Each month we are going to take an in-depth look at on particular aspect of Ludogogy.

This might be a theory or framework, an approach, technique or even a particular product or game.

This page shows current and past ‘Focus on…’ posts, and you can view this month’s focus in the current issue.

Please get in touch  at [email protected] if you have an idea that would be suitable for this feature using ‘focus’ in your subject line.

Focus on...

Trophy Focus on… winning conditions by Ludogogy - As all winning conditions can be described mathematically, actual differences in win states in different games are more about Aesthetics, Narrative and Theme [...]
Man sitting on pile of coins Focus on… In-game Economies by Ludogogy - In-game economies - the creation and destruction of value commonly seen in games, or in gamification applications with collectable and exchangeable points. [...]
old film camera Focus on… Make & Break Live Events by Ludogogy - As a tie-in with the Make & Break issue of Ludogogy, we organised a number of events about Playtesting and Prototyping including a oopening panel event [...]
Feedback Loops Focus on… Feedback Loops in Games Based Learning by Dave Eng - Feedback is an important part of the learning process. Feedback is also really important for games to be engaging and fun. [...]
butterfly emerging - transformation Focus on… Theory of Change by Ludogogy - If you’ve ever been involved in a change initiative, chances are, somewhere along the line, you have come across a kind of ‘magical thinking’ whereby those proposing the changes miss out many of the details of the necessary steps to get from the ‘here and now’, to the proposed change. Inherent is this kind of approach, are unstated assumptions, for… [...]
Utopian graffiti Focus on… Utopias and Dystopias by Ludogogy - The word Dystopia was coined when John Stuart Mill, added the prefix ‘dys’, meaning ‘bad’ to utopia, to create the idea of a perfect world gone bad. [...]
Tarot Cards Focus on… Games Systems for Games Design by Ludogogy - There is however another class of ‘games’, made up of generic components and concepts , which therefore allow an almost infinite number of possibilities in play [...]
Vintage Wargame Engraving Focus on… Wargaming and Wargames by Thomas Ackland - comes from Decision Games; which says “a wargame is a model of a military situation which players can control” (Decision Games, 2020) [...]
Men playing chess Focus on… Game Design Aesthetics by Ludogogy - Games Design models which focus on the relationship between game designer and player, and the game features and behaviours which emerge from that relationship. [...]
Empathy Focus on… Empathy in Game Design by Ludogogy - To consider ‘Diversity’ we must think about ourselves; how we are the same as others, and how we differ - to find solutions to the division of difference. [...]
Heros Journey template Focus on… Narrative Structures by Ludogogy - Three commonly used narrative structives, including the story of Joseph Campbells life, told using the narrative structure he discovered, The Hero's Journey [...]
Fantasy Map Focus on… Zoom Games for Learning by Ludogogy - A ‘Zoom Game’ is a game which is designed to be run for a group of people, who will play it while meeting through the video-conferencing platform Zoom. [...]
Prisoners dilemma Focus on… Game Theory and Toy Games by Ludogogy - Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interaction among rational decision-makers. It features 'toy games' to explain theories of conflict [...]
Child motivated to play piano Focus on… Motivation Theories by Ludogogy - Many people regard 'intrinsic' motivation as being 'internal'. They similarly conflate 'extrinsic' with 'external' rewards. The truth is more complex. [...]
Focus on… Lego Serious Play by Simon Dutton - So, what is LEGO® Serious Play® and what does it do? There are usually three typical responses I get when I mention, in response to the question “what do you do?” and I’ve replied, “I’m a LEGO® Serious Play® facilitator.” There’s the person who thinks they’ve experienced LEGO Serious Play: “Oh, yeah – I’ve done that – we had to… [...]