Super Mario and Gamification

Photo by zengxiao lin on Unsplash

Why people (or kids) have actually started and continued playing Super Mario? This continuity started with the very first versions for NES and is up to date with more sophisticated interactive systems, and people still repeat the levels playing again and again!

Is it actually the “coinification” that motivates them? The coins constitute a quantitative aspect of the completion of the game. There are other aspects as well such as time, mushrooms, goombas and so on. Is it maybe the overall gameplay that is attractive and engages masses of gamers playing each version that comes up?

According to Wikipedia, “Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and player’s connection with it. Video game gameplay is distinct from graphics, and audio elements.”

Successful games do have one factor in common regarding the aspect of gameplay, the completeness. Completeness is a qualitative rather than a quantitative aspect, more abstract in order to be defined and measurable, but approachable through game experience design.

A gamification framework should not simply be an attachment on an existent system. A gamified approach, or as I would like to state it, a user experience design approach that takes into consideration the principles of game design, should be applied from the very beginning of the project.

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