Game On: Energize Your Business with Social Media Games

Game On: Energize Your Business with Social Media Games

by Jon Radoff
Released April 2011
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9780470936269

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Book description

A never-before published look at the many possibilities of social game development

As one of the few entrepreneurs in the world with expertise building both social media and games, author Jon Radoff brings a one-of-a-kind perspective to this unique book. He shows that games are more than a profitable form of entertainment the techniques of social games can be used to enhance the quality of online applications, social media and a wide range of other consumer and business experiences. With this book, you'll explore how social games can be put to work for any business and examine why they work at all. The first part of explains what makes games fun, while the second part reviews the process and details of game design.

  • Looks at how games are the basis for many everyday functions and explains how techniques of social games can be used by businesses as money-making tools

  • Drills down the process of game design while focusing on the design, analysis, and creation of games

  • Features screen shots, diagrams and explanations to illuminate key concepts, accessible to anyone regardless of game playing or design experience

  • Reviews what works and what doesn't using a range of real-world scenarios as examples

  • Author Jon Radoff has a unique blend of experiences creating games, Internet-based social media, and Web technology.

Game On is not playing around. Discover how social media games make money and how you can enhance your business using games.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. About the Author
  6. About the Technical Editor
  7. Credits
  8. Foreword
  9. Acknowledgments
  10. Introduction
    1. The Things You Remember Best
    2. Who Should Read This Book?
    3. What’s In this Book?
    4. How to Read this Book
    5. Choose Your Path
  11. Part I: Understanding Social Games
    1. Chapter 1: How to Play This Book
      1. Quiz: Who Are You?
      2. What Is the Use of a Quiz?
      3. Chapter in Review
      4. Choose Your Path
    2. Chapter 2: Games Have Changed the Business Playfield
      1. The Power of Experience
      2. The Evolution of Mass Media
      3. Major Trends in Five Thousand Years of Social Games
      4. What Social Games Mean for Your Business
      5. Chapter in Review
      6. Choose Your Path
    3. Chapter 3: Developing Social Media Games
      1. Social Media Game Development Is Different
      2. Agile Development
      3. Player-Centered Design
      4. Chapter in Review
      5. Choose Your Path
    4. Chapter 4: Customers as Players
      1. Describing Customers with Player Personas
      2. The Hero’s Journey
      3. Different People, Different Fun
      4. Social Gameplay Motivations
      5. Case Study: Magic: the Gathering
      6. Turning Motivators into Questions
      7. Differences in Real versus Online Identity
      8. Chapter in Review
      9. Choose Your Path
    5. Chapter 5: Fungineering
      1. Why Adults Never Outgrow Stickers
      2. Sixteen Human Motivations
      3. The Power of Belief and Alief
      4. Social Status as a Reward
      5. 42 Things That Customers Think Are Fun
      6. Chapter in Review
      7. Choose Your Path
    6. Chapter 6: Turning Work into Fun
      1. How Games Make Ordinary Tasks Addicting
      2. When to Turn Something into a Game
      3. Understanding the Business Decisions beneath Modern Games
      4. The Problem with Serious Games
      5. Social Media as a Game
      6. How Location Makes Work Fun
      7. Chapter in Review
      8. Choose Your Path
  12. Part II: Designing Social Games
    1. Chapter 7: Anatomy of a Social Game
      1. Understanding Where Social Games Live
      2. Three Phases of the Player Life Cycle
      3. Player Discovery on Facebook
      4. Engaging and Reengaging Players
      5. Economic Exchange
      6. Adapting Social Games to Business
      7. Chapter in Review
      8. Choose Your Path
    2. Chapter 8: Understanding Social Game Business Models
      1. Converting Attention to Dollars
      2. Revenue Models
      3. Business Metrics for Social Games
      4. Forecasting Growth
      5. A/B Split Testing
      6. Qualitative Testing
      7. Chapter in Review
      8. Choose Your Path
    3. Chapter 9: Using Storytelling to Understand Your Design Objectives
      1. One Thousand and One Designs
      2. The Craft of Storytelling
      3. Player Narratives
      4. Creating User Stories
      5. Story Creation Games
      6. Chapter in Review
      7. Choose Your Path
    4. Chapter 10: Creating Compelling Game Systems
      1. Understanding Flow
      2. Designing Progress Systems
      3. Pacing
      4. Honing Your Game Design Skills
      5. Chapter in Review
      6. Choose Your Path
    5. Chapter 11: Designing Game Interfaces
      1. Doorways to a World
      2. Levels of Abstraction
      3. MAGIC Game Interfaces
      4. How Beauty Engages Customers
      5. Details: It Is about Perception
      6. Creating an Interaction Map
      7. Adding Social Elements to Your Interface
      8. Chapter in Review
      9. Choose Your Path
    6. Chapter 12: Designing for Virtual Goods
      1. Why Do People Buy Virtual Goods?
      2. Who Buys Virtual Goods?
      3. Where Do People Buy Virtual Goods?
      4. How People Pay for Virtual Goods
      5. Categorizing Virtual Goods
      6. Managing Virtual Economies
      7. Pricing and Merchandising Virtual Goods
      8. Chapter in Review
      9. Choose Your Path
    7. Chapter 13: Coda
      1. Anything Can Be a Game
      2. Games Are a Mathematical Art Form
      3. Games Are Stories
      4. The Future of Social Games
  13. Part III: Glossary, Resources, and More
    1. Appendix A: Glossary
    2. Appendix B: Resource Guide
      1. Game Studios
      2. Social Network Game Publishers
      3. Payment Processing and Monetization
      4. Advertising Optimizers
      5. Advertising Networks
      6. Social Media + Gaming
      7. Distribution Networks
      8. Developer Support
      9. Traditional Game Publishers
      10. Creativity Tools
      11. Market Research
    3. Appendix C: Book References
  14. Index

Product information

  • Title: Game On: Energize Your Business with Social Media Games
  • Author(s): Jon Radoff
  • Release date: April 2011
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9780470936269