7 Essential Resources for Understanding Motivation...

Travis L. Ross on Apr 4, 2013
Motivation is an important topic for game designers and social scientists. Many herald the ability of games to motivate players through incentive systems, by fulfilling intrinsic needs, capturing attention, or hooking into evolved motivational...

What do *you* look at when you play Tetris?

Jared Lorince on Jul 15, 2012
Well, if you're an expert player it's almost certainly different than what novice players pay attention to, and that's exactly what the psychological literature on expertise would predict. Researchers looking at everything from athletes to burglars...

Eight Mechanics to Enhance Cooperation in Multipla...

Travis L. Ross on Jul 6, 2011
As we move through the world we sometimes find ourselves in interactions where what is best for ourselves is not best for those around us. Pollution, overuse of resources, the maintenance of roads, and welfare for the poor and unfortunate are all...

Social Games & Gamification: The McDonaldizati...

Jim Cummings on Apr 13, 2011
If someone asked me what the two hottest topics in gaming have been over the last twelve months, I’d likely point to 1) social games and 2) gamification.  Each of these topics have increasingly been on the minds and lips of players,...

GDC Monday: Raph Koster – 40 Social Mechanics fo...

Travis L. Ross on Mar 3, 2011
I realize that I am a day or two behind with my coverage, but I want to provide some real though on the implications of what is going on here so hopefully you all don't mind waiting a little while for me to, at least attempt to, generate some...

Reciprocal Altruism & the Need to Belong

Travis L. Ross on Dec 22, 2010
Recently, I posted about the ethics of online games. The post itself was sparked by a flurry of posts among game industry news sources about the "ethical" responsibilities of game developers and the unscrupulous nature of social network games like...