Book Review - For the Win: How Game Thinking Can Revolutionise Your Business

I picked up this book based on recommendation that the author (Kevin Werbach) comes from an interesting background (Law & Legal studies, which is indeed a rare background for a Gamification consultant) . Kevin leads a course on Gamification at the University of Pennsylvania. I took his certified course on Coursera

So here goes my view

“For the win” is a great beginners book, if you wish to get comfortable with the fundamental building blocks of Gamification & Game Thinking. But if you are already comfortable with the topic of “Gamification” and seek something more in depth, look elsewhere

Apart from a structured overview into the concept of Gamification, there is ample sprinkling of warnings against the blind useage of “PBL - Points, Badges & Leaderboards” . There are still many who blindly apply PBL . And likewise many who driven by dopamine high of seeing themselves on the Leaderboards, are on a relentless contribution spree (Many a times with sub-par content)

There are few good examples of failures of Gamification , but doesn’t go in depth (maybe not the intended purpose of the book). I specifically liked the examples of failures , as Gamification is not a single cure for all the ailments around user/audience engagement

Would also recommend mixing up the reading, with offbeat topics, which goes more in-depth, in a specific area of application of gamification. A case in point is this book that I read titled “What Video Games have to teach us about learning & literacy” by James Paul Gee

Kevin's course was better than the book :-)

#BookReview #Gamification #GameThinking #PBL #Points #Badges #Leaderboards #KevinWerbach