Course description
Accessible Gamification
See your favorite games like never before!
Ever wondered why farming for a mighty sword in a fantasy game feels entertaining and fun while filling out reporting documents – a seemingly similar repetitive activity – is incredibly boring? If so, you are not alone!
The vast field of Gamification applies techniques and patterns from fundamental mechanics of game design to non-game contexts in order to make business tasks more fun for a user. This can lead to increased efficiency and accuracy and even facilitate better health by reducing exhaustion.
However, there is one particular requirement that often becomes a hurdle for Gamification efforts: meeting accessibility requirements.
In this computer science course, we will investigate this use case closer and derive a new set of patterns that are representation-agnostic. You will learn the fundamentals of Gamification and accessibility, as well as lessons in game development and game design. We will take a look at popular digital games and draw patterns from their game design and game mechanics.
By the end of this course, you will have gained a better grasp on the problem at hand and learn patterns and techniques to deploy gamification in a broader and more abstract scope.
But be warned: you might see your favorite digital games like you never saw them before – as a wired, but well-tailored, combination of reward, development, discover and challenge.
Upcoming start dates
Suitability - Who should attend?
Prerequisites
Some software development and web development experience.
Bonus: Having played some games will help a lot.
Outcome / Qualification etc.
What you'll learn
- What Gamification is and how it relates to common business processes
- Basics of Digital Accessibility and how it interacts with Gamification
- How to derive Game Design Patterns from popular digital games
Training Course Content
Week 1: Gamification
- Games and fun
- Gamification
- Quest: real-world examples for motivation
- Players: Bartle
- Quest: genres & players; classification quiz
- Beyond Bartle
- Quest: Analyze some games you play! / What kind of player are you?
Week 2: Accessible Gamification
- Gamification Concepts
- Quest: Sample Business Process
- Gamification Requirements
- Quest: Picture Show: real world examples. Is there gamification involved?
- Accessibility: personalisation vs accessibility; Universal Design; gamification and accessibility.
- Quest: find collisions of accessibility & gamification
Week 3: Game Design Patterns
- One Step Back
- Quest: game design vs game mechanics
- Reward
- Quest: examples: Dungeon Crawler
- Discovery
- Quest: Examples: Space Sims
- Challenge
- Quest: examples: RTS
- Development
- Quest: Examples: MMOG
- Action space
- Quest: examples: FPS
- Quest: pick a game of your choice and dissect it
Week 4: Examples: Reward & Challenge
- Reward: immediate & measurable; designing reward (Skinner box, achievements, exclusivity)
- Quest: showcase: RPG quest rewards
- Challenge: business process vs gamification; designing challenge
- Quest: showcase: Casual “Arkanoids”
- Applications for the web
- Quest: design a quest for an RPG
Week 5: Examples: Action Space & Development
- Action space: action space models; action space pollution
- Quest: TCG strategies
- Development: characters and history; visuals; economy
- Quest: MMOG characters
- Applications for the web
- Quest: take a look at your web browser and its action space
Course delivery details
This course is offered through The Georgia Institute of Technology, a partner institute of EdX.
2-3 hours per week
Expenses
- Verified Track -$49
- Audit Track - Free