#GameDevDiet The Game
October 19, 2009
If truth be told, the reason that I lost my first 35 pounds was because of an epic bet. I wanted the prize, and I simply refused to lose that prize and what I perceived to be a game of sorts. I lost the 35 pounds, claimed my prize, and have continued to lose since then.
It occurs to me this same form of incentivizing would be helpful to everyone. While I am not in a position to offer epic bets, the following are now available:
Badges:
- Operation DeFlab: Lost 5% of goal
- Rolls Away: Lost 10% of goal
- Quarter to Slim: Lost 25% of goal
- Body Blast: Lost 50% of goal
- Ass Be Gone: Lost 75% of goal
- SuperMega DeFlab: Lost 100% of goal
- Loss Streak: Continuous weight loss for 2 weeks
- Super Loss Streak: Continuous weight loss for 4 weeks
- SuperMega Loss Streak: Continuous weight loss for 8 weeks
- Better on the Plate: Resisted Temptation (didn’t eat something you wanted to)
- Off the Couch: Started exercise program
- Muscle Shakes Less: Maintained exercise program for 1 week
- Muscle Mass: Maintained exercise program for 3 weeks
- Super MegaMuscle Mass: Maintained exercise program for 7 weeks
Got others? Add them here in comments, and I will update the list above.
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Applied Game Design 
* Less is More – Consumed under your caloric goal for a week straight.
* One Notch – One notch tighter on your belt.
* It Starts with a Smile – Attracted a stranger of the opposite sex.
What seems to work for me: Intermediate goals coupled with real-life rewards. I.e lose x pounds (and keep them off for a week!), get new shoes. Since I’m craving some new boots for this fall, it works surprisingly well.
Substitute shoes with your toxin of choice 😉
Fitting In Again – Fit into something that you had gotten too big for.
Moved Beyond Fit – Get too small for something that you had gotten too big for.
I wonder if perhaps a buddy system might be fun. That way you get a personal support friend, and a tiny bit of networking.
Two people can band up to chat, encourage, and work with one another.
Share the Load – Get a buddy.
and then a Buddy type variation of each of the badges.
Hey Brenda, I’ve got an idea that may help you. It’s not exactly a bagde, but a way that I believe may help to design some new badges :-}
It’s quite simple: take a look at the concept of “intermittent reinforcement”, from Psychology (Behaviorism, in this case). Then, you decide which behaviors you want to reinforce (you should take a look at the concept of “Operant Conditioning”, too), and then, you design a badge that will “guide” the reinforcement to that behavior. (in my opinion, the badge itself is the pleasant stimulus that provides positive reinforcement).
That’s even better if you aim to design a badge that makes intermittent reinforcements to emerge – or a positive feedback loop of reinforcements that ceases when the “healthy weight” is achieved. When the person gets this achievement, you switch to the “maintain your healthy weight, in a healthy way” kind of badges, to maintain the results, and to prevent extremes such as Anorexy or the “loseWeigh-gainWeigh-loseWeigh-gainWeigh” cycle that commonly occurs to people that practice Diets without a proper nutritonal re-education. :-}
Hope you find this useful ^^
– – – –
Frank Malcher
Game Designer & Polymath-in-training :-]
http://frankmalcherportfolio.wordpress.com
twitter: @FrankMalcher
Problem w/ the badges as-is: They invite cheating. (Hey, nobody knows what I weigh, and I’m *almost* there – so why not claim the badge?)
Off-the-cuff idea of counteracting that: You get a little check-mark on the badge if you either submit a picture with it or – if you really don’t feel like posting your pic – have your ‘diet-buddy’ confirm it.
Also, let’s add the “It’s a party” badge if you can find more than 4 local people who share work with you.
BTW: This sounds more and more like foursquare for dieters 😉
And another P.S.: (Sorry. Scatter-brained, I guess..)
I have no idea why I said “share work” up there. What I meant is obviously “share dieting goals w/ you” or “become diet buddies”.
Rachel, I understand what you mean about cheating, but since there are no external rewards, and therefore, its merely for the fun of it. The goal is losing weight and being healthy – the only person yould be cheating is yourself. I like the idea of a buddy system too. And perhaps a way to track achievements.
My own badge ideas:
Nothing Tastes Good As Thin Feels – Go a month without eating any sweets.
Any room for power ups or leveling up? For example: bought new running shoes, took up a new sport, tried a new weight machine never tried before, tried a low-cal recipe, ate a healthy snack, did sit ups during commercial break, worked out 5 min longer, walked/ran the extra mile
Sarah: Haha I like the power-ups and leveling idea. Not sure how that would be implemented but its definitely something to think about.
Lisa: I like that one a lot, plateau’s are definitely annoying. I’d say something around 4 weeks/month?
Combo-breaker! For overcoming a plateau. Of course, I guess you then have to define how many weeks at the same weight is a plateau. Still, that is one that is oh so gratifying to overcome!
Maybe you could set something up in a Chore Wars sort of fashion?
Still losing after all these beers – attended a game industry event and didn’t get derailed in your weekly goal
Pick yourself up, dust yourself off – not deterred by getting derailed due to attending a game industry event
Still losing after all these beers – attended a game industry event and didn’t get derailed in your weekly goal
Pick yourself up, dust yourself off – not deterred by getting derailed due to attending a game industry event
LOL 🙂