There’s a lot of very creative folks out there and this post is nothing short of breath taking work from flash developers working in 3D from around the world.

1. Twigital

Twigital is an interactive 3D twitter visualisation created for Flash on the Beach and London Digital Week.

2. NcK Design

NcK Design – Flash 3D Portfolio

3. Nissan Cars UK

Discover the Nissan range of vehicles: city cars, crossovers, 4×4s, SUVs, sports cars and commercial vehicles.

4. Campri

The brand new Campari website, all about making cocktails, sharing Red Passion around the world, the new calendar and its testimonial, the brand identity and communication.

5. Me InTru 3D

MeInTru3D InTur™3D Intel Advergame.

6. Ford 2010 Mustang

The 2010 Ford Mustang Unleashed – Watch Videos, view interior and exterior photos, view specifications, build and price your custom Mustang and more.

7. VB2

8. 100 Best Films

100 Best Films – animated 3D boxes using Papervision3D engine.

9. Dan0

Portfolio of Daniel M. C.

10. Audi VDT

11. Air Jordan 2010

12. New Peugeot

Peugeot Motion & Emotion.

13. Drawn

Online demo of amazing casual game – Drawn: The Painted Tower, with unique levels.*unofficial*

14. Operation: Dairy

Operation: Dairy – Dairy Education Game from the Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association.

15. SoBe

Experience how SoBe defines zero inhibitions and learn more about latest zero calorie flavors from Sobe.

16. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Transformers: Revenge of the fallen game for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii, and PC.

17. Endless Eye

Endless Eye is a Chicago-based video production and post production company that strives to cultivate socially informative media.

18. Scion xPressionism

Custom Scion Designs – A unique Scion application that allows users the ability to customize their Scion paint, patterns, decals, spoilers, rims, light kits, and more.

19. big boss studio

Agency specializing in the design and implementation of digital strategies.

20. Quantum of Solace

James Bond 007, Quantum of Solace is a first-person shooter (third-person shooter for PlayStation 2) video game based on the films Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.

21. Gráfica Dedone

22. Standard Advertising

Standard agency, LOWE TOKYO, Standard Creative is a web site. Minato-ku, Tokyo. Planning, production, marketing and communication strategy implementation.

23. FWAPhoto

One Photo a Day.

24. Neostream Interactive

Serious multimedia company.

25. The Turn

Theturn.tv is an interactive site framing the music and visual work of Fredo Viola.

26. Fat-Man Collective

Thinkers. Designers. Developers.

27. salinas

Spring/Summer 2009 fashion shows.

28. ExtremeMusic

Class A Production Music Library, A Site For Sore Ears, the worldwide production music unit of Sony/ATV Music Publishing Sony.

29. Vegaone

Beautiful illustrations, artworks, and wallpapers.

30. T2

Motion Graphics Studio with videos.

31. Wally

The White Wall.

32. Virtual Center

Virtual Center for Contemporary Art “Signs of the Times” in Torun. It is a 3D website where you can walk around in the building.

33. Honda Pilot

The Honda Pilot – Powerfully efficient. See photos, compare specs and learn more about the versatile features of Honda’s crossover SUV.

34. Mario Kart Wii

Mario Kart Wii is a racing game developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development and published by Nintendo for the Wii console. The game was released worldwide throughout April 2008.

35. The Big Picture

The Big Picture is an anniversary project of X3, which depicts 7 years of the studio’s life in 2400 images of the work, awards, projects, innitiatives, offices, parties and team.

36. Lacoste Red

Enter the LACOSTE Red! party. Discover the new Lacoste Collection by Christophe Lemaire. Cool fashion, sneakers, super slim fits, colorful styles, 60’s inspired.

37. Masterbeat

Web’s newest music superstore featuring MP3 downloads of the hottest tracks from major & independent artists & labels including exclusive DJ remixes.

38. Land of the Lost

Land of the Lost (2009). Directed by Brad Silberling. Casted by Will Ferrell, Anna Friel, Danny McBride, Jorma Taccone.

39. PIECE WALKER

40. Teamgeist

Every Team needs a jersey with a story. A graphic novel game that reveals the true value of the German National Team jersey.

41. LES MÉNINGO

LES MÉNINGO – Mission Megapolis

42. GTI Project

The GTI Project celebrates the car and its history. Delivering an amazing race experience on the secret GTI interactive Scalectrix test track. Volkswagen UK.

43. Volvo FH16 700

44. Annick Tremblay

Freelance Industrial Designer for 3D Modeling, Realistic Color Renderings, Technical Plans for Production, Prototypes, Conception with production in mind.

45. Virtual Sean

Sean Kingston Sing Along with Lil Sean Karaoke.

46. Real Casual

47. Herbal Essences Spice

Herbal Essences Spice – Sensuously Smooth Shampoo and Conditioner for Dry / Damaged Hair with Blackberry, Avocado and Mango extracts. Discover the mystical treasures of the East for opulent, sensuously-smooth hair!

48. Neglected Sensibles Shelter

Neglected Sensibles Shelter: Meet your Sensible and start rebuilding the bridge of kindness you burnt so long ago.

49. ANDREAS SMETANA

ANDREAS SMETANA – Photographer from Australia.

50. Cheese and Burger

We are the Cheese & Burger Society. We believe that cheese is the Grand Poo-bah of every cheeseburger grilled at a backyard barbecue or flame-broiled at a roadside diner. But not just any slice of cheese, Wisconsin Cheese. So join us as we celebrate the greatest cheeseburgers ever made.

51. Ben Dziuba

Ben Dziuba is a freelance Art Director, Designer and Flash Developer based in New York City offering Flash design and web design, both on-site and remotely. Official Website.

52. Ion Drimba Filho

Personal portfolio of Ion Drimba Filho presented in 3D cube.

53. Corny

Corny, the delicious meaty bolt. From natural ingredients and with lots of chocolate – delicious for energy to keep going!

54. Oasis For Fun

With Oasis, enter into the adventure and go in search of … Source: Find all Oasis products, fruits Oasis, Oasis commercials, the goodies and win prizes.

55. THE DINER

Classic American dining served with classic cocktails and endless coffee. Open every day of the week for breakfast, lunch & dinner. With five locations across london; Camden, Islington, Kensal Rise, Shoreditch, Soho.

56. Premiyum

Premium site – Confectionery.

57. Tati

Tati Celebrate on Orange Cinega of June 21 to 26
To explore the universe of Jacques Tati with special programming on Orange Cinega of May 21 to 26 films, documentaries and interviews, and participation of the heirs of the spirit Tati Makeieff Macha, Jerome Deschamps and Pierre Etaix.

58. Leaf A Legacy

For Cancer Research in BC (British Columbia, Canada) – Signals Design Group.

Add your leaf to this growing tree with a donation to the BC Cancer Foundation. As the tree flourishes, so too will the fight against cancer. Tell your story – leaf a legacy – and help build a future free from cancer.

59. Maria Lebesheva

Photographer’s site.

60. D2D Queso

Cheese Fingers (D2D Cheese) are strange creatures “Little Village” brings you from afar … An island full of mysteries and characters that will blow your imagination. Being an adventurer is not always easy, but with cunning and enthusiasm you will discover the secret in it.

That is it for now, if you want to get more of these kind of sites, I suggest you to head to KoFlash website for some more Flash related inspiration!

I love their selections and works there:

Video Games and the technologies that support them have fundamentally changed the way we play. The players are older, the genres are broader, the games are much more advanced, immersive, and engaging.

There are many companies today who wish to integrate gaming mechanics and game-based learning into everyday applications, fundamentally changing the way work is done. Add to this the inescapable fact that digital interactivity is being used in disciplines such as behavior modification, autism therapy, leadership skill building, and strategic analysis by organizations like us, PlayGen.

What is game based learning ? Screenshot from Choices&Voices

Most learners only remember  5 to 10 percent of what they read; 20 percent of what they hear; 30 percent if they see visuals related to what they hear; 50 percent if they watch someone do something while explaining it; but almost 80 percent if they do the job themselves, even if only as a simulation.

Today’s schools and companies are running in competition with some of the most compelling and engaging content out there, namely console and video games. Its only by staying ahead of the curve that our schools and organisations can captivate the audience by using the power of interactivity and simulations (dare I say games) to enhance and improve the way we learn and work.

Serious games and game based learning forms a new critical component of the equation to make education smarter. Although the field is still young, PlayGen has already shown how game-based learning has the potential to deliver sophisticated business, science and behavioural education to hundreds of thousands of users simultaneously.

Unlike other historical mass-media experiments in education, for example TV or webcasts, games are a highly interactive medium, and providing they are designed properly they share many key attributes with sophisticated pedagogical approaches (the art and science of how we learn).

PlayGen’s serious games differ from other forms of learning by providing rich, rewarding, relevant and multi-faceted environments in which the player can put their theory into practice in a safe, simulated manner and learn from their own decisions.  We offer continuous feedback and cooperative team learning in an inquiry-based, authentic environment where players are motivated by rewards and new levels toward achieving their objectives.

The design framework is the result of analysing a number of social network games. Looking at the most popular multiplayer games such as Farmville, Lil’ Green Patch, Mafia Wars, Who Has the Biggest Brain?,  or interesting game designs such as Parking Wars, PackRat, PhotoGrab.

Translating the results into a framework that can; inform design decisions, be used as an inspiration, and a starting point when brainstorming social network game concepts.

A design framework for social network play mechanics

Here is a framework of design drivers in visual format as devised by Aki Jarvinen.

Part 1:  Narrativity. This is  the concept that various player actions and play results are narrated across the network. That is why I argue that Narrativity, in this sense, deserves to be identified as an important aspect in the framework.

Asynchronicity permeates play in social networks: Play takes place in turns, or in individual time units (‘ticks’) per player which then get acknowledged by the game as a system facilitating networked play. That is why it is pictured as an orange, cyclical path of game play along which players repeatedly go through. Furthermore, their progress, network standing, and reputation evolves parallel to this cyclical process of core play mechanics.

In the visualization, the clouds between individual play moments specify some consequences for player experience, or ‘PX’ as Nicole Lazzaro calls it, that the particular transitions bring about. Therefore, the idea of the framework is that design solutions affecting and producing such transitions can be put into specific focus, and some perhaps emphasized over the others, thus giving the play the game facilitates potentially a different flavor.

Now, let’s start identifying design patterns which relate to the four aspects of playful interactions: Spontaneity, Symbolic Physicality, Inherent Sociability, and Narrativity.

Design patterns for social network play

The illustration below unravels a number of design patterns that can be used in supporting a particular aspect of social network play. Various specific implementations of each pattern can be found already out there, especially in Facebook, and without doubt, new ones will be introduced. However, such design solutions are constrained by the particular network they are implemented within, to varying extent.

Designing social network play: Unlearning game design and embracing network play

Design topics traditionally held as integral to good, successful games matter less – they are there to pay attention to, but they do not necessarily break your game. For example: game balance, i.e. designing the goals and rewards in a balanced way for each player to guarantee satisfactory play experiences, seems to matter less in social network games than with board games, or computer and video games.

Another aspect to unlearn, to an extent: Subtlety of game mechanics, and the dynamics they create, are not that important, when we are designing networked social play. This is largely due to the fact that it is the network, and its whimsical and contextual factors, including players with playful dispositions, that substitute such design sophistications in creating fun (enough!) experiences.

As a game designer, it can be hard to break from the above-mentioned tools of the trade, as they can be the very reason that games and designing are fascinating. But online social networks, and how people play them, is fascinating as well, right?

The near future of innovation in social network games

The above is not to say that new game design innovations won’t be seen in social network games – however, it is to say that the innovations will more likely take place in the aspects that characterize the network, rather than the game as a design object.

This example gives evidence that games in social networks are events and services, and they should be designed as such. This means being sensitive to the constraints and possibilities of networks, and the online human interactions – and creativity – they facilitate.

This article would not have been possible without the excellent work of Aki Jarvinen.

Educators have always looked for better ways to prepare students for the real world. The mildly apocalyptic government report from the US, A Nation at Risk,  warned that an outdated school system was unwittingly sabotaging America’s economic superiority. Year after year, major educational organizations would echo the report’s call with threats of dire consequences and pleas for sweeping reform, from the U.S. Department of Labor to the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.

Audits of the U.S. educational system have revealed that the highest hurdle to adopting skills-based teaching practices is the lack of an easily implementable curriculum.

The picture in the UK is a similar affair, with publications Future Labs publications on games and learning confirming much of what we know to be a fact – namely the better the engagement, the better the learning.

Enter social games as a solution — immersive environments that simulate real-world problems. Today, technologically eager schools are replacing textbook learning with social video games, and improving learning outcomes in the process.

Contextual Learning

While university departments have cleanly separated academic subjects, solving the real-life problem of, say, building a website, requires individuals to orchestrate the expertise of communication, business, and economics, in addition to computer science. At the ultra high tech Quest2Learn school in New York City, small groups of 6th graders will marshall a range of social technologies, from video games to social networking, to solve hypothetical problems.

For instance, 6th graders learn geography from Google Earth, collaborate through an internal social networking platform, and present ideas through a podcast. Administrators hope that wrestling with the question of “How can a system function within a larger system?” will bolster critical thinking skills. Many experts contend that so-called “Scaffolded Problem-based learning” is known to improve academic skills and enhance motivation. With all these new toys, it’s no surprise that one student admits his least favorite part of the day is “dismissal.”

Simulated Life

For some school subjects, poor test results aren’t simply a matter of personal failure, but can mean life and death; especially for security officer training. Loyalist College in Canada recently boasted “massive” test score improvements for its border officer training via simulation in the virtual world of Second Life. “No single technological addition has ever impacted grades at the college in such a positive way,” says Ken Hudson, their Managing Director of Virtual World Design. Indeed, the results speak for themselves. According to the report:

“The amazing results of the training and simulation program have led to significantly improved grades on students’ critical skills tests, taking scores from a 56% success in 2007, to 95% at the end of 2008 after the simulation was instituted.”

While security screenings are taking an onslaught of criticism for what are sometimes seen as abject failures, these kinds of successes may give hope to both security experts and the future of online learning.

Conclusion

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Social video gaming has a come a long way from the days when a dozen students would squint at a 10-inch screen.

With the ubiquity of social games, its high time they were put to good use. Here at PlayGen we are developing the next generation of social games for learning and training.

Thursday 25th March 2010

Games are everywhere and their use outside of the entertainment industry is growing year on year. Serious games are making a big impact on how we educate, train and engage students or employees and provide a far more enjoyable and rewarding experience.

The new generation of learners expects a new level of interactivity, and games offer an innovative and exciting hands on experience which far surpass the dated methods of lectures and text books.

This is a great opportunity to experience the wide variety of sectors where serious games have been used to great effect, it’s a must for anyone who is considering using serious games and computer based training for their business or academic institute.

By attending the day you will get a fully rounded experience on the use of games and simulations across a whole range of sectors, focusing on real examples with real impact.

Programme

9:30 am : Serious Games and Police/Law Enforcement

Aims of the session:

In this session we look at a range of gaming examples from the UK and abroad dealing with subjects such as preventing violent extremism, drug use, gang violence and drink driving. Topics include the following:

• Experience a more in-depth view on how serious games are contributing to preventing violent extremism.
• Exploring the solutions and benefits of serious games on major campaigns such as knife crime, drugs and gang culture.
• Discover how gaming technology can help reach younger generations on key issues.
• Serious games for schools and how youngsters have responded to the recent release of the game choices and voices
• Discussions on the benefits games and simulations.

Games Explored:

Choices & Voices

Choices and Voices is an interactive simulation that encourages young people to explore and discuss the underlying issues and adverse influences, which can lead to divisions and tensions in communities.

Image from Choices and Voices

Knife City

The Metropolitan Police launched an innovative new marketing campaign back in 2005 aimed to discourage young people from carrying knives.

Image from Knife City

Alcohol Safety

A fully immersive 3D game built to illustrate the affect of alcohol consumption can have.

Image from Alcohol Safety

10:15 am : Serious Games for Health

Aims of the session:

In this session we look at some of the leading examples on increasing physical activity, improving patient compliance, encouraging better personal health, improving hospital operations and providing more engaging training to healthcare professionals. Topics include the following:

• Experience the benefits of using simulations and serious games compared with standard e-learning.
• Discover clinical trials that demonstrate significant positive benefit in use of games for patients.
• Discuss and share ideas for more engaging approaches to patient and practitioner compliance.
• Find how healthcare training can be made much more effective through the use of simulations and serious games.
• See how gaming and virtual technologies can be harnessed to increase physical activity, encourage better personal health and improve hospital operations.

Games Explored:

Let’s Talk About Sex

PlayGen developed an interactive simulation for parents of children aged between five to 14 years, designed to empower them and ease discussion on sexual health matters.

Image from Let’s Talk About Sex by Playgen

Remission

The Re-Mission video game for teens and young adults with cancer, designed to improve patient compliance.

Image from Remission by Hope Labs

Coronary Artery Bypass Trainer

CABG trainer is part of the SG2 series. Built to teach medical students the series of important steps to coronary artery bypass surgery. A very compact and easy to use application.

Image from CABG SG2 by Playgen

Nano Medicine V2

The virtual lab in NanoMission V2 allows you to go from the organ view down to individual cells, analyzing the cells compositions, travelling down the blood stream and seeing the medicine you’ve created in action.

Ima.ge from Nano Mission Series by Playgen

11:30 am : Serious Games for Government & Politics

Aims of the session:

We’ll explore a cross section of areas where games are used to engage citizens on important policy and political points of view, these include:

• Citizen engagement.
• Public policy and procedure engagement.
• Elections & Budget

Games Explored:

Floodsim

Using online gaming technology to bring important public policy decisions to life, measure attitudes and inform citizens and policy makers.

Image from Floodsim by Playgen

Serious Policy

Examples include: Gordon Brown joins a virtual Paris Hilton, a digital Alistair Darling and a simulated Keira Knightley as 3D characters in the SeriousPolicy Game.

Image from Serious Policy by Playgen

Budget Hero

Teaches teenagers abouts the federal budget system and how to manage future debt. Policies must be halted or created to provide a viable future in this game.

Image from Budget Hero by American Public Media

Prime Minister Forever

Take the role of one of England’s political parties. Fight for votes, squash your opponents, become prime minister.

Image from Forever Series by Theory Spark

ICED I Can End Deportation

Escape and evade the deportation officers, this game illustrates how unfair immigration laws deny due to process and violate human rights.

Image from ICED by Breakthrough

Oiligarchy

Play the role of a cut throat Oil tycoon company and progress by destroying the African government, killing off the Amazon rainforest and invade the Middle East.

Image from Oiligarchy by Molleindustria

1:30 pm : Serious Games for Defence (Military)

Aims of the session:

In this session we look at a cross section of approaches and interactive technologies used by the defence sector, looking at both possible and proven strategies.

• Discover some of the most innovative and cost effective solutions for training using gaming and interactive technologies within defence.
• Experience how Flash 3D can be used for delivering accessible and trackable training on the defence learning portal (DLP).
• See how an Open Source Virtual World can be used for locational awareness training and how it may be used in future training developments.
• Learn and share ideas on simulations and gaming technology for training new recruits and refreshing old hands.
• Engage with a large variety of solutions in the defence sector.

Games Explored:

Virtual DCTS

Using Flash as the delivery media there is no need for any client side downloads with the user accessing the game through a browser; this is an exciting development for the MoD as it proves engaging 3D training content can be delivered to a wide audience without the restrictions when operating within a Defence IT infrastructure.

Image from Virtual DCTS by Playgen

Cultural Awareness – Afghanistan

Cultural Awareness is an Interactive trainer that teachs soldiers the cultural differences when on operation in Afghanistan.

Image from Cultural Awareness – Afghanistan by Playgen

Battlefield Awareness

Battlefield Awareness is a military simulation that tests responses in a high-risk situation and enables players to learn from mistakes.

Image from Battlefield Awareness by Playgen

The Sift

Built  to teach about the “sifting” process when conducting job interviews and candidate selection.

Image from The Sift by Playgen

OSVW

Incorporating features found in the massively multiplayer World of Warcraft, we added the capabilities for defining and incorporating a single or multi-user quest based system for training objectives.

Image from OSVW by Playgen

2:30 pm : Commissioning Serious Games and Game Based Learning

The aims of the sessions

• Key factors on briefing, developing, testing, deploying and evaluating serious games and simulations.
• A variety of real-life case studies which provides practical insight in delivering a successful product.
• Provide a comprehensive overview from the initial idea to raising funds, understanding gaming mechanics in context of learning and engagement, selecting and negotiating with developers, producing specifications, understanding the users needs and choosing the right technologies and methods for reaching the target audience.
• Showcase a large number of serious games and simulations in a wide variety of sectors.

The areas which will be explored

We will focus on good practices on the entire life cycle of a product, from start of the idea to the delivery of the product and onto support and further development, our session will include :

Setting up game development

You’ve got an idea for a serious game, simulation or interactive; from making the business case to getting the right people on the case, we look at :

• Making the business case – why should we do it?
• Funding – who will pay for it?
• Choosing developers – what should you be looking for?
• Tools – what is out the that I may be able to use

Determining project goals

Serious games and simulations address specific issues or promote specific causes. Using a design led approach can identify the clients’ or users’ needs, set goals and answer those needs, and develop scoring and testing mechanisms to give both the user and client appropriate feedback.

• Creating the project timeline – what to do by when.
• Managing risks – what can go wrong and how to protect against it.
• Instructional design and what we want to the player to learn
• Business development and getting the all important meetings scheduled and carried out
• Production fees and payments
• Subject matter experts (SME’s) – the most important ingredient

Game design – the creative elements

Engaging an audience means getting them thinking, reacting and actively involved. It transforms their understanding and learning experience. Every one learns about the world around them as children through play. When done right, playing with games and simulations provides some of the most powerful tools around for engaging an audience of any age.

We look at the creative side from concept to a simulation; Designing and translating your idea into effective game play and game mechanics.

• Determining the variables for the Simulation
• Developing the concept document
• Prototypes (testing game play)

Game design – the technical

Choosing the correct delivery platform that fulfils client and user needs is paramount. As is the technical design document that informs the technical team of what they need to build.

• What are the game or simulations variables and how do they interact
• Which game mechanics will meet which objectives
• Whilst on the topic of gaming mechanics, what are they
• Adding ‘fun’ into the mix

Design Specification

• Delivery platforms (pros and cons) eg. mobile devices, online, offline, virtual world
• Design document -  (game/simulation overview, project scope and milestones, scenario and narrative, levels, scoring and evaluation, tutoring and remediation system, game mechanics, technology and tools, system design, interface commands, environments and levels, characters, assets and animations, audio, lighting, user data collection, testing and QA, marketing and distribution.)
• The marketing plan

Production and authoring

We’ll examine  production; how programmers and game and simulation designers produce core game play and how artists create user interfaces, characters and the scenery. Finally how by a miracle of development stable builds of the application are made.

• Graphics development, characters, objects, environments
• Media production, audio, cut scenes, training material
• The development pipeline (concept to alpha)
• Alpha and beta testing

The Finishing line

Once a release has been produced the serious game or simulation needs packaging (either psychical or digital), distribution and marketing. We’ll also discuss user assessment methodology so we can begin to evaluate the success of the application (whether in terms of improved performance by the game player, an increase in market share, or other metrics)

• Packing, distribution, and marketing – how to get the world to write about what you’ve done
• Assessment – How to assess
• Return on investment – How to measure how well you made your or your client’s money back?
• User support and evaluation – The long term view

How to get to the Serious Games Conference

Taking place at Playgen London – Google Map Link

Closest Tubes are Old Street (take exit 2, 7 minutes) and Liverpool Street (15min)

PlayGen develop and promote the use of immersive simulations, serious games and virtual worlds for learning, training, assessment, to inspire, to engage, to measure and to change behaviour.

We examine designing games for online social networks, such as Facebook or Twitter. Looking at how the design can be improved by embedding an interaction centric approach into the development process. Research into motivations and emotional dispositions of social media use, and analysing existing popular social games, help in identifying game mechanics that tap into user practices across social networks.

We attempt at developing a set of design principles and a design framework where interaction, social, service, and game design meet. The framework aims to support the inherent sociability, spontaneity, and playfulness that permeate online social networks.

Social network games are the fastest emerging area of game business and development

Facebook applications attract millions of users per monthly basis, and game applications frequently reach the top 10 lists of the platform.

Online applications and services incorporate playful, game-like qualities, even if they are not explicitly presented and marketed as games. Facebook has drawn this line in the water by separating the application category ‘Just for Fun’ from the category of ‘Gaming’.

In terms of design practices, these observations point towards a junction where interaction design projects embed game design tasks, and vice versa. From the vantage point of game design, it becomes engulfed by interaction, or service design tasks. In practice this means that the context of use, or in this case, play, has to be taken into account in the design in more complex ways.

Valentina Rao has studied the ‘playful mood’ that, e.g., Facebook applications encourage, noting that individual use them both for entertainment purposes and socialization tools. Often the games are considered as unsatisfactory experiences, which, on the other hand, forces developers to reconsider whether they are designing and developing games or something on the borderline of social media and games.

How can interaction design inform game design practices in the context of designing games for social networks? Second: How can such observations and findings, based on an understanding of user motivations, be formalized into design principles that would solve and inspire new design solutions in this particular design space? In the article, I explore the overlapping design spaces by identifying prominent game design principles.

Definitions: Service/Interaction/Social Design meets Game Design

The subject and goals of this article also speak to two developer communities that can be quite different in their aspirations and methods: Andrew Chen has made observations differences between web developers and game developers, e.g. regarding the role of content production and distribution: Game developers want to compete in the quality of content rather than distribution. Social application and web developers seem to be interested in games as medium, whereas game developers are interested in the particular genres of the medium, developed for video game consoles and high-end PCs.

However, recent news show that some game developers, e.g. Valve, are clearly considering and developing the service design aspects of their business.

Wikipedia defines ‘game design’ as

the process of designing the content and rules of a game. The term is also used to describe both the game design embodied in an actual game as well as documentation that describes such a design.

Dan Saffer gives us a definition that goes as follows:

Interaction design is the art of facilitating interactions between humans through products and services.

Saffer goes on to include to his definition interactions between humans and products, which are able to respond to human actions, i.e. devices and services with microprocessors.

Thus, game design is a subset of interaction design that focuses on facilitating interactions of player and games as particular entertainment systems.

In addition, it is useful to relate these fields to so-called service design. Saffer defines it as follows: ‘A service is a chain of activities that form a process and have value for the end user.’ Saffer relates service design to the design of systems by stating that in service design projects, the system is the service. He goes on to say that service design focuses on context, i.e. ‘the entire system of use’.

Game design in this context is, on one hand, succumbing to the constraints of the social network service, and on the other hand, using the service’s social functionalities to its benefits. Andrew Mayer has echoed this by claiming that ‘Your Game is a Service Business‘, stating that

The gameplay experience ends up simply being another point along that service chain. And social games push us even further out, demanding that the platform provides every user with appropriate, dynamic, and safe relationships that allow blur the lines between users and content creators.

I suggest that there is one more area of design, or at least a term, that we need to relate game design to. Joshua Porter has introduced the term ‘social design’ to emphasize the social aspects of particular interaction and service design projects:

Social design is the conception, planning, and production of web sites and applications that support social interaction.

One could conclude, then, that social design is a subset of service design, where social functionalities – e.g., communication, sharing – are the design drivers.

For the practice of designing games for social networks, the consequences are: The game design part of the design has to be embedded as a subsystem into the larger system of the social media service.

In practice this often means that the developer does not design, nor own, the service itself, but takes advantage of the service API. In effect, the API brings along a number of design constraints, but also possibilities. In any case, the community context, as with service design, becomes part of the game design.

Game Mechanics for Social Networks

The notion of applying game design techniques to the design of online applications is gaining prominence. Amy Jo Kim is a designer who has promoted an approach she has entitled ‘Putting fun into functional’, where the design of game mechanics is applied as an interaction design method for social communities and applications.

Kim’s notion of game mechanics as ‘a collection of tools and systems that an interactive designer can use to make an experience more fun and compelling’, works as a starting point. In her work, Kim has also identified certain core gameplay mechanics, i.e. player actions, such as collecting and exchange.

Daniel Cook is a game designer who has put forward the idea of ‘building princess applications’, i.e. taking advantage of structures like goal hierarchies and skill progression in designing applications. Cook takes the high level goal of the classic video game Super Mario Bros. and uses Mario’s (i.e. the player’s) journey through the game as a structure that could be applied to the use patterns of any application.

Jonathan Follet is an user experience designer who has promoted the benefits of designing playful experiences. Follett outlines four features that a playful digital product should have: lots of small rewards, no negative consequences, building on the work of others, and frivolous interaction in general, ‘just for fun’.
His definition of playfulness in user experience

as those elements of a digital design that engage people’s attention or involve them in an activity for recreation, amusement, or creative enjoyment

is useful, yet it seems altogether too broad for game design purposes. We will need to start narrowing down such observations if they are to work as design principles that can be used to solve design problems.

The design space of game design for social networks is certainly not exhausted yet, especially as new social media platforms emerge almost monthly – without doubt, an increasing number of design elements and patterns can be identified and tested within this design space. This can be easier if we lay down certain vocabulary and conceptual framework from which to follow the development of social networks for purposes of game design.

Designing Game mechanics: A Method of Triangulation

I will introduce a method of triangulation, which helps in designing game play into social networks. It starts with a more concise definition of ‘game mechanics’.

In theoretical conceptualizations of game design, the design of so-called core mechanics has been widely acknowledged as being of fundamental importance in creating play. Core mechanics has been defined as ‘the actions that players repeatedly take in a game’ (Salen & Zimmerman, Rules of Play).

Instead of understanding game mechanics as generic game design elements, I suggest a narrower yet more practical definition: Individual game mechanics can be thought of as verbs that game designer give the players to act in the world of the game. The mechanics are linked with the goals of the game, i.e. they are the means to reach the ends. Core mechanics are, thus, combinations of individual game mechanics that are used to accomplish certain goals imposed at the player. In effect, these relations are the building blocks for designing play. (See my PhD for more.)

Whereas in a single player video game, the core mechanics might create a feedback loop between the player and the software as a system, in multiplayer games, the system becomes more complex, as it will govern the actions of multiple players and their relations. In social network games, the system becomes the social network as a whole, consisting of both the service (e.g., the Facebook platform), individual players, and the community as large.

Therefore, the mechanics need to reach ‘outside’ the game itself, or, we need to expand our notion of what a play session with the product is: Besides the actual, rule-governed gameplay, play in social networks games engulfs the in-between moments – and more importantly, the ‘afterplay’ and ‘foreplay’. The latter consists of various means of network propagation that Brenda Brathwaite and Ian Schreiber write about.

Game play in social networks is a feedback loop of player actions that try to accomplish goals, and are given feedback through the network, either through the system itself, or individual players, or community as a whole. This dynamic within these elements can be thought as a triangle with three elements, around which the user experience starts to emerge as play:

Verbs – Goals – Network play model.

The model gives us a tentative idea of the scope and focus of designing games for social networks, i.e. what are the elements through which play can be created in this context. In which kind of rhythm and reciprocity should this dynamic be put into action is another game design question that we will tackle later.

Before that, a more substantial, user-centered question is: What are suitable verbs and goals that speak to a user’s motivations of engaging with social networks in the first place?

Motivations for online social networks and games

In order to bridge interaction design with game design techniques, it is useful to take the motivations of, first, social media use, and second, game play into account.

The advantage designers can gain from thinking about user motivations is that they can proceed to design opportunities for the users to act in ways that become expressions of the users’ motives. Therefore, games for social networks should target motivations of using those networks, and stylize them into playful interactions that give the players a feeling that they are expressing their motives — consciously or unconsciously.

In his study of social networks, Yochai Benkler (2006) has identified the following motivations for social media use: Social connectedness, psychological well-being, gratification, and material gain. Peter Kollock (1999) has defined four motivations of contributing in online communities: Reciprocity, reputation, increased sense of efficacy, and attachment to and need of a group.

On the other hand, people playing role-playing games are motivated by aspects having to do with achievements in the game (e.g., competing, and advancing) , and immersing themselves into the game’s world (e.g., discovering, customizing, enjoying the story aspects). Social aspects matter as well, e.g., working in a team, player relationships, and socializing in general.

I argue that these two sets provide a useful starting point for synthesizing a framework for thinking about game design for social networks. It combines a number of the above features, however, by filtering them through the emotional disposition of playfulness. Therefore the motivations for game play in social networks may become more casual (random, fleeting, effort-aversive) than the ones of, e.g. players of MMORPGs by average.

According to emotion theorist Jon Elster (1999) emotions transform into emotional dispositions through their long-term consequences, i.e. repeated experience of an emotion that is triggered in connection with a particular event, object, or agent, becomes an emotional disposition towards it. Playful disposition, and variations in it, can thus be seen as long-term consequences of emotions experienced during the play of social media games.

If we look back at the notion of user’s behavior as an expression of their motives, and designing for it, the challenge is how to design for playful dispositions. Principles for such design challenges can be found by transforming identified motivations and mechanics into design drivers, and iterating from there:

Four Design Drivers

Now we are ready to establish a framework of motivations and dispositions regarding social network use, which in turn can be formulated into a number of design drivers.

Valentina Rao identifies three qualities to the playfulness that characterizes Facebook use: Physicality, Spontaneity, and Inherent Sociability. As a particular game design feature, I will add Asynchronicity into these qualities, as discussed by Ian Bogost. I will use this four-fold distinction as a framework for further identifying principles that would support designing for the playful dispositions.

Symbolic Physicality

Rao identifies the symbolic ways that Facebook games ‘add physical depth to playful interactions’, such as poking, drinking beer, hi-fiving, etc. These features essentially try to add ‘human warmth’ of actual physicality to the non-physical online space.

Spontaneity

The apparent silliness and/or simplicity of Facebook games, such as a complicated game mechanic as a verbs being simplified into a click of a single button, is there to support the inherent spontaneity of user behavior in online social networks. Many of the above-mentioned manners of symbolic physicality draw from this quality as well.

Inherent sociability

‘Playfulness is intrinsically connected to social situations and cannot exist without them’, according to Rao. Again, the above-mentioned features highlight this – in addition, Rao lists fast rewards for player actions, abundance of positive feedback, no negative consequences for exploration, and ability to build on someone else’s work as design solutions that support the inherent sociability – very similar aspects that we saw Follett outline earlier. These features are, by and large, similar to ones identified from the design of casual games in general.

In terms of designing games, the inherent sociability opens up possibilities for intuitive teaming of players, since networked individuals might have a particular social context where they know each other. Nabeel Hyatt has indeed pointed out how social network games can ‘rely heavily on social context (namely school, department, and residence loyalties) to provide a framework for alliances, gameplay and motivation.’

Asynchronicity

Ian Bogost lists four features of asynchronous play – it ‘supports multiple players playing in sequence, not in tandem’, it requires a ‘persistent state which all players affect, and which in turn affects all players’, it is organized around the breaks between players: ‘‘opponent turns in Scrabble often mean bathroom breaks, email checks’ (Bogost 2004) Yet, according to Bogost, this kind of asyncronicity needs not be the game’s defining characteristic.

However, it would seem that most games in social networks do center around such breaks, it is just that the quality and quantity of the breaks are based on the nature and/or constraints of the system – i.e. breaks in play in social networks that center around instant messaging or micro-blogging, such as Twitter, would create different variety of asynchronous play than Facebook, which supposedly has a slower, more structured rhythm of use.

Interaction Design for Playfulness

Concluding from the definitions and observations made thus far, we can tentatively define game design for social networks as ‘Interaction design for social playfulness’.

This means designing for inherently casual yet highly engaged disposition to play around in the social network, with the general means afforded by the platform, and the ‘extended’ affordances for play that applications, such as games, bring with them.

Yet, designing for playfulness also means that the focus of the design result should privilege emotional engagement rather than highly intricate and innovative gameplay – even if these two are not necessarily in contradiction.

Matt Mihaly echoes this observation by stating that successful social network games are as much about expressing oneself through communication as they are about gameplay. Andre Mayer has noted that to such players knowing their standing and progress in the game, can be almost as important as knowing what will be their next goal in the game, and how to play towards it.

Rao concludes her research by stating that ‘Facebook Applications seem to appeal to the sphere of emotions (fun and playful mood) rather than actions (gameplay)’. She elaborates that instead of modeling and stylizing actions concretely for gameplay as verbs, which is what ‘real’ games do, these games rely on compressing that action into a few clicks (at most), and then narrating the resulting action through a ‘dramatic tale’, as Rao puts it. As a consequence, minimal engagement produces high rewards.

One could summarize this difference into a comparative principle: Whereas video game designers create skill-based justifications for resolutions of events, i.e. whether an action was successful or not; social network game designers create community-based, or story-based, justifications for the resolutions of events in their games.

In Part 2 of Game design for social networks, we will explore how ‘interaction design for playfulness’ is evident in a sample of social network games and their designs. From this sample, and by identifying some potential blind spots in the design space for social network games, we will synthesize a set of game design principles.

A large selection of authoring tools as well as as delivery/tracking platforms like course and learning management systems.

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• T=tracking functionality
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