April 13, 2023

Health and Games: Behaviors and MechanicsAlex Tam

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Behaviors

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Daily Exercises10 squats X 620 lunges alternating X 310 plank push up X 320 calf stretchesJump Rope 5 mins

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Patient Behaviors Drive Health1. Rehabilitation exercises

2. Medication compliance

3. Progress measurement

4. Nutrition Plan

5. Correcting Bad Habits

Note:

In many of these cases the HCP engagement is short.

The patient is responsible for much of the treatment.

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Health Behaviors are HARD

We know we SHOULD be doing these BUT they are:

FrustratingExtra workHours of effort

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What about Games?

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Characteristics of Games

Games have the ability

to get people engaged.

They get people to do

challenging difficult things.

People will play for hours and hours even through fatigue.

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Why Games?Old Historic Games.

Three examples of cultural Games. (example 1, example 2, example 3)

What is it about games that makes it compelling in out culture. Folded into every aspect of our culture.

Why. Let’s talk about that cultural power.

Games are everywhere.

- Credit cards

- Report cards

- Bonus Miles

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Why Games?Three examples of cultural Games. (example 1, example 2, example 3)

What is it about games that makes it compelling in out culture. Folded into every aspect of our culture.

Why. Let’s talk about that cultural power.

Games are everywhere.

- Credit cards

- Report cards

- Bonus Miles

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Why Games?Credit card points

What is it about games that makes it compelling in out culture. Folded into every aspect of our culture.

Why. Let’s talk about that cultural power.

Games are everywhere.

- Credit cards

- Report cards

- Bonus Miles

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Health Behaviors vs. Games

HEALTH BEHAVIORS

Frustrating – “This is hard”

Extra work – “This is a chore”

Hours of effort – “Unmotivated to do it”

GAMES

Frustrating – “Bring on the challenge!”

Extra work – “If I stretch, I can win!”

Hours of effort – “Tired but want to continue!”

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Mechanics

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Game Mechanics 101

All Games can be broken down into one or more game mechanics. Many successful ones have at least 5.

These game mechanics are the building blocks of games, they are the active ingredients that drive how a game is played and determine the levels of engagement in a game.

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Pictionary

Take turns drawing pictures for your teammates can guess.

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Pictionary: Lottery (chance)

A game dynamic that is subject to chance. This creates a high level of anticipation.

Players randomly roll dice and then randomly select a card from the deck.

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Pictionary: Countdown

The dynamic in which players are only given a certain amount of time to do something. This creates increased initial activity increasing frenetically until time runs out.

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Pictionary: Team Competition

Team competition creates a sense shared goals. Team success depends on co-operation. It enriches the social fabric between the players and builds camaraderie.

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1. Lottery

2. Countdown

3. Team Competition

4. Narrative

5. Leader Board

6. Progression Dynamic

7. Meta Game

8. Status

9. Achievement

Basic Game Mechanics

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Health Games

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Example 1: Expresso Fitness

A bicycle game where pedaling lets you move around in a virtual game world with the objective of chasing and catching dragons.

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Expresso Fitness: Countdown

The objective is to gather as many dragons within a set time. Keeping the player conscious of time pressure throughout the game maintains a level of intensity and distracts from the physical pedaling.

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Expresso Fitness: Narrative

The game is set in a fantasy world where the player escapes to an alternate reality and does consciously focus on the physical exertion of pedaling.

The story creates others things for the players to care about and focus on.

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Example 2: Nike +

A system of measurement devices and software that lets runners track progress while activating communities of runners

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Nike +: Leaderboard

The rankings of all individuals in a smaller set. Often great for distributed game dynamics where you want many micro-competitions or desire to induce loyalty.

Leaderboards incent people players to catch up with people within their range.

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Nike +: Progression Dynamic

A dynamic in which success is granularly displayed and measured through the process of completing itemized tasks.

As runners accumulate miles, they switch from yellow level to green level. Small contributions add up to a large recognition.

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Example 3: Brain Age

A series of small puzzles and tasks designed to test and sharpen brain response through mental exercises

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Brain Age: Meta Game

A series of small games embedded into another game. These small puzzles spread out and focus engagement.

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Brain Age: Status

The rank or level of a player. Players are often motivated by trying to reach a better level or status.

Comparing your response score with others of a similar age generates pride to desire to improve performance.

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Applying Game Mechanics

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Daily Exercises10 squats X 620 lunges alternating X 310 plank push up X 320 calf stretchesJump Rope 5 mins

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1. Lottery

2. Countdown

3. Team Competition

4. Narrative

5. Leader Board

6. Progression Dynamic

7. Meta Game

8. Status

9. Achievement

Basic Game Mechanics

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Have to vs Want to.

Good health games successfully apply game mechanics that make games fun to play. They will be successful because they shift the mentality of difficult and undesirable tasks into something that patients will actually look forward to doing.

Measuring Success

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Thank You