Headshots From The Heart: Gamification & Gaming In A Marathon For Charity

via Nicole Strong @niccistrong

Gamification is an interesting subject, because the basic nature of its principles allows for application to a wide variety of subjects.  Simply put, gamification is any application of game mechanics to achieve some goal in another context.

Last weekend, a group of gamers and volunteers combined gamification with actual gaming to raise almost $2300 for Child’s Play. This charity strives to improve the lives of children in hospitals world-wide, and is the charity of choice for many gamers.

The event was called Headshots from the Heart, and involved 24 hours of Livestreamed game play.  This marathon combined actual video game play with gamification, by making a game out of donating itself.  As the title suggests, headshots were key.  Donors would pledge an amount per headshot, and then could watch the event, much like gambling at a race track.  This achieved a high level of donor engagement with the event itself, and it was also a great way to involve the donors in the fun and excitement of the marathon.

With the cheeky line, “Borderlands has achievements and so do we!” Headshots from the Heart further gamified their marathon, by displaying achievements on their website.  This is an interesting twist on achievements because fans were involved in setting goals or contributing materials (song requests, for example), but it was up to the Headshots from the Heart team to complete them.  This was a great way to keep the audience and donors further engaged throughout the marathon.

“We finished with over 3500 head shots for the group (1.5 plays through Borderlands & its DLC)” confirmed volunteer Laura Thurston.

“We were aiming a bit higher but it is a good amount I think we can be proud of.  This was a good learning opportunity so we can do even better next year.”

“It was an experiment in using video games for something constructive and I think we were successful.”

The Headshots from the Heart crew set a goal of raising $5000 for Child’s Play.  You can still help them edge closer to this goal until June 9th.  Donations of any size can be made using the Chip In button on their right sidebar, which then routes you through Paypal for security.