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GAMEFUL CHALLENGE #8: Making the Invisible Visible: Part 1: Game Pitches

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THIS CHALLENGE IS CLOSED. YOU HAVE UNTIL MARCH 9TH TO PICK WHICH IDEA YOU’D LIKE TO SEE CREATED THE MOST. VOTE HERE This is part one of a two-part challenge related [...]

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THIS CHALLENGE IS CLOSED. YOU HAVE UNTIL MARCH 9TH TO PICK WHICH IDEA YOU’D LIKE TO SEE CREATED THE MOST. VOTE HERE

This is part one of a two-part challenge related to Making Good (http://makinggood.org/) a book and a project that has the goal of helping hundreds of thousands of people find jobs that make money and change the world.

In every community in every workplace there is a power structure in place–that structure determines how things are done. There is the one that we hear about that we are taught but simultaneously, quietly, there is another parallel structure. It is this secret parallel structure that really makes things happen. But how do you figure out what it is and how do we make the invisible visible? Is it really the president or the celeb you see on TV that has the power? Or is it their VP, assistant or possibly even their mother?

We all are taught the visible power structures. But what of the invisible ones, the one that will actually help you get a job, the person that actually has the power to change your company’s buying policy or to give you the five thousand dollars you need to launch your project? Who are they and what kind of game could both uncover their identities and share them with the world? Who are the unexpected powerbrokers in the world that don’t show up on the Forbes and Fast Company lists?

How can we out them all? How can we enable more people to gain access, to learn and uncover the invisible structures that are governing their own world? Whether we are uncovering the art world in New York, the world of international development or the fast paced world of cantaloupe growers — who is the boss? And who is the real boss?

The challenge: is to create a game that both uncovers the invisible power structure of an office place, a community or an entire world and then makes it visible for all.

How can we teach people the skills to do this?

Prize:
- The winner, as selected by our judges, gets an expense-paid trip to Toronto for the MakingGood Launch or a plane ticket of equivalent value;
- 2 community favorites get to become judges for the 2nd part of the challenge
- The top three contestants as picked by judges will get to present their pitch to a well known famous designer for feedback
- The top 5 community picked games will get a signed copy of Making Good (http://makinggood.org/)

Rules:
• For this half of the challenge the submissions must be fully detailed game design documents
• ALL genres are eligible whether or not they use technology
• Original games only, please. (Please don’t submit a game you made last year. Make a new one!)
* All team members must be Gameful members!

Extra points if:
-The game is easily transferable and applicable between different workplace or community environments
-The players can gain more information from replaying the game more than once
-The knowledge/skills learned are reinforced through gameplay

To Play:
1. Join the Making the Invisible Visible Group.
2. Discuss what you’re up to.
3. When you’re ready, but BEFORE February 20th, start a new forum topic for YOUR entry. (The forum topic is the easiest way for judges and contestants to see all entries in one place.) Describe what you’ve created. Include a link to your game, or a way to download it, so we can play it.
4. When you’re ready to officially submit your game, fill out this form.
5. Await game-tastic feedback from your fellow Gameful monsters.
6. Winners will be announced by the end of February.

Tags: challenge
excerpt
Group Admin
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  • Avatar Image Kayla Quinn, a level 7 monster with 6 posts — 3 months ago:

    We are so excited to have an opportunity to discuss the game we’re developing. It’s called OUTLET and we consider it to be a real life game with a real impact on it’s community.

    Users are encouraged to develop a profile for the community (we’re starting in Thunder Bay, Ontario) and on this profile they are asked to tell the community what they’re passionate about, what they’re currently learning and what their outlet is (and in turn, what they want support in from the community).

    These profiles can be used as a self-promotional tool for the individual to display wares, be found by local employees interested in their skills/talents, and viewed by local post-secondary institutions to flag prospective students and convey to them educational opportunities and potential funding sources available to them.

    We’re creating a tool for the community to connect, self-promote, find the initatives they’re looking for and find a way to build successful initatives for themselves and the community.

    We’re working on making this fun, it’s a pretty complex concept, but it fits together rather beautifully.

    If you want to check out our gaming document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g3TJsrL1k8bMkYG1MOIlnnh1gwmfTy9cdAxD5uMpLSQ/edit

    It’s a really exciting project that we can’t wait to work on with the community. Any support, encouragement, assistance or suggestions are welcome.

    We truly believe that we can create sustainable, happy communities by collecting, supporting and promoting the local endeavours that are already creating such positive change. We need to empower the individual, create ways for us to survive as a community because together, we are electric.

    Thank you!
    - The OUTLET Team

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  • Avatar Image John, a level 7 monster with 1 posts — 3 months ago:

    Hello everyone, my name is John Niccoli. I am the Information Architect at OUTLET. My specialities include, but are not limited to the creation, management, and optimization of databases as well as working with clients to understand their business models and goals to help them define a strategy, the content, and features for the design of their projects. Not only do I work with databases, I also assist in graphic design as well. Thank you for your time, have a great day :) !

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  • Avatar Image Stefan, a level 7 monster with 2 posts — 3 months ago:

    Hello, my name is Stefan Hoard and my position at OUTLET is the Director of Social Media.

    My job primarily consists of researching efficient ways to use social networks and other online or offline influences to effectively market our company as well as monitoring our online personality. However I also contribute to graphic and web design portion of the company as well, some of this includes helping with the base layout for our temporary website and going through our logo and pantone process.

    Please follow via our:
    Website – http://outletpowered.com/
    Blog – http://outletpowered.tumblr.com/
    Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Outletpowered
    Twitter – https://twitter.com/OUTLETPOWERED
    Google Plus – http://gplus.to/OutletPowered
    Vimeo – https://vimeo.com/outlet
    Youtube – http://www.youtube.com/user/OutletPowered

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  • Avatar Image Lee Stojkovic, a level 4 monster with 2 posts — 2 months, 4 weeks ago:

    Hey everybody! My name is Lee Stojkovic and I’m the Code Monkey at OUTLET.

    Basically what this means is I get to work on all the code that makes our website work properly. I get to look up new and fresh ways to make our site operate smoothly and intuitively. Making everything operate exactly the way we want it is my main focus here at OUTLET. I also get some fun side tasks, such as creating character sprites for our OUTLET team! =)

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  • Avatar Image Matt Hudyma, a level 0 monster with 1 posts — 2 months, 4 weeks ago:

    Hello, Matt Hudyma here. I am the Events, Marketing & Communication Specialist here at OUTLET. My job consists of setting up and planning events for OUTLET and also for the community. I also contribute to the design process as well. This includes poster design and other promotional designs for OUTLET. I am also involved with the radio show we have on luradio.ca.

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  • Avatar Image Kayla Quinn, a level 7 monster with 6 posts — 2 months, 3 weeks ago:

    Besides our core team, so far we haven’t had any posts on this. Does anyone have any feedback? What would you like to see on a self-promotional tool like this or in a coworking space? We have boardgames donated to the space to challenge minds and events on the horizon, but if anyone has any input on how we can make this idea better, please let us know! We could use all the help we can get. :D

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  • Avatar Image Suzanne Grubb, a level 7 monster with 12 posts — 2 months, 2 weeks ago:

    This is a really awesome idea for tying in physical space, neighborhood communities and virtual communities.

    I think the one thing you’re missing is a Leader Board — not just as an activity feed online, but a physical (electronic?) Leader Board in your physical space that shows brief profiles of top points earners for the week.

    So if I’m, say, a local crafter, I’m totally extra-motivated to earn points because hey — free advertising by getting ” Suzanne – Local Writer http://www.suzannegrubb.com”; splashed all over the leaderboard for everyone who is attending an event.

    Or, if I’m attending/hosting an event, people in the space can go the extra mile to earn points because they will physically see results in the space (and… possibly, if they use a headshot for an avatar, will be recognized by others/engage in conversation based on this).

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  • Avatar Image Kayla Quinn, a level 7 monster with 6 posts — 2 months, 2 weeks ago:

    Brilliant! I totally agree, I wonder if we could find a way to have a continuous tracker going in the physical space that reflects the ongoing totals. :)

    I really appreciate the input, it would also be another way we can harness promotion and engagement. Thank you!

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  • Avatar Image Emily Byrtus, a level 7 monster with 15 posts — 2 months, 2 weeks ago:

    *I meant to get to do a post like this (a con with suggestion and a pro) on each entry earlier, but my schedule caught up with me a tad…. Sorry! On with the post.*

    I really admire the professionalism with which you presented your entry!

    CON: I think the jump between the free and the paid membership might be a little bit too stark – you’ll probably be able to nab more users if you allow the free members to have two portfolio images. It’ll get them a little bit more hooked into using the service while still feeling choked off in comparison to the paid membership. One image would be too easy – “Oh, I’ll just use my logo”. Two provides a bit more of a challenge that purchasing a bigger portfolio through membership upgrade might solve.

    PRO: I really like that you can redeem points for an upgraded membership – it can be really frustrating to be an extremely active member of a community but still not valued as a premium member. In addition, badges are always such a great way to subtly reward a person for active membership on a site.

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  • Avatar Image Kayla Quinn, a level 7 monster with 6 posts — 2 months, 2 weeks ago:

    Thank you, Emily!

    We’re just encroaching on the finalization of our ‘business plan’ – so your comment is perfectly timed, we’re trying to figure out how to gauge fair value for the membership, and I agree, I like giving people tools and just see what they do with them, I think the two images concept works really well and has many more of the values I have ingrained in it rather than being mean to those who don’t have paid accounts – not to mention it has a certain challenge to it to convey as much as you can in two images. Good call.

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  • Avatar Image Kayla Quinn, a level 7 monster with 6 posts — 2 months, 2 weeks ago:

    Yay! So we launched our indiegogo campaign for OUTLET. We’re one step closer to making this a real thing!!!

    http://www.indiegogo.com/OUTLET?a=423958

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