The Gamification Starter Kit

 

The gamification of learning is more than just building games into learning. It is a systematic process of using strategies that are based on the principles of good game design. The Game the System™ Model in this Starter Kit guides you through the process of gamified learning design.

Whether you are a new or seasoned learning professional, instructional designer, corporate trainer or adult educator, The Gamification Starter Kit will help you to quickly and easily learn how to adapt a gamification strategy for your programs.

By following the 5-step plan, you are essentially assured a successful outcome.

Meet Nick, your guide for this adventure. Nick is the great-grandson of the infamous pirate Captain Nathaniel Wilson. For years, Nick sat at the feet of his grandfather and listened spell-bound to the colorful stories of his notorious ancestor who would fight recklessly and plunder mercilessly. The tales were full of Captain Wilson winning fights, burying gold and treasure, and bragging about his exploits at Pirate Pete’s Tavern. To Nick, Captain Nathaniel Wilson must have been the most fearsome Pirate of the High Seas!

Nick never knew for sure if the stories were fact or mere legend, but they filled his heart and mind with visions of treasure and fame. His grandfather had told him, “Always be yourself, unless you can be a pirate. Then always be a pirate.” Nick yearned for a life at sea full of constant adventure and danger, but as he grew and became an adult, those dreams slowly became childhood fantasies.

Until last week –

Last week, Nick attended an annual conference for talent development professionals and the keynote speaker regaled the audience with tales of a new strategy for learning and design that she called gamification. He listened earnestly as she described how the goal of gamification is to increase learning and engagement through key concepts found in game design and behavioral psychology.

The speaker was even bold enough to proclaim that by adding game thinking and game mechanics to training, gamification not only increases interest, it makes training FUN!

And then the speaker gave them each a treasure map and challenged the audience to embark on this dangerous quest—to sail the islands off Pirate’s Cove and become the most famed and feared pirate the world has ever seen. Or maybe she said most respected and sought after instructional designer. But Nick was spellbound once again as she warned him that he would need to plot a course, navigate shrewdly, and through it all, he would need a hearty mix of knowledge, skill, and down-right luck.

As Nick poured over the map, he saw that it would guide him through the process of gamified learning design. The journey looked like it might be difficult, and he saw that he would encounter hazards along the way. In the background, he could hear the speaker saying, “At each level you will encounter challenges and unknown hardships—but as a reward for your hard fought efforts, you will find plenty of bounty and other treasures, yet unknown. Will luck be for you or against you today? Are you ready to set sail and become the most famous pirate of the sea?”

Nick grabbed the map and his colleagues, and without giving it a second thought, jumped to his feet and shouted, “Pirates Rule the Sea!”

What's in The Gamification Starter Kit?

1. A Game the System™ Gameboard
2. Level 1: The Lost Lagoon Starter Cards (Objectives)
3. Level 2: Dead Men Tell No Tales Starter Cards (Story)
4. Level 3: Pirate Pete’s Tavern Starter Cards (Activities)
5. Level 4: Booty Cove Starter Cards (Mechanics)
6. Level 5: Shipwreck Reef Starter Cards (Aesthetics)
7. Bloom’s Taxonomy Questions and Activities
8. SMART Goal Setting Playsheet
9. Story Board Starter Worksheet
10. Learning Activity Map
11. The Gamification Starter Kit Training Plan Template

Because sometimes it is easier to start with an abstract project and move to something concrete, use the color-coded cards as idea starters for typical corporate training projects that you might be asked to design and/or deliver.

There are 5 Levels of play. You can play at your own pace and do this on your own – but we have found that creativity tends to flow when there are two or more people playing the game together.

If yer ready to Play like a Pirate then follow this link to
The Gamification Starter Kit