Ian Bogost recently proffered this piece in his blog, musing on the way human creativity works within whatever puzzle of constraints it finds itself contending with. Examples include the poetry of former Nigerian political prisoner Wole Soyinka, whose poems were limited by his memory during the day and the meager writing resources he could scrape together in secret by night. The result? Stark, penetrating works that earned him the 1986 Nobel Prize for Literature.
What we love about simple game mechanics is this: If you create the right kind of puzzle, the human imagination will naturally find a home inside it… and begin to work it’s magic. Gamification is about creating these challenges that unleash ingenuity and, in so doing, create a rewarding experience for the player. We’re excited to be creating this kind of environment for music fans. We sincerely hope to create an space where their imaginations can connect to music and the artists who make it in entirely new ways.