Нow did this profession come about

It is difficult to find a person in the world who does not play games. At least in childhood, everyone plays. Throughout its history, humanity has come up with games and played them. The Dutch philosopher of the mid-20th century Johan Huizinga, in his book “Homo Ludens” (translated from Latin - “playing man”), proved that primitive people borrowed games from animals - more precisely, they adopted them in the process of evolution. You know perfectly well what positive emotions are caused by watching the games of kittens, monkeys, dolphins.

Based on this, scientists have concluded that nature has endowed us with the ability to play primarily for development and learning. And only secondarily - for fun. In the course of the game - no matter what, from football, "classics" on the asphalt to chess and board games), we gain useful experience and train some skills. Games for the development of the mind go back thousands of years, and at the end of the 20th - beginning of the 21st century, thanks to globalization and the search for new methods of education, educational, strategic and business games began to appear, then the so-called "transformational" (that is, changing something into who plays ), as a result of which the player acquired some new quality for himself.

In the 1999s and early 2000s, the whole world started playing computer games, and all games almost went online. But it soon became clear that in order to achieve a practical result, real contact between people, an exchange of energy, and interaction are needed. And gradually, in many corporations and communities, a need arose for someone who could invent, think over, organize and run such games.

Back in the 2000s, with the development of mobile applications and web design, such a concept as gamification appeared - that is, the introduction of game elements into something: in a commercial, in an online test, in a variety of sites and services on the Internet. ...

Let's see what different and interesting directions there are in the profession of game practioner.

What do game practitioners do?

Psychological games

These games help all kinds of people to overcome crises and difficult situations in their lives. And also analyze your own behavior, problems in communication and relationships, or just look at yourself from the outside. Using the methods of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis, the game practitioner creates a script for the game, thinks over all its moves, techniques and results. He can also be the host if the game is a team one. Such a specialist can also create therapeutic games for those who need to correct certain mental disorders.

Corporate games

Such games, as their name implies, are used by large companies or corporations, usually for two purposes - for training and for motivating employees. The latter is especially interesting - with the help of such games, management can encourage employees to healthy competition and, on the other hand, mutual support within the team.

Game practitioners develop a special virtual environment for colleagues - there may be their profiles with individual achievements and points for them, tables with competitive lists. Sometimes even a virtual corporate currency is used, which is issued as a bonus to the most efficient employees - and they can use it to order a gift for a colleague, buy a pizza or pay for lunches in a company canteen.

Business games

It used to be thought that entrepreneurs and members of business corporations are very serious, focused people in strict suits who follow the rules in everything. In fact, business is a very creative product, especially in the modern world. And in order to create a new product, colleagues can come up with the help of a workshop game, what it can and should be. For example, employees are divided into two teams, each of which comes up with their own ideas, and then they all discuss together what worked out and which of these ideas might be useful. The task of the game practitioner here is to come up with the rules of such a game, to play it, and most importantly, to bring together and record those proposals that turned out to be most useful for product development.

There are games that develop economic skills - for example, "Monopoly", which you have probably played more than once with friends and family at home.

Alternate Reality Games (ARG)

This is an extremely unusual and increasingly popular direction for someone who has connected life with the creation of games. Since the early 2000s, creators of various brands, films or computer games have decided to attract the attention of their audience with games that mix the virtual world and reality. The scriptwriters of the project and the gamificationists create a whole universe in both worlds, which is somehow connected with the product that needs to be promoted.

Game participants unite in communities looking for clues and moving from one stage to another using clues - the so-called "rabbit holes" (remember the plot of "Alice in Wonderland"?). Moreover, such "holes" can be located in some real places. For example, a mysterious graffiti under a bridge, and the solution is somewhere online. And vice versa - the hint of the rebus opens to the user in a computer environment, and his solution must be found somewhere in the fresh air. ARGs can last for months or even years. Imagine what a space for your imagination!

Interface gamification

With the advent of smartphones and mobile applications, there are many more opportunities to attract the attention of users and to motivate them to purchase certain goods and services. Or so that he was simply not bored of using any application. For example, points are awarded for some actions so that they can pay for purchases or part of them. Or there is gamification more difficult - virtual characters can conduct a dialogue, ask questions, show animated scenes. The task of the game practioner in this case is to build communication (communication) with the brand.

What do you need to be able to become a game practitioner?

As you can see, the possibilities of games are almost endless. Everyone plays, the main thing is the quality, fun and usefulness of games. A game practitioner, on the one hand, should have an excellent knowledge of human psychology and physiology, on the other, be able to use computer programs and technologies that allow him to create various images. Such qualities as empathy, responsiveness and sensitivity are very important, as well as sincerity, because if you play insincerely or dishonestly, then the real game will not work!