Gamification is a growing area of interest for our eLearning customers, so we’ve been researching tools and partnerships to help us deliver exceptional gamified eLearning experiences. We decided to build capability in-house, in collaboration with professionals already working within the gaming industry.
Jake McCullagh and Chris Walker, co-founders at Red Rampant, brought our team exactly that perspective. Through Red Rampant, they’ve already brought their own historical video game to market on Steam, and their focus is strongly on engagement and the player experience. Our eLearning team has enjoyed working with them, and together, we’ve developed a strategy to turn one of our existing eLearning courses into a game-based version that works especially well as a refresher.
We sat down with McCullagh and Walker to ask them about their experience bringing gamification into eLearning, and discuss our collaboration on a new phishing game.
Q: What does gamification bring to eLearning, and how does it change the learning experience?
McCullagh shared: “When we talk about eLearning gamification, what we’re really doing is transforming learners into players so they can understand and retain that learning. The greatest barriers to learning are fatigue and a lack of inspiration. Many learners don’t care about the course, because the course doesn’t care about them. The content feels like a resistant force they need to push through, they’re swimming upstream and it’s making them tired.
“But players! Ah, they’re different. Players are there to solve puzzles and level up. They’re motivated to complete the course because they see the questions as puzzles, the stages as challenges, and the final quiz as the final boss: the showdown they’ve been training for. They’re swimming downstream, it’s the same river, the same content, the same questions, but it’s engaging, exciting, and they don’t need a break because they’re locked in.”
Q: Why does gamified eLearning keep people more engaged than traditional training?
McCullagh commented: “When we engage the learner through play, they become the player and a rainbow of brain activity lights up, rewards them as they go and incentivises them to complete the training. It also engages their competitive side to outperform the challenge. Red Rampant Studios' gamification strategy is to turn learners into players so they subconsciously become informed, more engaged, and hold onto more of that training.”
Q: What sparked the collaboration on the phishing game, and how did you bring the story to life?
McCullagh said: “When we were pitched the idea of gamifying an eLearning course, our underlying principles were immersive story telling, player choice, and captivating character. All the while, the learning objectives remain front and centre of the experience. Soon, Ciphr sent over their phishing/cyber security course and asked us if we could put our own spin on the content.
“The core theme we wanted to deliver was a detective story.
“A data breach that plunged a company into crisis mode and calls on the player to investigate and find the leak by interviewing the office workers (i.e. – the suspects). Our guide on this journey is Kevin, a wannabe wise guy whose day-to-day drudgery in the IT department has given way to his one chance to solve a real mystery. Kevin captures attention with colourful turns of phrase and delusions of grandeur. Walking the line between funny and informative, he provides the key information and misconduct to look out for while the learner hunts down the leak. The culprit is not who you would expect, and this mystery motivates the learning.”
David Marshall, managing director at Ciphr eLearning, said: “Jake and Chris have brought a new perspective to us at Ciphr eLearning. Most gamification offerings I had seen tended to revolve around badges and league tables. But, when I play a game, I want to explore. I don’t want to be told what to do at every stage. I want a less linear experience, because that is where the enjoyment and engagement come from. Jake and Chris have brought that thinking into the phishing game.”
Q: What did you learn as the game evolved through different iterations?
On the evolution of the game, McCullagh commented: “We learned a lot through various drafts. Revisions were made to some of the characters and their delivery, but when Kevin (our favourite IT investigator) was dialled back a bit too far, we realised we had lost the spark of the course. However, the feedback and experience of the more serious version gave us brilliant insight into how we balance the delivery between being fun and informative.”
Q: What does Ciphr's focus on gamification say about the trajectory of eLearning?
“Ciphr is conscious of how the eLearning space is evolving,” comments McCullagh. “The expansion of AI has meant even greater access to a wealth of information that is continually being reproduced. Quantity does not equal quality. Ciphr's eLearning has immense value because it is a trusted brand, not simply a chatbot delivering what it thinks you need. AI is powerful, and the information it can dispense is incredible, but who is dispensing the information still matters and largely determines if that info will translate into knowledge.”
McCullagh continues: “There is value in that expertise, credibility in curating information so that for the learner, the information lands. Guidance from lived experience (and a human touch) will be increasingly sought after as AI becomes further embedded into our lives. Something we considered when developing our first gamified eLearning course is how we all have a story of a teacher who inspired us and that connection through learning is something inherently human.”
Q: How does gamification support the personalised, bespoke eLearning Ciphr is known for?
McCullagh shared: “These musings aligned with Ciphr’s commitment to provide bespoke eLearning content that is both personalised and customised. This puts the learner - the player - at the centre. Gamified eLearning engages more because it’s fun; not fun that cheapens the seriousness of the topic but rather, fun that connects players to the material. We know this learning is important, that's why we treat it seriously with some gamification and some fun.”
Want to explore Ciphr's new phishing game?
Our new phishing game is now available in two formats: a standalone game, and a hybrid of our more traditional eLearning style and a game-based experience.
If you’d like a free demo of the game, or would like to discuss your own requirements or interest in eLearning gamification, please contact us.