Lessons from Gamers

I was flipping through a video game magazine that came as a free subscription after getting a Wii for Christmas, and I came across an interesting article on how to do "achievement" right. Achievement in a game is critical to game flow (i.e. that "magical" state where gamers can't put the game down because they need to beat the next level, unlock the next secret, etc.). I was struck by how the learning community can learn a lot about how to build achievement into our simulations and games.

The "Dos"

• Use achievements to lure players into checking out a game's entire feature set.
• Chart the players progress toward unlocking achievements.
• Lead players through your campaign with incremental achievements.
• Implement achievements that are unlocked after the completion of the game.
• Reward players for challenging themselves.
• Weigh achievement points to properly reflect how people play your game.
• Make sure the achievements back up the time investment.

The "Don'ts"

• Force players to play a game in an unnatural way to get achievements.
• Make the majority of your achievements dependent upon higher difficulties.
• Have the "achievement unlocked" message appear over text.
• Reveal major plots in the achievement text.
• Require people to spend a specific amount of time with your game.