Last week at Gamescom, I got the chance to play a bit of XCOM: Enemy Unknown. It is a game I have been quite excited about, so it was great getting to play it. Compared to its spiritual predecessor, it does have a problem: The Unknown seems like its gone.
I hate the concept of gamification, it is one of the ugliest words in current game design lingo. The fact that most rewards in gamification are extrinsic make most achievements hollow. In education, people should learn because it is intrinsically rewarding, not because they want good grades.
I played “Zombies, Run”, a gamification-y game, and I enjoyed it.
Design Interludes 