Workday Warriors and Readymade Games

A non-trivial problem we have to tackle as games-based learning professionals is whether or not play has to be voluntary. Can a 'learning game' really be a game if learners 'have to' play -or is it then 'work'?

My personal take on this is that play and games can be offered for learning, but not mandated. In a learning setting that means that I will strive to create playful solutions that have multiple creative ways to 'play', but alongside that there will also be 'other' options for taking part, including the option to step away entirely.

And if Ludogogy is itself a playful space, I can 'offer' the idea of a monthly theme, but not require that submissions meet that theme - even when the submissions come from me!!

I have tried to write to July's theme of 'Social Learning', but it started to feel a bit too much like work - mainly because my heart (and interest) were elsewhere - playing with the idea of 'The Game of You' - a 'real-playing' game which uses materials from Role-playing games (but much, much less complex, I promise) to help you plan, track and analyse personal and professional development activities and experience.

There are a number of articles in Ludogogy about this already:

The Game Of You - An overview of the idea of a real-life RPG with particular referenceto Yu-kai Chou

The Game of You Character Sheet - including a link to download the pen and paer version of the first of the Gaame of You materials to be developed.

The Game of You Quest Sheet - Details of in-development sheets to track impact of training, work-experience and other relevant experiences on your 'character' (i.e. you)as they progress towards a value goal.

... and the game materials are in development - comprising auto-calculating versions of the Character and Quest Sheets, and later a Spellbook, CV templates, and ready populated quests and character sheets - and will be available to download from Ludogogy's itch.io page soon.

I really enjoyed presenting at the Play Secure Conference?this month where I got to present the ideaof creating 'rules-light' games for learning - which not only reduces design overhead but maximisesthe potential for learners to construct their own relevant learning from peer interaction. Thanks to?James Bore?for inviting me.

And talking of construction of learning, if you want a quick primer on how Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) games can support a Social Constructivist learning setting - here it is.

.... and its companion article about using COTS games more generally - they were originally one article - but after getting too big, fell in half under their own weight.

Back on the subject of RPGs, if the idea of using an RPG to get stuffdone appeals to you, but you don't want to roll up your own character in The Game of You, there are a wide variety of games and apps, to help you do everything from getting household chores finished to recovering from life-altering situations.

I was absolutely delighted to get the opportunity to facilitate two sessions this month using Evivve the Leadership Game. If you have not yet had the opportunity to see this game in action with a team - supporting learning outcomes around teamwork, strategy, living in a VUCA world, and much more, get in touch at [email protected] or mention my name when you organise a demo at the Evivve site.

Last month's theme (this newsletter straddles two themes) was 'The Quantified Self' (QS), and Dave Eng provided Ludogogy with another excellent article - a comprehensive look at the basic principles of engagement and behavioural economics which underlies QS - entitled 'What is Gamification?'

Most impactful conversation of the month award, goes to the hour I spent talking to the wonderful Pam Case. I haven't had the opportunity (very time strapped) to fully implement everything she told me about how to use LinkedIn better, but I'm so excited to start, now I have a bit more time to work 'on' Ludogogy rather than just 'in' Ludogogy.

If you have a LinkedIn profile - which I'm guessing you do, or you wouldn't be reading this - you need to speak to Pam.

Long-time friend of Ludogogy, Terry Pearce, had his Transform Deck cards featured in this awesome list of card decks by Anamaria Dorgo at Butter.

Make sure you check out Terry's deck on Deckible (launch imminent), along with The Gift Horse - a 'little game' which Terry and I created, which can be used individually, or by coaches and facilitators to guide reflection.

This month's article from Gami-journal - our 'sister' publication in Seoul, concerns the Metaverse, asking what it is and looking at current and potential future applications.

And finally, the most interesting new (to me) game I have played this month is 'Illimat' - which sadly seems to be out of print. The game is by Keith Baker, and started life as a 'prop' game for a video by The Decemberists, who later decided they wanted to develop the game for real.

The particular mechanic which grabbed me was the rotating centre of the board, which instantly changed how you could interact with parts of the playing surface - and stymied carefully planned play strategies at a stroke. A similar mechanic is found in 'Evo'.

Next month's theme is 'Strategy' and I feel an article brewing already about this and other similar 'disruptive' (or VUCA, whatever you'd like to call it) mechanics in learning games.