From Paths to Sandboxes

At Gamification 2013, Stephen P. Anderson, author of Seductive Interactions, presents his thinking on open versus closed environments. Many games were originally designed as specific paths. Anderson shares examples, and the psychology behind them, of why open environments can create more seductive experiences.

Using Candy Crush, World of Warcraft, Pinterest and other examples, he shows how open-ended environments encourage exploration and engagement. He also shares his personal journey: from trying to shape and influence a user’s path to creating sandbox environments in which people can play, amaze and delight us.

The talk comes with learning questions: which other experiences could be classed as sandboxes, how a sandbox still uses psychology to influence behaviour, how the use of psychology differs between paths and sandboxes, and how you might apply the practical takeaways to your own work. The contrast maps onto patterns such as tunnelling on one side and autonomy and curiosity on the other.