Polynize Game Mechanics
A semi-deep-dive into principles behind Polynize game design.
Polynize is a gamified innovation economy on the blockchain where people, communities and organizations come together to solve problems and explore new possibilities.
The Polynize game is being launched in mid-2022 as an open digital platform on Algorand. The principles of the game design come from our deep research and lived experience in a range of industries.
As Polynize is new and therefore unfamiliar to our audience, we think it is important to communicate the principles behind the design of the game. In this transmission, we give a short explanation of the logic behind the game design and some sneak previews of the game interface.
The mechanics of the Polynize game are consciously developed using two important theories:
- the 6Cs or Powers — a model for the key performance factors in successful innovation, developed and tested in Polynize 1.0
- Self-Determination Theory (SDT) — an established theory of motivation based on psychological needs
The 6Cs (Powers)
Polynize began as a research project looking into the factors that drive commercially successful innovation processes in technology, music, media, education and health (the founders have top-level success leading innovation in each of these sectors).
We coined the term “Powers” for the individual factors that contribute to successful innovation. Each of them starts with “C” so we also call them the “6Cs”. They are —
- Creativity — creating something new as a solution
- Communication — clearly communicating the creativity to others
- Collaboration — contributing to and learning from the creativity of others
- Commitment — investing time and effort in the creative process
- Courage — taking risks in the innovation process
- Competition — increasing performance in response to others’
In our Polynize game experience, users go through a variety of activities. We map these to the 6Cs to create a “scoring matrix” for quantifying performance within our innovation economy. The tuning of these numbers draws on empirical experience from our first Polynize version.
Self-Determination Theory (SDT)
Self-Determination Theory (SDT) says that we have three underlying psychological needs that provide the basis of enduring motivation:
- Competency — learning and mastery over skills (what we call Superpowers)
- Autonomy — feeling like we have choice over behaviours and decisions
- Relatedness — being a part of a social group where we belong
SDT has played a prominent role in the design of video games for a long time, where it is used to inform the experience and incentive design. We also map our activities to SDT.
Mapping SDT <> 6Cs
It’s very interesting to cross reference these two models. We can use the two datasets above to look for intersections in the 2D space between the two:
This gives us a “map” of where motivations are concentrated in the user journey. This is our Polynize Game Design framework.
In the next section, we use this for game UX design.
Principles of Game Design
The user experience of the Polynize game platform moves through a number of activities, and with the help of the mapping above we can now begin to identify the “motivational field” within the user experience.
Below are some screenshots of selected user interfaces in the Polynize user journey tagged using the SDT <> 6Cs mapping (not complete).
Now that we have a Game Design Framework for iterating over the game UX design we can intentionally design for the following properties:
- Coverage— overall the UX should satisfy psychological needs in each of the SDT categories and also exercise each of the 6Cs / Powers
- Intensity — certain moments in the UX should provide outsized psychological rewards and tests of Powers e.g. Spark a Poly
- Balance — no single factor should dominate the UX and there should be a balance. For example, Collaboration balances Competition.
This gives us the frame for very targeted micro-design. For example, the design of the ranking badge can be optimized for coverage and balance.
Calculating Power
The best part is that now we can quantify performance in the innovation economy by aggregating and normalizing the 6Cs for each player. Averaging these gives an overall Power Factor for each Player.
This creates a strong feedback loop that motivates our Players to perform well and improve over time — by increasing their Power Factor, winning Missions and getting access to rewards which unlock further opportunities to play.
Join our Mission
Polynize is evolutionary, we are always adapting, learning and evolving. This first release of our game platform in mid-2022 is only the beginning of an infinite mission, and along the way we are working with some of the best minds in many many fields — technology, blockchain, gaming, finance, design, psychology …
If you’re sparked by what you see here, please send us a transmission via your favourite comms platform — we’d love to connect with you. 🚀
Check us out polynize.io or have a glance through our whitepaper.
