Playful Creative
In April 2021, I was fortunate to attend a virtual conference, the ‘Playful Creative Summit’. This event was hosted by two game-based learning professionals Aleya Sandovar and David Chislett. Throughout the three-day summit, creative professionals from all over the world spoke about how they approach creativity and playfulness in their work. One presenter that stood out to me was Simón Duque – gamification designer and project lead at Octalysis Group.
Motivation Theories
Simón Duque’s talk focused on describing how Octalysis Group builds motivational elements into their products. While this conference was going on, I was enrolled in a course on human motivation. Simón’s presentation stood out to me so much because I was excited to see how the ideas he presented compared with the motivation models I was studying at the time. I am personally excited by gamified learning, so I found the fact that the Octalysis model specifically addresses motivation in a game setting engaging. While many traditional motivational theories focus on one approach to motivating people, the Octalysis ‘tool’ recognizes that different people are motivated in different ways. The tool strives to help game designers apply a wide variety of motivational tactics to appeal to a wide variety of players. Just like an instructional designer though, Simón made sure to mention that careful player analysis is key to success.
The Octalysis Tool
The Octalysis method of motivation identifies eight ‘core drives’ for players. Many players will have a mix of drives. On the other hand, some players feel de-motivated by some of the core drives. For instance, someone who is not competitive may feel de-motivated if competition seems to be the only motivational element in a game.
The Core Drives
- Ethical (greater Good)
- Development/ accomplishment
- Empowerment of Creativity and Feedback (incorporates choice)
- Ownership/Position (status or collection)
- Social Influence and Relatedness
- Scarcity and Invitations
- Unpredictability and Curiosity (thrill)
- Loss and Avoidance!
When arranged in the Octalysis tool, the core drives are grouped carefully. The top section features drives that focus on empowerment. The bottom three focus on task urgency. The left three are intrinsic motivators, while the right three are extrinsic.
Final Thoughts
Thinking about motivation within the environment of games brought the topic alive for me. Games are undeniably motivating, and thinking about broader, more traditional motivational theories when considering game design is helpful. However, having a tool that is specifically tailored toward game design is extremely helpful. I also appreciate that this tool recognizes and respects that different players have different drives rather than attempting to create an all-encompassing answer to the question of motivation.
