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It’s More Than A Game…

It’s More Than A Game

• “Most systems are “function-focused” and designed to get the job done quickly. This is like a factory that assumes that the workers within WILL do their jobs. However, Human-Focused Design remembers that people in the system have feelings, insecurities, and reasons why they want or do not want to do things, and therefore optimizes their feelings, motivations, and engagement.” (*)
• “Games have the amazing ability to keep people engaged for a long time, build relationships and trust between people, and develop their creative potential.” (**)

Introduction

A common challenge amongst masonic lodges and bodies is the ability to maintain engagement amongst its membership.

This challenge is reflected amongst all membership levels, from its newest entered apprentices to past masters.

Some will point-out masonic retention rates-how many members retain their membership (and for how long)-as being very high.

However, in this author’s opinion, retention is not and should not be the primary masonic concern.

The primary concern should be member engagement, engagement defined as:

• how often a member communicates with his masonic lodge or otherwise attends masonic events (including but not limited to regular meetings or degrees).

This author defines an “engaged member” as a member who attends a minimum of two masonic meetings per year.

In this author’s personal and anecdotal experiences, pursuant to the above definition, over 50% of North American members are not “engaged.”

How can Freemasonry increase member engagement?

One possible answer: gamification.

“Gamification” is: “the application of typical elements of game playing (e.g. point scoring, competition with others, rules of play) to other areas of activity, typically as an online marketing technique to encourage [user] engagement with a product or service.” (Google (17 Feb 2025)) [emphasis added]

From the above:

• “other areas of activity” can be considered “freemasonry;”
• “user” can be considered “members;” and
• “product or service” can also be considered “masonic meetings or activities.”

Is it possible to “gamify” member engagement?

Is it possible to “apply the typical elements of game playing to freemasonry, thereby encouraging engagement with masonic meetings or activities.”

Yes.

That yes is based on Yu-kai Chou’s “Octalysis Framework.”

Every Freemason concerned with or considering how to increase member engagement needs to check out this framework, which describes the eight “core” motivations or “drives” by which or through which people engage in activities.

By exploring these eight drives (and the categories in which each drive resides), Freemasons will get a better understanding of the motivations which both encourage and discourage member engagement; and potentially how to renew engagement amongst discouraged membership.

• What is the desired behaviour: increased membership engagement
• Which core drive(s) will motivate the desired behaviour: see below

[Author’s Note: it is important to note that these same questions and drives couple apply to masonic attempts to increase applications and membership also-and we this story will explore this application also. However, it is this author’s opinion that the main challenge facing Freemasonry is not reduced membership, but rather reduced engagement amongst the current membership].

Core Drive One: Epic Meaning and Calling

This is a drive based on a user believing that he/she is part of something bigger than themselves. It can tie into ideas such as “faith, hope, and charity.”

It is the author’s opinion that Freemasonry can and does provide an epic meaning. In fact, the author wrote about what he views as the true masonic calling in a previous story.

The masonic calling is the call to fight for a better world.

The epic meaning of freemasonry is the epic struggle to build the world into a better place through the practice of brotherly love, relief, and truth.

If a user feels that engagement in an activity is contributing to something larger than himself/herself, that user is more likely to remain engaged.

How many members feel that engagement in freemasonry contributes to something larger than themselves?

How many members feel that freemasonry has a meaning (epic or otherwise) or calling? If they do feel that freemasonry has a meaning or calling, could they express that meaning and calling to others or even themselves?

If they cannot express the meaning of or calling behind freemasonry, is that the fault of their masonic lodge and sponsors in failing to either explain through words or express through actions the meaning of or calling behind freemasonry?

How many members join Freemasonry out of a belief that they will find an epic meaning and calling therein, to then become disappointed, disillusioned, and subsequently disengage in the craft?

It is truly the responsibility of a masonic lodge to remind its membership of both the administrative and membership duties required to maintain a masonic lodge and WHY maintaining a masonic lodge is something bigger than oneself that is deserving of being maintained.

This “reminding” could include in-lodge discussions of: masonic charitable efforts; the health benefits of being a Freemason; reaching out to isolated members and returning them to the masonic lodge.

The information from these discussions should also be included with a lodge summons or trestle-board, to ensure every member is reminded that being a member (being a Freemason) can be an epic calling…if that member is engaged!

Core Drive Two: Development and Accomplishment

Freemasonry has in its structure an already established system of development and accomplishment, which begins with the three degrees, then moves onto officer progression, then (can) move onto joining appendant bodies or even Grand Lodge positions.

In video game speak, this structure is like a “progress bar” that allows a member to feel like he is getting somewhere.

It symbolises a sense of accomplishment.

It must symbolise a sense of accomplishment.

A real danger in Freemasonry (caused by a reduction in engaged members) is allowing members to advance through degrees or offices without being qualified. If members advance and achieve new accomplishments without qualifications, the accomplishments will feel “cheap” and will not create any drive to advance or otherwise engage in the masonic experience.

Core Drive Three: Empowerment and Creativity of Feedback

This drive relates to the ability for a member to make meaningful choices and otherwise feel empowered to make creative choices within the activity.

Do members feel empowered to make creative decisions and try new things? Do members feel in control of their masonic experience?

Or do members (especially new members) feel that they are not empowered to make new decisions or approach freemasonry in a creative way?

If members do not feel empowered, how likely are they to engage?

In the author’s experience, this feeling of powerlessness is a major factor that results in disengagement especially amongst first-time Worshipful Masters.

It is a well-known “joke” that the common-refrain of past-masters is “that’s not how we did it in my day!”

Sadly, it is not such a “joke” (hence the quotes) and many past masters will use some version of the above-refrain as a way to stymie or otherwise quell a new Worshipful Master’s ideas or plans, thereby creating a sense of animosity and frustration between the new Worshipful Master and the past masters which very often results in the new Worshipful Master disengaging from his lodge upon completion of his term of office.

This same animosity and frustrations can occur amongst new members, who join a masonic lodge full of ideas to be then “shot-down” by the older members who feel they have the right (by virtue of their experience) to disregard any ideas they dislike.

This can result in new members disengaging from their lodge before even entering the masonic officer line-up.

Core Drive Four: Ownership and Possession

If a user invests a lot of time or energy into a product or service, that user will feel more attachment to and ownership of that product or service and therefore remain more engaged.

To what extent do members feel a sense of ownership of their masonic experience?

Members may feel as though they are investing a lot of time and energy into their masonic experience but if they feel that this investment is not resulting in ownership of the experience (due to issues discussed in core drive three) than how likely is this investment to continue?

How likely is the engagement to continue?

Core Drive Five: Social Influence and Relatedness

Another word for the above drive: relevance!

Based on the things people say and do around a user, how relevant is that particular users experience to his larger life?

If a member hears about Freemasonry and his lodge once or twice a month, but for the remainder of the month that member hears nothing about Freemasonry and his lodge, than how likely is that member to remain engaged?

Part of this relevance is having masonic bodies with a more visible community and virtual presence, thereby ensuring the masonic experience is visible and relevant to membership all the time. That this experience remains top-of-mind.

Increased community events, the use of social media networks, promotional events, are all ways to increase visibility.

This increased visibility may also help to attract new members or new applicants who are considering becoming a member.

There is a danger with this drive, relating to the tendency of newer members to rely on social influence to invite or otherwise bring their friends and contacts into the lodge.

Usually, this tendency is driven by the best of intentions.

Usually, masonic lodges or bodies are more than happy to support this tendency as it results in an influx of applications, members, and dues.

BUT, this tendency is dangerous as the new(er) members doing the inviting may still be at the earliest stage of their masonic career; they may not even fully understand what freemasonry is or what it offers. As such, they may paint an incorrect picture of Freemasonry to the invitees, resulting in a influx of members that grow disillusioned with Freemasonry and end up disengaging and demiting from the lodge and Freemasonry all-together.

It is better for a mason to use social influence to invite others to apply for membership after he has reached a “win-point,” such as being elected Worshipful Master or after at least five years of masonic engagement.

Core Drive Six: Scarcity or Impatience

This core drive and the motivation therein connects to Freemasonry in numerous ways.

First, and obviously, is the idea of “guarding the west gate.” If admission into freemasonry is too easy or open to anyone, Freemasonry itself will seem to be an unlimited resource and less likely to be valued or engaged by members. However, if freemasonry is considered a limited (or scarce) resource, than engagement is far more likely.

Core Drive Seven: Unpredictability and Curiousity

Freemasonry, by its nature, encourages predictability and routine. It encourages (indeed requires) stability.

However, Freemasonry can embrace the idea of “curiousity” to drive engagement.

How many masonic meetings are “same old, same old?” What if every masonic meeting involved some type of education or program that varies meeting-to-meeting? This curiousity can be combined with the core drive of scarcity, in that the education or program which takes place at one meeting will not be repeated at the next meeting. As such, you are both engaging member curiousity by providing unique and interesting education or programming while also engaging the scarcity drive by limiting the opportunity for member engagement.

This drive(s) most likely explains why masonic special events continue to have positive member engagement while regular business meetings experience declining member engagement.

By virtue of the name, a masonic “special” event implies both a reason to be curious (what will make this event “special”) and to set-aside the time to engage (if it is special, how many opportunities will the member have to engage).

By virtue of the name, a “regular” business meeting implies both familiarity (if it’s regular, how curious should a member be) and ubiquity (if it’s regular, a member can miss the first business meeting and feel comfortable their will be a second…and a third…and a fourth).

Keep in mind, attempting to drive engagement through scarcity and curiousity requires a masonic lodge or body to communicate what is happening and why members will want to engage. This communication could be in the form of social media, the summons or trestle-board, or even an “upcoming events” board within a masonic building.

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

Core Drive Eight: Loss and Avoidance

This core drive also connects with the previous two core drives: it is the “fear of missing out…” such as the fear of missing out on a really special meeting, an interesting piece of education, or the chance to visit with a masonic brethren.

One masonic lodge (in Arizona) actually publishes its refreshment menu in its summons, as a way to encourage engagement lest the member miss out or lose a delicious menu/meal.

This core drive is also how a masonic jurisdiction (a Grand Lodge) will motivate or drive engagement amongst members, especially as it relates to administrative work and procedures.

The threat of the loss of a masonic charter (which means the loss of a masonic lodge), extra fees, or the loss of masonic membership all drive engagement relating to administrative work through the fear of loss (or punishment).

This threat can be effective but also often results in burn-out, stress, and resentment. This is especially true if membership does not understand why the administrative work and procedures are necessary.

The above are the eight core drives which drive or motivate behaviour. These eight drives can be placed into four categories, each of which provides its own reasons for engagement.

Category One: Left Brain or Extrinsic Motivation

These are drives which motivate based on reaching a reward, goal, or milestone without necessarily enjoying the activity itself.

The drives that fit into this category are:

• Core Drive Two: Development and Accomplishment
• Core Drive Four: Ownership and Possession
• Core Drive Six: Scarcity or Impatience

These drives are good for attracting people into a system, or attracting members into Freemasonry, but have a difficult time maintaining consistent engagement.

There exist just so many rewards or milestones a system can provide to its membership before the rewards or milestones begin to feel meaningless unless the system then provides bigger rewards and milestones, and then bigger rewards and milestones. This is the “over-justification effect,” and can result in burnout amongst users.

Does Freemasonry rely too heavily on providing rewards and milestones to drive member engagement, as opposed to focusing on the creation of an enjoyable experience, as seen in the category two?

Category Two: Right Brain or Intrinsic Motivation

These are drives that motivate based on an internal enjoyment of the activity, without needing any reward or milestone.

The drives that fit into this category are:

• Core Drive Three: Empowerment and Creativity of Feedback
• Core Drive Five: Social Influence and Relatedness
• Core Drive Seven: Unpredictability and Curiousity

This category works well to maintain engagement or keep people within the system.

It is easy to design for category one-drive motivation by offering a reward-but results in exclusively short term gains.

It is hard to design for category two-drive motivation by creating an enjoyable or rewarding experience-but results in longer term gains.

Category Three: White Hat or “Top”

These are drives that rely on a user being in control of the situation, such as someone who exercises because he/she wants to be in shape. No one is forcing the user to exercise, rather the decision is being driven internally and with no threat of loss or force.

The drives that fit into this category are:

• Core Drive One: Epic Meaning and Calling
• Core Drive Two: Development and Accomplishment
• Core Drive Three: Empowerment and Creativity of Feedback

Member engagement driven by this category looks like a member visiting his lodge because he feels dong so represents an opportunity to advance some type of epic meaning (such as fighting for a better world), will result in a masonic development, or will provide him with an opportunity for empowerment or leadership.

However, note that in this category there exists no scarcity or risk of loss, which results in procrastination. Since the drives are entirely based on the members internal motivation, that member can always decide to advance the epic meaning, develop within masonry, or take advantage of any opportunities at the next meeting.

This category is good for creating long-term member engagement if the motivations are sufficiently explained and understood.

If members genuinely understand how and why masonic engagement makes them better and makes the world better, this author argues that they will be more than likely to engage!

The question is: how many members genuinely understand how and why masonic engagement makes them better and makes the world better?

Category Four: Black Hat or “Bottom”

These are drives which rely on a user being forced into engagement via a fear of loss or through some other external factor (such as a boss forcing an employee into work at risk of termination).

The drives that fit into this category are:

• Core Drive Six: Scarcity or Impatience
• Core Drive Seven: Unpredictability and Curiousity
• Core Drive Eight: Loss and Avoidance

This category results in short-term gains but can, depending on how it is applied, result in burn-out and resentment by constantly forcing a sense of urgency or stress onto the user (this connects to human history and the tendency to fight for scarce resources).

Challenge: our brains don’t like to track long-term benefits, our brains are better with short-term rewards.

The above “drives and categories” create a framework by which we can understand what motivates masonic engagement; but it is a framework that fits into a larger framework of the masonic journey.

As noted above:

• The threat of the loss of a masonic charter (which means the loss of a masonic lodge), extra fees, or the loss of masonic membership all drive engagement relating to administrative work through the fear of loss (or punishment). This is a “black hat” category.
• This threat can be effective but also often results in burn, stress, and resentment. This is especially true if membership does not understand why the administrative work and procedures are necessary.
• The above are the eight core drives which drive or motivate behaviour. These eight drives can be placed into four categories, each of which provides its own reasons for engagement.

The Masonic Journey/The User’s Journey

A “game,” by its nature, is dynamic. No one plays a game in which nothing happens.

The player goes on a journey.

The user goes on a journey.

What is the masonic journey?

• Discovery
• Onboarding
• Scaffolding
• Endgame

Intuitively, most members see Freemasonry as one experience.

That is a mistake.

From a motivation standpoint, a member’s engagement is continuously evolving. The way a member engages on day one and the way a member engages on day 100 will be different.

If Freemasonry engages members on day one, but by day one hundred those members find Freemasonry boring and uninspiring, something went wrong.

Phase One: Discovery

The first phase of a user’s journey starts when he discovers Freemasonry. This discovery could take place through friends, family, maybe seeing a masonic parade float or seeing the “Square and Compasses” symbol in public.

Freemasons need to think about and optimize the motivation users have when they discover Freemasonry.

In this phase, the user is not yet a member, but rather an applicant who has discovered Freemasonry and approached a mason (in the classic “2B1Ask1”) looking for more information.

It is in this phase that the core drives of the applicant must be determined.

• Is he motivated by curiousity?
• Is he motivated by fear of missing out on something valuable?
• Is he motivated by a desire for meaning and purpose?

Determining the core drive of the applicant is vital to ensuring engagement (both in this phase and in all phases).

Phase Two: Onboarding

The second phase of a user’s journey is the phase in which the applicant becomes a member and becomes become familiar with masonic rules, masonic structures, and the mechanics of the masonic lodge or body.

It is in this phase the user moves from applicant to member, and it is also necessary during this phase for the masonic lodge or body of which he is a member to familiarise the member both with the rules and structures of Freemasonry and why those rules and structures exist. Sometimes, the “why” needs to be expressed in words and sometimes actions will suffice.

Phase Three: Scaffolding

The third phase of a user’s journey is the phase in which the now-member uses all of the rules and structures he learned about in the “onboarding phase” to try and reach as many “win-states” as possible.

A “win-state” is a state or states representing achievement. It could be advancing through degrees, taking an officer position, taking the Worshipful Master’s chair, or taking a position in Grand Lodge.

• “In the player’s journey, this phase is supposedly where the most “fun” should happen, and usually has equal standing within all 8 Core Drives, depending on what your product actually does and for whom it is designed for.
• The Scaffolding phase is where users come back on a regular or daily basis to commit mostly repetitive Desired Actions. We talked about how almost all games are doing repetitive actions over and over again for hours. Candy Crush constantly matches 3 gems; Angry Birds constantly slings out birds; and RPGs constantly kill the same monsters on the same stage over and over again.
• So what is the motivation for a user to come back and do the exact same things over and over again for hours everyday? That is the question the Scaffolding Phase seeks to answer.” (***)

Phase Four: The Endgame

The Endgame is the phase in which user’s feel they have done everything there is to do: what’s next!

This phase is equivalent to a past-master who no longer engages with Freemasonry, because he feels he has done everything he can do.

Not spending enough time thinking about this last phase is a gigantic mistake. If Freemasonry does not find a way to keep its Past Masters engaged (while at the same time not allowing them to remove the empowerment and autonomy from the new members), than a wealth of knowledge will be lost as these past masters disengage.

Conclusion

The motivations or drives that cause a member to be engaged will vary both between members and throughout a masonic career.

Understanding these motivations and drives will help Freemasonry increase the engagement amongst its membership.

Increasing engagement amongst its membership is vital to and for the future of Freemasonry.

All opinions expressed are those of Square & Compass Promotions and the guest(s), and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Windsor Masonic Temple and/or any other Masonic group!

Expressed another way:

“Everyone is entirely free to reject and dissent from whatsoever herein may seem to him to be untrue or unsound.”

• *(17 Feb 2025). The Octalysis Framework for Gamification & Behavioral Design. Yu-Kai Chou. https://yukaichou.com/gamification-examples/octalysis-complete-gamification-framework/.
• **(17 Feb 2025). Gamification Design: 4 Phases of a Player’s Journey. Yu-Kai Chou. https://yukaichou.com/gamification-examples/experience-phases-game/.
• ***(17 Feb 2025). Beginner’s Guide to Gamification: What Is Gamification (2 of 90). Yu-Kai Chou. https://yukaichou.com/gamification-video-course/beginners-guide-gamification-gamification-2-90/#.U0L8Oa1dVUg
• ****Google (17 Feb 2025)

Note: a huge thank-you to “Raised Eyebrow,” a regular audience member of the Square & Compass Livestreams — Monday to Friday 1pm EST-for suggesting this content and this idea!