Lens Of Goals

Goals are the result or achievement toward which players focus their efforts.

Good goals often follow the SMART pattern. That is:

• Specific – answer who, what, where, when, and why.
• Measurable – quantify or at least suggest an indicator of progress.
• Attainable – match the skill level to the challenge.
• Realistic – state what results can realistically be achieved, given available resources.
• Timely – show the progress the player makes towards the goal.

• What is the primary goal of the game?
• Is the primary goal clear to players? How does this goal stand out and impact the secondary goals?
• Are there any secondary goals of the game? If so, how do these affect the outcome of the game?
• Are different goals non-conflicting?
• How can players choose their own goals? How will this impact the game?

• Lens of Challenges
• Lens of Experimentation
• Lens Of Action

• Reward

Goals that are deemed difficult to achieve and specific tend to increase performance more than goals that are not.

Specific - A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal.

• Who: Who is involved? One player, a party, a clan?
• What: What is the player accomplishing?
• Where: Is there is a location in the game world?
• When: Is there a time frame for getting it done?
• Why: Why are you giving this goal to the player?

Measurable – When you measure your progress, you stay on track and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued effort required to reach your goal.

Attainable – When a player can identify important goals, they want to complete them. They will see opportunities to bring themselves closer to the reward.

Realistic – To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective toward which the player is both willing and able to work.

Timely – In the world of games, this normally translates to giving the players an indication of progress. Certainly a timer or time-limited goal fits in this as well.

The lens is industry standard.

Goal-setting

• Doran, G. T. (1981). There's a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management's goals and objectives. Management Review, Volume 70, Issue 11(AMA FORUM), pp. 35–36.
• Neil, H. F., & Drillings, M. (1994). Motivation: theory and research. Hillsdale, N.J.: L. Erlbaum Associates.
• Schell, J. (2008). The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Morgan Kaufmann.

Daniel Jost