ProfStop 2: Team Mystic

Squirtle!

(That’s Squirtle-speak for, “Thanks!”)

Squirtle, Squirt!

(That’s Squirtle-speak for, “Now I can make it back to the lab. Here’s something for you! Don’t spend it all in once place…”)

Heading back to the lab, he’s given you this Mastery Badge.

A game, though entertaining, is a well-disguised teaching mechanism. In order to make progress, a player must first master the requisite skills for each given task. Yet when a player falls short, it rarely results in a high-stakes, game over outcome. Games hinge on “retry states,” granting players multiple attempts in order to improve. Though these attempts may be limited or have other negative aspects (See the Risk Badge), they ultimately provide a “freedom to fail” that anticipates most players will not succeed on the first attempt. By building in additional chances and hints, games motivate their players to continue and improve even if they fail. Once a player has mastered a challenge or level, they often receive a special reward such as a trophy or unlockable feature. These visible signs of mastery further serve as player motivation.