Seth Priebatsch's SXSW Keynote on the game layer on top of the world. Seth Priebatsch is Chief Ninja of SCVNGR (www.scvngr.com) and their new pilot LevelUp (TheLevelUp.com)

1. The Game Layer
on Top of the World
Seth Priebatsch
Chief Ninja
@SethPriebatsch
scvngr.com TheLevelUp.com

2. The Game Layer

3. The Decade of Games
Social Layer à Connections
Last decade
All about connections
Facebook’s Open Graph
Construction is over
Game Layer à Influence
Next decade
All about influence
No set foundations
Construction has just begun (and we’ll all be involved)

4. What can the game layer do for me?
1. School
2. Customer Acquisition
Game Break 1
3. Loyalty
4. LBS à Mainstream
5. Global Warming
Game Break 2
#GameLayer + Questions

5. School
School is a game
(just a poorly designed one)
Schools are near-perfect game ecosystems:
• Motivated Players
• Challenges
• Rewards
• Rules
• Allies
• Enemies
• Levels
• Appointment Dynamics
• Countdowns
• Incentives / Disincentives
• And on and on and on….

6. School
2 Problems, 2 Fixes
Problem Solution
Engagement Progression Dynamic
• Grading is Broken • Status & Levels
• Moral Hazard Of Gameplay
Cheating Social Fabric of Gameplay
• Misapplied Disincentives • Player <-> Player Trust
• Ruins Game Integrity

7. School
Engagement

8. School
Moral Hazard of Gameplay

9. School
“But look how many points I have!”

10. School
Grades Fail As Rewards
Status Quo:
- Grades are simply levels.
- Valedictorians, percentiles, honor students are statuses.
Problem:
- You can lose this game!
- Failing (progressing negatively) is a constant possibility.
- Shouldn’t ever be able to “level-down.”
- A => C or B => C is BAD.
Solution:
- Re-implement grades as a progression dynamic.
- XP++, not a weighted average.
- Focus on the positive end goal, not the negative.

11. School
School Right Now
One Bad
Day

12. School
School Meets WoW
+10XP

13. School
Grades (status) => Levels (progression)
• Decrease direct correlation of action to reward
• Focus on final goal, not interim ersatz rewards
• Increase engagement levels in school.

14. School
Bad: Cheating

15. School
Disincentives

16. School
Misapplied Disincentives
Bad Good

17. School
People At Princeton Don’t Cheat
(Most) People At Princeton Don’t Cheat

18. School
No Oversight = No Cheating?
The only two rules are
• Write the Honor Code
• Complicity is a Crime

19. School
Social Fabric Of Gameplay
• Change the game
• Move from omnipotent admin to a
self-enforced game.

20. School
School’s Out

21. Customer Acquisition
Customer Acquisition

22. Customer Acquisition
Dissecting Groupon
Free lunch + Communal Gameplay + Countdown

23. Customer Acquisition
Free Lunch

24. Customer Acquisition
Communal Gameplay

25. Customer Acquisition
Countdown

26. Customer Acquisition
And that, plus an email list = Groupon

27. Game 1: Practice Makes Perfect
GAME #1

28. START
CLAPPING

29. NOW CLAP IN SYNC

30. GREAT JOB!

31. Loyalty
Loyalty

32. Loyalty
Status (“Hi Norm”)

33. Loyalty
I want that one ’cause it’s black!

34. Loyalty
The “level-up”

35. Loyalty
Inclusive Ownership

36. Loyalty
Exclusive Ownership

37. Loyalty
Inclusive Ownership

38. LBS à Mainstream
LBS à Mainstream

39. LBS à Mainstream
Big Partners

40. LBS à Mainstream
Big Money
120
100
80
60 Valuation
Raised
40
20
0
Foursquare SCVNGR MyTown Shopkick Whrrl Gowalla

41. LBS à Mainstream
Big Money + Facebook
80000
70000
60000
50000
40000
Valuation
30000
Raised
20000
10000
0

42. LBS à Mainstream
Big Money
120
100
80
60 Valuation
Raised
40
20
0
Foursquare SCVNGR MyTown Shopkick Whrrl Gowalla

43. LBS à Mainstream
Big Partners + Big Money = Big Results…
Social LBS Users
Using Social LBS
People In This Room
Everyone Else
…Right?

44. LBS à Mainstream
Quantitative Easing (Loosen The Rules)

45. LBS à Mainstream
Tightly V. Loosely Location-Based
Strictly Location Based Loosely Location Based

46. LBS à Mainstream
Reward Schedules
“Beware the jabberwock, the jub-jub
bird, and the moral hazard of gameplay”
- Lewis Caroll (kind of)

47. LBS à Mainstream
Rewards Work!
Buffalo Wild Wings Locations
250000
200000
Critical mass of players reached
150000
Challenges
Rewards launched
100000 Visits
50000
0
12/6/2010 1/6/2011 2/6/2011 3/6/2011

48. LBS à Mainstream
Facebook + Gap = Ok, I’ll Check In

49. Global Warming
Global Warming

50. Slide or Game?

51. Rule 1: No Talking While I’m Talking

52. Rule 2: The Prize
If you win, SCVNGR will donate $10,000 to
National Wildlife Federation.
Hint: I really want you to win.

53. Rule 3: Stay Seated

54. Grab Your Cards

55. Rule 4: Trading

56. Rule 5: Problem

57. Rule 5: Objective
1. Each row selects one color.
2. Doesn’t matter what color your row picks. Just pick one.
3. After 180 seconds, hold the cards above your head.
NOTE: If there’s an aisle in your row, it counts as a new row beyond the aisle.

58. READY
?

59. GO!

60. All horizontal rows must have the same color facing forward.
Aisle breaks count as new rows.
When your row is done, hold your sign up with both hands.
Time Left
00 03 00
2 59
15
26
37
48
1
2
3
4
Hours Minutes Seconds
If you win, SCVNGR will donate $10,000 to charity.

61. All horizontal rows must have the same color facing forward.
Aisle breaks count as new rows.
When your row is done, hold your sign up with both hands.
Time Left
00 02 00
1 59
15
26
37
48
1
2
3
4
Hours Minutes Seconds
If you win, SCVNGR will donate $10,000 to charity.

62. All horizontal rows must have the same color facing forward.
Aisle breaks count as new rows.
When your row is done, hold your sign up with both hands.
Time Left
00 01 00
0 59
15
26
37
48
1
2
3
4
Hours Minutes Seconds
If you win, SCVNGR will donate $10,000 to charity.

63. TIME IS UP!!
Everybody hold your colors up in both
hands and say “SHHHHHHHhhhhhh”

64. How’d we do?
YOU DID IT!
SCVNGR will donate $10,000 to
charity.
Give yourselves a hand!

65. You LOSE! (But that’s ok)
Don’t worry, we’ll still
donate the money!

66. Global Warming
What just happened?
The Power of Communal Gameplay

67. Global Warming
The Analogy
Lack of Communication: You couldn’t talk with far players.
Trading Patterns: Incredibly complex trades in micro-stock exchanges.
Different Countries: Every row is their own country. The aisles are oceans.
Wealth: Different allocation of resources to start. (Wealthy people shared?)
Restricted Movement: Couldn’t stand up and so were forced to work locally.
Decentralized Leadership: No leader, the hive mind made the decisions.
Countdown: Only so much time we could spend on this.
Joint Goal: We all accepted the same goal and were willing to work for it.

68. Global Warming
The Results
Epic Meaning: We were all part of something larger
than ourselves. And it was good.
Blissful Productivity: You just worked incredibly
hard, but feel great! The power of play.
Global Problem, Local Solution: You solved a 3000
person problem with only the 8 people near you.

69. Global Warming
And so….
Game Dynamics Are Powerful
Communal Gameplay
+
Communal Discovery
+
Complex Problem
=
Slightly Less Impossible Problem

70. Thanks!
And Have Fun Playing!
scvngr.com TheLevelUp.com

71. ?
Questions?

72. Raw Materials

73. 1. http://www.spring.org.uk/2009/10/how-rewards-can-backfire-and-reduce-motivation.php
2. http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/2010/02/jesse-schell-future-of-games-from-dice-2010/
3. http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world.html
4. http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-2337513-labrador-retriever-cream-puppy.php
Sources

74. The correlation is irrefutable.