W.I.P: This will be further updated
We are all gamers now, we always have been some might say.
Game systems are as old as our species, maybe even older. Nature builds with them, we survive upon them. From a human perspective, 2014 has seen a significant pivotal shift in contemporary perception of Games; as entertainment, as an engagement tactic, as productivity enhancement.
As a tool for building a better society? Profitable, perhaps not. Necessary - I would argue yes.
There are a lot of things that games & playful experiences do really well; build meaning, trigger motivation, develop narratives, form identities, promote experimentation… we could go on…
Whether we’re talking about digital or live-action or conceptual games; too much time is spent in trying to convince infrastructure gatekeepers of the day that they shouldn’t be afraid of designing for serious, tangible impact with play in mind; than is spent actually building these systems.
Gamification, whilst useful and widely hailed as the way forward, doesn’t compensate for inherent weaknesses in processes and interactions that need to be designed better in order to be both engaging and useful to citizens and those responsible for providing essential services to them.
So I’d like to spend some time at LOTE to invite you, no matter your background or experience or age, to relay your encounters:
- with your most meaningful work
- the most effective methods you use in that work
- the people who are with you on that journey
- the greatest hurdles and obstacles in the way
- your motivation, incentives and purpose for pursuing that work.
Also to spend some time sharing with you some examples of how systems that can be played with have led to some incredible results across the world.
Finally, developing a few (or maybe just one really good) concepts for games which solve problems whilst we’re at LOTE.
My articulation in writing isn’t always great, so if any of the above is unclear, or you have further questions; please don’t hesitate to ask in the comments, or contact me directly.
Date: 2014-10-26 10:30:00 - 2014-10-26 10:30:00, Europe/London Time.
