the grind in our des...

Achieve Explore Socialize Kill On today’s episode we’ll cover…. different player types: achievers, explorers, socializers, and killers.  Games and students have many things in common. One of the biggest commonalities are the type’s people they cater to. There will be the first year introductory courses that enroll mostly college freshmen. There are expansive games like Fortnite that appeal to comp...