In today's world, gamification has made its way into virtually every corner of society. It's not just confined to dating apps. You will find games embedded in productivity tools, language-learning apps, and even in programs that help you manage household chores.
We sat down with Mike Tinney, Founder and CEO of FIX Health, the company behind the popular wellness app, A Step Ahead, to discuss five ways in which gamification has become a transformative force and what it takes to develop a winning game that also has societal utility.
#1: Original games had a purpose: to teach
According to Tinney, if you look back at the history of games, the earliest games all had a teaching goal in mind. From Hide and Seek to chess, these games constructed paradigms that required excellence at the core behavioral level to succeed. The person who became the very best at hiding usually won hide and seek. The player who could think more moves ahead and calculate the correct risk-appropriate sacrifices usually won their chess match. Some games you find on your phone's app store have strayed from this core tenet, but really great games always have a core behavioral goal at their foundation.
Tinney emphasizes the importance of understanding the historical origins of games as a fundamental aspect of developing a great game. "Games were a teaching instrument back in the day," said Tinney. "To use the Hide and Seek example again, it is a survival game that taught children in a hunter-gatherer society. Monopoly was originally designed as a critique against property ownership in a capitalist society. It was about how capitalism ultimately squeezes everybody out. And don't even get me started on Musical Chairs."
#2: To build a great game, split your vision between what happens next and how you win
You're focusing on a core behavior pattern. That has to have an engaging 'immediate' level of interaction and reward. It also has to have a long view victory or completion condition. And the two have to be on the same continuum. It's disruptive to the user experience if they're radically different and not aligned with each other.
As an illustration of how a game with societal significance can emerge from trying to address a common problem, Tinney recounted the genesis of FIX Health. "About 13 years ago, I was prepping for a 10K and I started to wonder if I could improve my prep (running 2-4x a week in a training format) by making each run part of a larger game," said Tinney. "I wanted to validate my hypothesis that if one could take a physical exercise chore and make it as immediately gratifying as any top tier video game, one could change how motivated a person would be to make that exercise a daily priority."
Tinney's hunch ended up paying off. His team at FIX Health ended up building a six-week corporate health game with a 94.4% completion rate, which is remarkably high. "For us, disrupting the status quo is the norm," said Tinney. "And that has resulted in us having the best sign-up and completion rates in the industry."
#3: Simple is hard
One of Tinney's most important rules to follow in game development is, "Don't fix a flawed game mechanic with another rule." In other words, if something isn't working the way you want it to work, don't layer another rule on top of it. "Instead, correct it," said Tinney. "Break it back down to its core, and try to fix it."
Another of Tinney's core principles is, "Just because the rule is good doesn't mean it belongs in your game." A simple example would be Marco Polo. "In the pool, you're making noise and sounding off," said Tinney. "It's a fine rule, but if you put that rule in Hide and Seek, with the regular rules, it would be terrible, because you're supposed to be quiet in that game."
Tinney also maintains that games don't have to be fun, but they do have to be rewarding. "There are plenty of games that get really frustrating for users. They get angry," said Tinney. "But whatever barrier they are facing, once they get through it, they feel great, they feel accomplished. So when people say, 'Games need to be fun,' in my opinion, that's a myth. Games need to be rewarding. That's what creates the dopamine feedback loop in the brain. Not the fun part."
#4: Gamification is not a game
"The popular buzzword 'gamification'... it's a trap," Tinney elaborated. "Gamification is layering game-based feedback loops on a non-game experience. Things like leaderboards and badges are commonly slapped on top of an otherwise plain software experience."
He went on to explain that if you're chasing those 90+% engagement rates, you'll need foundational principles of game design involved as well. Things like escalation, unpredictable results, social interaction, accrued value, replayability, and a good flywheel. While a good game does not need all of these elements in its foundation, it does need more than zero.
#5: Prioritize Product Excellence Over Product Marketing
According to Tinney, the key to great gamification in the wellness world is to offer an experience in the corporate channel that feels exactly like a consumer product. "Many wellness programs rely on channel placement or partnerships to 'shovel' their platforms into the hands of employee users," said Tinney. "We rely on product excellence: Something that looks, feels, and behaves like a game people would pick up and play on their own."
About Mike Tinney
Mike Tinney is the Founder and CEO of FIX Health, which powers A Step Ahead, a wellness app that leverages technology and the expertise of FIX Health's team of health professionals to help individuals take control of their health and wellness. Under Tinney's leadership, FIX Health has become a trusted partner for SMBs seeking to provide cost-efficient and fun ways for their teams to stay healthy. To join in the fun, please visit: https://astepaheadchallenge.com/challenges/
