Raph Koster, President of Areae, Inc. gave an interesting presentation at O’Reilly’s Emerging Technology Conference. The basic idea is that the elements that make adult games so engaging are quite simple and can be applied to all different interactions, including commercial web sites. Some of the basic elements are: 1) you hone a skill 2) there is some cost for failure 3) there is some form of acknowledgement when your skill improves and 4) others can measure and witness your successes.

The $10,000 question is, how could these elements be used to engage people on commercial web sites? I didn’t attend the conference, but from what I read, the suggestions are: purchasing on eBay can become compelling if you have to become really skilled to do it.

This made me think of the good old days when people would bargain at the market. I can see a purchasing “game” in which the buyer could try to bargain down the price. You could propose a price to an agent, who would counter etc. But what would happen if you walk away? The agent could chase you in an email and offer you a “last chance.”

Coming from a gaming background, part of me loves the idea of turning bland websites into games. Good games can have an incredible appeal. But I’ve also seen my share of failed games (none, of course that I ever worked on!) While the formula for the game might be quite simple, the formula for success isn’t. Furthermore, I’m not sure I can see a really exciting game called “let’s buy something on eBay.” Also, when you want to buy something, the simpler it is, the more likely it is you will go through with it. I mean, just imagine, going to the grocery store in the morning when you are hungry to buy some milk and cereal and the checker asks you the title of the first sonnet that Shakespeare ever wrote: a) Venus and Adonis b) A Lover’s Complaint or c) Sonnet 1.

That is not to say that a really good game couldn’t work to keep people from coming back to a website – and hence to increase desire and likelihood that they will ultimately make purchases. But, not one that is directly connected to purchasing a product. Especially if you skipped out on your literature class.