The future of social gamification

Games are all about player's emotions.

Sounds obvious doesn't it? yes. However, it is easy to forget when you delve in details.

1. Human beings are social creatures. We like to compete, compare, talk, brag, cooperate with other human beings.

2. Inherently thanks to the Internet, games CAN be alot more social with most household computers having headsets, nice graphics and sound cards and high-speed Internet access.

3. Enjoyment in anything is emotional. There is lots more emotions involved when interacting, as directly as possible, with other people, than with an AI you know is mindless and won't react to your emotional input.

4. People like to have fun, this means to play, playing means games.

Hence due to points 1-4, people who socialize naturally want to play, and people who are playing would naturally wish to socialize at the same time. Having both in the same basket means a more fun, significant experience for the user, and thus creates attachment through connectivity with people (the Oxytocin hormone ) which then translates to a sort of natural addictiveness.

Hence stickyness to the game. Hence...well, ROI.

So anyone who wishes to make games must keep that in the forefront of their mindset.
Its all about the player experience.

With that in mind, design and develop away!