You've Been Played: How Corporations, Governments and Schools Use Games to Control Us All
- Downloads：6190
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-12-05 16:16:32
- Update Date：2025-09-24
- Status：finish
- Author：Adrian Hon
- ISBN：1800751974
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
How games are being harnessed as instruments of exploitation - and what we can do about it
Warehouse workers pack boxes while a virtual dragon races across their screen。 If they beat their colleagues， they get an award。 If not， they can be fired。 Uber presents exhausted drivers with challenges to keep them driving。 China scores its citizens so they behave well， and games with in-app purchases use achievements to empty your wallet。
Points， badges and leaderboards are creeping into every aspect of modern life。 In You've Been Played， game designer Adrian Hon delivers a blistering takedown of how corporations， schools and governments use games and gamification as tools for profit and coercion。 These are games that we often have no choice but to play， where losing has heavy penalties。 You've Been Played is a scathing indictment of a tech-driven world that wants to convince us that misery is fun， and a call to arms for anyone who hopes to preserve their dignity and autonomy。
Warehouse workers pack boxes while a virtual dragon races across their screen。 If they beat their colleagues， they get an award。 If not， they can be fired。 Uber presents exhausted drivers with challenges to keep them driving。 China scores its citizens so they behave well， and games with in-app purchases use achievements to empty your wallet。
Points， badges and leaderboards are creeping into every aspect of modern life。 In You've Been Played， game designer Adrian Hon delivers a blistering takedown of how corporations， schools and governments use games and gamification as tools for profit and coercion。 These are games that we often have no choice but to play， where losing has heavy penalties。 You've Been Played is a scathing indictment of a tech-driven world that wants to convince us that misery is fun， and a call to arms for anyone who hopes to preserve their dignity and autonomy。
Reviews
Ryan DeLuca
，
Extremely and unnecessarily political and ideologically one sided。
Richard Thompson
，
I am a gamer， and I have generally thought of gamification as a good thing。 Wouldn't it be great to take the qualities that I love about game playing and embed them into other parts of life to make them more fun and challenging and to make us feel better about doing mundane things that make the world better？ Good games have a spectacular learning curve that can take you from fumbling noob to supreme master before you even realize how much you have learned so quickly。 What if I could learn a new I am a gamer， and I have generally thought of gamification as a good thing。 Wouldn't it be great to take the qualities that I love about game playing and embed them into other parts of life to make them more fun and challenging and to make us feel better about doing mundane things that make the world better？ Good games have a spectacular learning curve that can take you from fumbling noob to supreme master before you even realize how much you have learned so quickly。 What if I could learn a new language that way？ Or if that sort of thinking could be used to get me past some of the hard parts in physics？ Mr。 Hon is also a gamer and he sees some of the same upsides in gamification that have intrigued me， but he also sees the dark side， which is the main subject matter of this book。 Almost any technology can be used stupidly so that the results are trivial and stultifying instead of being interesting。 Mr。 Hon calls this generic gamification。 He's right。 I don't need badges and leaderboards in my Kindle app， and I pay too much attention to them in my exercise app， so that they diminish my enjoyment instead of challenging me in a positive way。 They just get in the way。 But stupid boring generic gamification is the least of our problems。 The bigger issues arise when gamification is applied in ways that are coercive and manipulative， when techniques from gaming are used to drive ever growing work quotas or as a mechanism for social surveillance or when they are used to spark conspiracy theories or to induce addictive behavior。 Unfortunately there is far too much of this， and it is such a problem that I think that we should probably have laws and regulations to reign some of it in。 As Mr。 Hon points out there are too many instances when gamification is used to objectify people， to deny their humanity and treat them like non-player characters。 I am going to have to start being more careful to keep an eye out for toxic gamification in the world around me， and I'm going to have to think twice before the next time I suggest to someone that they gamify their business model or their organization。 。。。more
Rachelle
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You've Been Played。。。 a thorough history of corporations and smartphone apps using gamification to encourage employees and consumers to participate and achieve more。 Well researched， many examples provided。 Video gamers should enjoy this book。 You've Been Played。。。 a thorough history of corporations and smartphone apps using gamification to encourage employees and consumers to participate and achieve more。 Well researched， many examples provided。 Video gamers should enjoy this book。 。。。more
vincentasusual
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Delivered in an interesting way。 This is certainly the one book about all the ups and downs of gamification， giving so many examples and author's opinions along the way。 It does help us make an informed moral judgement of this tool。 And like all tools， it's important on how do we use it。 Delivered in an interesting way。 This is certainly the one book about all the ups and downs of gamification， giving so many examples and author's opinions along the way。 It does help us make an informed moral judgement of this tool。 And like all tools， it's important on how do we use it。 。。。more
Sally
，
I didn't find this book particularly engaging。 I felt like a lot of the chapters repeated the same arguments again and again。 The parts I enjoyed most were when the author described the games he'd helped design and why they made the decisions they did。 I didn't find this book particularly engaging。 I felt like a lot of the chapters repeated the same arguments again and again。 The parts I enjoyed most were when the author described the games he'd helped design and why they made the decisions they did。 。。。more
Brian Clegg
，
There's some interesting material in You've Been Played， waiting to be discovered - but it could have been a lot better if Adrian Hon had gone with a co-author: unfortunately， as a book it's no great shakes。Let's do the interesting thing first。 Hon is talking about gamification - the （clumsily named） idea of using game-like elements outside of games， where they are supposed to encourage us， for example， to exercise more， to work more efficiently， or to follow some government edict。 The idea is t There's some interesting material in You've Been Played， waiting to be discovered - but it could have been a lot better if Adrian Hon had gone with a co-author: unfortunately， as a book it's no great shakes。Let's do the interesting thing first。 Hon is talking about gamification - the （clumsily named） idea of using game-like elements outside of games， where they are supposed to encourage us， for example， to exercise more， to work more efficiently， or to follow some government edict。 The idea is to provide some game-like rewards （or punishments） for certain behaviours， and as a result to either change the way we act or to make a routine chore more fun。Unfortunately， as Hon makes clear， this is rarely a good thing。 Firstly it's based on behavioural theory that is largely outdated。 But also it's manipulative， and even if it does generate a degree of fun to begin with it rapidly becomes a chore and loses its positive contribution。 Hon is good at showing us the negatives， but also making clear the limits of what has been achieved so far - so， for example， he highlights the Chinese social credit system， which has been portrayed as a Big Brother system that gamifies everyday life。 This is done by supposedly rewarding good behaviour and punishing bad as seen by the Communist Party， but has only been implemented piecemeal and has generated a significant amount of rebellion。 （Hon is not saying it's good， just that it's not yet as dystopian as it could be and is usually portrayed。）Without doubt， some employers' use of gamification to exploit workers as Hon describes is disturbing and needs action。 Equally， a lot of gamification， while relatively benign， is irritating and infantilises the users of the system。 So we get a strong and disturbing message。 Oddly， apart from the basic threat of gamification being misused， the most interesting chapter in the book wasn't about gamification， but about modern conspiracy theories。 Hon draws decidedly tenuous links between the two， but his discussion of how and why modern conspiracy theories succeed was genuinely interesting。 But after a while， the main theme becomes very repetitive - this is close to being an article that has been stretched to fit a book format。 Perhaps the biggest problem with the book is that there is far too much about Hon and his company， which he puts forward unconvincingly as a paragon of good gamification - sometimes the text sounds more like a prospectus for investors than useful analysis。 I can see the argument for using game features that are entertaining， rather than taking basic game elements like leaderboards and scores and applying them with nothing that the users will really enjoy， but it's hard not to see a vested interest at play when the best example is usually one of Hon's own products。The other problem is that Hon is a big enthusiast for role playing games， and seems to assume that they are universally enjoyed， and hence can provide a model for how gamification should be done。 He describes an online conference that was positively transformed by being gamified。 To give the beneficial experiences of an in-person conference， for example， attendees could drink a 'polymorph potion' at the online bar that would 'add a random and inevitably silly emoji to their name' which apparently is a great conversation opener。 Similarly 'The Haunted Foyer had a mysterious portal leading to a miniature choose your own adventure game that changed the colour of your name， a swag table that gave away items like a generic sword or official conference socks， and vending machines dispensed unique procedurally generated items'。 Hmm。This is great if you love cosplay or pretending to be a wizard， but for many people （certainly for me） it would be a huge turn off。 Whenever there's role play in training， for instance， my inclination is to try to subvert it by cheating the system - or ideally to swerve it entirely。 Hon is suffering from the assumption that because he loves this kind of thing it would make experiences better for the rest of the world - to be honest， I prefer generic gamification to this kind of stuff。 （I ought to say it's not that I hate games - I regularly play and used to review them professionally， but I don't want to pretend to be someone/something else in a fantasy world。）Overall， there is interesting material in here， but it's a shame it wasn't presented better。 。。。more
Ell
，
“With today’s gamification， you’re no longer the player—you’re being played。” This is the central premise of this book and what an interesting book it is！ No， there are no scare tactics or conspiracies here。 The author simply and adeptly explores the reasons behind the gamification of so many things around us along with the intended and sometimes unintended consequences。 And the author should know because he has been in the gamification game， so to speak， for over a decade。 But that’s not all。 H “With today’s gamification， you’re no longer the player—you’re being played。” This is the central premise of this book and what an interesting book it is！ No， there are no scare tactics or conspiracies here。 The author simply and adeptly explores the reasons behind the gamification of so many things around us along with the intended and sometimes unintended consequences。 And the author should know because he has been in the gamification game， so to speak， for over a decade。 But that’s not all。 Hon studied neuroscience at Oxford University at the doctoral level。 He’s knowledgeable， well-informed， and an artful writer。 If you are interested in the gamification of our lives， get a copy of this book。 。。。more
Tina Panik
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