Excerpt:

“Gamification” is a popular buzz word that describes the process of making boring or difficult things fun. Need to train for that marathon? Download an app and turn your workout into a zombie chase. Have a ton of chores? Use your smartphone to turn your to-do list into an adventure quest. Gamification apps suggest you can have the best of both worlds: You can play games and be productive. In other words, they promise to make life more fun.

So it will come as a surprise that popular game developer Ian Bogost is staunchly against gamification. Bogost argues that these apps employ a trope used by “that renowned philosopher of fun,” Mary Poppins: They add a little sugar to something that is otherwise distasteful, like sitting in traffic or cleaning house. Instead Bogost suggests we approach these tasks for what they are, study them, and discover the mechanism by which we can “play” with them, like an instrument. Making your morning coffee doesn’t have to be a slog if you experiment with different roasts, experiment with the ratio of water to coffee grounds, and learn what makes a particular brew bitter or sweet.

For the full article, read here.