Productivity Games are a sub-category of Serious Games, and are typically video games that are designed to increase employee productivity and get real work done through the playing of a game. Just as other types of serioius game categories, such as game_based_learning have an objective, productivity games are deployed to accomplish an organizational objective. Typically, productivity games are best when focused on organizational_citizenship_behavior
Players accomplish work-related tasks while earning a score. The “Gamer Generation”, comprised of gen_x and gen_y people, is rapidly entering the work force and are familiar with game play. Applying the use of games at work is a natural extension of gaming technology. Games are fundamental to human existence and are a part of the work environment. Similar to an organizational-dynamic game, a productivity game has a focus on business-related tasks.
Productivity games improve morale, increase frequency of performance feedback, and offer a way to bring levity to the workplace.
Examples
A great example of a productivity game is the ESP_Game. Developed by Luis_von_Ahn at Carnegie_Mellon_University, this competition joins two random, unknown players in a classic prisoners_dilemma with a clear reward for cooperation over defection. As they play the game, the players are also doing work by providing text labes for images.
ESP Game link
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