Gamification and Storytelling

Abstract

Each game can be defined in game theory as a mathematical object. In order to do that, every game must have four essential elements: players, actions, payoffs and information (" PAPI "). But all these elements are common in all games. What is that element that makes a game unique? Storytelling predates writing, and it was the only way at some point to tell a story and pass it on from generation to generation. Nowadays, we often see a new term called, gamification. What is gamification and what relation does it have with storytelling? Is storytelling an essential element to gamification? Gamification as a term is nothing more than taking game mechanics and applying them to something that already exists in order to motivate and make it more appealing. In this paper, we are going to discuss how storytelling affects gamification in general.

Full text

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Gamification and Storytelling
Marios M. Giakalaras
University Of Aegean, Department of Cultural Technology and Communication, 81100 Lesvos
(March 2016)
Abstract: Each game can be defined in game theory as a mathematical object. In order to do that,
every game must have four essential elements: players, actions, payoffs and information (“PAPI”). But all
these elements are common in all games. What is that element that makes a game unique? Storytelling
predates writing, and it was the only way at some point to tell a story and pass it on from generation to
generation. Nowadays, we often see a new term called, gamification. What is gamification and what relation
does it have with storytelling? Is storytelling an essential element to gamification? Gamification as a term
is nothing more than taking game mechanics and applying them to something that already exists in order
to motivate and make it more appealing. In this paper, we are going to discuss how storytelling affects
gamification in general.
Keywords: Gamification, Storytelling, Player, Actions, Elements, Games, Characteristics, Immersion
I. Introduction
Many people confuse Game theory with
game studies. Let’s see the difference between
the two terms: Game theory is “the study of
mathematical models of conflict and cooperation
between intelligent rational decision-makers"
(Myerson, 1997), while game studies focus on
game design, players, and their role in society and
culture. Game studies is an inter-disciplinary
field with researchers and academics from a
multitude of other areas such as computer
science, psychology, sociology, anthropology,
philosophy, arts and literature, media studies, and
communication. As a general definition a game
is a recreational activity with a set of rules. But
what is true about games? A game is surely an
activity that gives us the joy of making an
achievement, while having a good time.
Moreover a game can be used in different
situations such as: games for entertainment,
games for learning, serious games, and other.
But, what are the key elements that make a game
unique? There are four essential elements that
each game must have and those are: a player or a
set of players, some actions, and some payoffs for
the players, lastly information that are given to
the player/s. Apart from those, there is another
key element for a game and that is the
storytelling. Every game has a little backstory.
This is also not the rule, there are some games for
example that don’t have a story needed for
playing the game, for example games of chance.
In comparison to that there are games that

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storytelling is their primary key, such as
roleplaying games. Apart from all these, all
games have based on a single theory. As we
mentioned earlier, game theory and game studies
are two different areas. Each area focuses to a
specific research. It is true though that all games
use specific mechanics and those mechanics can
be used for other applications.
II. Game Mechanics
Game mechanics are constructs of rules or
methods designed for interaction with the game
state, thus providing gameplay. (Sicart, 2016) All
games use mechanics; however, theories and
styles differ as to their ultimate importance to the
game. In general, the process and study of game
design1, or ludology2, are efforts to come up with
game mechanics that allow people playing a
game to have an engaging, but not necessarily
fun, experience.
1 Game design is the art of applying design and
aesthetics to create a game to facilitate interaction
between players for entertainment or for medical,
educational, or experimental purposes. Game design
can be applied both to games and, increasingly, to
other interactions, particularly virtual ones
Figure 1: Example of some game mechanics
As we can see from the figure above the
game mechanics are, simply to put, some
methods to make the game experience more
appealing and the core purpose of those
mechanics are to make the game work as well.
Game mechanics vary from game to game what
is logical, because all games are different, and not
all mechanics are necessary. For example, in
Monopoly there is need for a virtual currency and
some rewards. On the opposite side in Dungeons
and Dragons (the pen and paper game), there is
also need for levels and progress bars. Those two
games are board games, but they use game
mechanics that make the game easier for the
player and more fun. We have a plethora of board
games, video games and so on, but the mechanics
of each game is what makes the game unique in
the first place. We can indeed fill scientific papers
of how these sets of rules work, but our argue lies
2 Ludology is constructed upon the latin word
“ludus” (game). The term has historically been used to
describe the study of games and particularly of board
games.

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to what extend storytelling, one of these
mechanics, can be combined with gamification.
III. Gamification
Gamification is the process of taking
something that already exists – a website, an
enterprise application, an online community –
and integrating game mechanics into it to
motivate participation, engagement, and loyalty.
Gamification takes the data-driven techniques
that game designers use to engage players, and
applies them to non-game experiences to
motivate actions that add value to their business.
Though the term "gamification" was coined
in 2002 by Nick Pelling, a British-born computer
programmer and inventor, it did not gain
popularity until 2010. Even prior to the term
coming into use, other fields borrowing elements
from videogames were common; for example,
some work in learning disabilities and scientific
visualization adapted elements from videogames.
A Forbes blogger also retroactively labelled
Charles Coonradt, who in 1973 founded the
consultancy The Game of Work and in 1984
wrote a book by the same name, as the
"Grandfather of Gamification".
The term "gamification" first gained
widespread usage in 2010, in a more specific
sense referring to incorporation of social/reward
aspects of games into software. The technique
captured the attention of venture capitalists, one
of whom said he considered gamification the
most promising area in gaming. It was also
observed, that half of all companies seeking
funding for consumer software applications
mentioned game design in their presentations.
In marketing, a gamification initiative might
address the cognitive and emotional aspects of
game theory as well as the social ones by
including a system of rules for participants to
explore through active experimentation and
discovery, awarding points or badges for levels of
participation, displaying leaderboard scores to
encourage competition and offering prizes, so
that participants have a chance to win something
of value.
IV. Storytelling
Storytelling is the conveying of events in
words, sound and/or images, often by
improvisation or embellishment. Stories or
narratives have been shared in every culture as a
means of entertainment, education, cultural
preservation and instilling moral values. Crucial
elements of stories and storytelling include plot,
characters and narrative point of view. The term
'storytelling' is used in a narrow sense, to refer
specifically to oral storytelling and also in a
looser sense, to refer to techniques used in other
media to unfold or disclose the narrative of a
story. The storytelling history is quite ancient,
lost in the mist of time. Nobody knows when the
first story was actually told. Did it happen in the
gloomy recess of a cave around a flickering fire
told by a primitive hunter? Well, we may never
know. But it is believed that origin of storytelling

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may have come across as an excuse for failure.
Perhaps stories were used a long time ago to calm
the fears or doubts of a family. As families
grouped with other families and formed clans, the
storyteller, who was good at telling heroic events
or other important events of the tribe, began to
reach position of respect and power. People found
them interesting and began to listen to them. The
priest, the judge and the ruler were perhaps the
earliest to use this art effectively in the history of
storytelling. Storytelling days were considered
important.
Before man learned to write, he had to rely
on his memory to learn anything. For this he had
to be a good listener. A good story teller was
always respected. He could easily find an
audience, eager to devour every exciting bit of
information in their stories. These stories were
also shared with others in faraway lands, when
people traveled. The stories traveled with them.
And when they returned home, they brought with
them exciting new tales of exotic places and
people.
Figure 2: A good Example of storytelling is the RPG,
Dungeons and Dragons
As time passes, the storytelling has evolved
to a new form. Digital storytelling is a short form
of digital media production that allows everyday
people to share aspects of their life story. The
media used, may include the digital equivalent of
film techniques (full-motion video with sound),
animation, stills, audio only, or any of the other
forms of non-physical media (material that exists
only as electronic files as opposed to actual
paintings or photographs on paper, sounds stored
on tape or disc, movies stored on film) which
individuals can use to tell a story or present an
idea. "Digital storytelling" is a relatively new
term which describes the new practice of ordinary
people who use digital tools to tell their 'story'.
Digital stories often present in compelling and
emotionally engaging formats, and can be
interactive. The term "digital storytelling" can
also cover a range of digital narratives (web-
based stories, interactive stories, hypertexts, and
narrative computer games); it is sometimes used
to refer to film-making in general, and as of late,
it has been used to describe advertising and

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promotion efforts by commercial and non-profit
enterprises.
One can define digital storytelling as the
process by which diverse people, share their life
story and creative imaginings with others. People
may think of digital storytelling as the modern
extension of the ancient art of storytelling, now
interwoven with digitized still and moving
images and sound. Thanks to new media and
digital technologies, individuals can approach
storytelling from unique perspectives. Many
people use elaborate non-traditional story forms,
such as non-linear and interactive narratives.
V. Combination of Gamification and
Storytelling
Bringing these two terms together is as it
seems no simple. Gamification seems to exist
without a strong storytelling. However, the
combination of these two terms gives us a good
and powerful tool for every purpose.
Gamification with storytelling can be used in
various situations. The key element, though, is
how to mix effectively these two elements. Let’s
see an example. In this particular case we are
going to use education as a field of applying
gamification. Imagine that we have a class of 10
children, age of 15, and we have to persuade them
to write an essay for a contest. We have to give
them some motive, e.g. a prize. Afterwards we
have to split the main goal (to write an essay) in
smaller goals (as side quests) and to make things
a little more interesting we can give each child a
role in a main story, that covers the goal. In this
example it is easy enough to make a story that
covers the needs of this particular goal. If, for
example, we had to run the same scenario to a
corporation industry for the needs of finishing the
project reports on time with some rewards to
those who finish first, then we must change the
story, the side quests and the rewards
accordingly. Let’s not forget that all these
scenarios have the element of game design that is
called freedom to fail. Game design often
encourages players to experiment without fear
of causing irreversible damage by giving them
multiple lives, or allowing them to start again
at the most recent 'checkpoint'. Incorporating
this 'freedom to fail' into classroom design is
noted to be an effective dynamic in increasing
student engagement. As we saw from our
scenarios above, gamification can be an effective
tool both in education and in industry, but it also
has many other uses.
VI. Conclusion
At the beginning, we make some questions
about gamification and storytelling. Reaching out
to theories and studies made on this matter,
finally we conclude that gamification as a method
is unique. Achieving a goal through an
entertaining and interesting way, gives the
“players” experience and an alternative path to
achieve specific targets. Although is not crucial
to have storytelling as a means for gamification is
strongly recommended that we do, because it
makes things much more interesting and

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appealing. It is not the same to play a free roam
game without a purpose and story. If you have
those two elements, you can make the players
immerse in a world without having expensive
equipment. You only need a good story and lots
of imagination. Let’s not forget that our
imagination is our only limit of achieving things.

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Table of Figures
Figure 1: Example of some game mechanics ........................................................................................ 2
Figure 2: A good Example of storytelling is the RPG, Dungeons and Dragons ................................... 4
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