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Nicholas Lovell
Home   >   Analysis and Opinion   >   Opinion   >   Gamification fails if we stop being playful

Gamification fails if we stop being playful

By on November 10, 2010

Michael French alerted me to this wonderful slide deck from Sebastian Deterding. I feared it was going to be a GamaSutra-reader style rant against casualisation, socialisation or the ending of the hegemony of self-appointed “hardcore gamers”.

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In fact, it was quite the reverse. A thoughtful run through why gamification is too simplistic, and in places misguided. Sebastian doesn’t argue the gamification is pointless. He does argue that we should watch for:

  • Unintended consequences (encouraging people to aim for the target, not the objective)
  • Removing the element of mastery from gaming (without which there is no long-term engagement)
  • Turning play into work (i.e. a total reversal of what gamification is trying to achieve)

It is a great presentation. I urge you to read it.

Pawned. Gamification and Its Discontents

View more presentations from Sebastian Deterding.

About Nicholas Lovell

Nicholas is the founder of Gamesbrief, a blog dedicated to the business of games. It aims to be informative, authoritative and above all helpful to developers grappling with business strategy. He is the author of a growing list of books about making money in the games industry and other digital media, including How to Publish a Game and Design Rules for Free-to-Play Games, and Penguin-published title The Curve: thecurveonline.com