Social Games: Manipulating Your Brain Chemistry, For Good

Adam Penenberg, Brenda Gershkovitch, Jason Brown, Margaret Wallace, Michael Fergusson

Generally speaking, there's an assumption that casual games are a waste of time. What can playing a "meaningless"" Facebook game for a few minutes really accomplish, anyways? Do I really need to ""rescue"" another ""sheep""? Another point of view is that they're a little bit sinister, manipulating you into emptying your wallet, or giving up personal information. But perhaps both positions are missing the point. This new genre we call ""Casual Social Games"" represents a fascinating opportunity to better understand our own behavior, and to direct it, intentionally, for our own benefit, and for the greater good of society."

Games, Psychology, Games for Social Impact     #makinggamesbetter

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