Change is hard. Advances in game design and neuroscience can make it easy. Millennium of evolution gives us an amazing system for acquiring behavior good and bad. The rush of positive emotions such as dopamine (reward), endorphin (euphoria), and oxytocin (trust) do daily battle with bad boys such as cortisol (stress). The activities we engage in for these daily battles tune our behavior. The challenge is that the cognitive rational self that sets our goals is not the same brain system that deals out the chemicals that make us feel good. Serious game designers and Gamifciation experts ignore this battle at their peril. Specially designed games can hack your brain to turn vicious cycles into virtus ones to help you lose weight, get smarter, and even fight climate change.
Come and explore this playful splash into 4 specific ways the fun of games can rewire your brain to be happier, healthier, and primed to work together to save the planet.
To design games where you do a little bit every day
You’ll find more ways to create dopamine (and fiero) in hard fun and serious fun
Try game mechanics from:
. Hard Fun: Goals obstacles strategy
. Serious Fun: Collection completion and repetition mechanics that tie into a purpose
Design games for yourself to create fun habits that increase happiness now and stepping stones to long term dream
The celebration mechanic in Asana does this a little
Back to your dream…
Write the first step on the back of your card
What’s a small goal you can do in 20 mins or less?
How would you celebrate it?
Not that hard eh?
Here’s an experiment.
Everyone stand up. Now hug, high five, pat on the back, or shake hands with the people next to you.
If you don’t want to participate, sit down.
Now how does that feel?
Any different than when you first walked into the room?
Among other things what you are feeling right now is the effect of…
Among other things what you are feeling right now is the effect of…
Oxytocin
Oxytocin the so-called cuddle hormone
Focus attention on eye gaze to connect friendly faces with reward centers
Oxytocin
. Touch in relationships strengthens connection
. Enhances social emotions
. Reduces fear (Amygdala)
. Reduce stress
. Amplifies the us/them pos/neg of relationships
How
. Cuddle touch massage hug friends
. Warm bath
. Cup of hot tea
. Talk sing dance walk thrill rides with others
. Facebook / Twitter / Couple
. Trust and verify with people to grow social circle of trust
Many feel it is the cuddle hormone, but actually Oxytocin amplifies social relationships
Oxytocin makes us feel closer to the people we are close to.
Oxytocin also distances us from people outside our social group
Inspiration for game mechanics to create Oxytocin can be found here in People Fun.
A Candy Crush Saga player talks about getting his daily DOSE of oxytocin by playing Candy Crush Saga on his way to work.
Here he looks at the photos of all his facebook friends on the game’s map and remembers fondly the good times.
He does this to start his day with pleasant emotions.