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A PLAYER TYPE FRAMEWORK FOR GAMIFICATION DESIGN

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A new version of the test is available now, based on research from Austrian Institute of Technology and HCI
Games Group, Games Institute, University of Waterloo https://gamified.uk/UserTypeTest2016/user-type-
test.php Also, check out the survey validation study here https://medium.com/@hcigamesgroup/the-
gamification-user-types-hexad-scale-a6d8727d201e#.pq7bergek

Another very misunderstood yet overused metaphor from game design that we use in gamification is Bartles Player
Types [1]. What follows is an attempt to create something similar to Richard Bartles player types, but for gamified
systems.

How to Reference?
APA format citation:

Marczewski, A. (2015). User Types. In Even Ninja Monkeys Like to Play: Gamification, Game Thinking and Motivational
Design (1st ed., pp. 65-80). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
ISBN-10: 1514745666
ISBN-13: 978-1514745663
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 Gamification User Types Hexad by Andrzej Marczewski is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Jump To Expansions and extras

Intrinsic Types Dodecad (All 12 types)

Player / Extrinsic Sub-Types 47 Elements to support the types
Disruptor Sub-Types Spanish Translation!
Summary User Types in Use
Dodecad User Types and the 4 Keys 2 Fun
Appendix Supporting User Types
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Final Thoughts User Type Test
References App Analysis Tool
Usage / License

Marczewskis Player and User TypesHexad

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In this model, there are six types of users described (at a basic level). There are four basic intrinsic types; Achiever,
Socialiser, Philanthropist and Free Spirit. They are motivated by Relatedness, Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose [2][3][4]
RAMP. The other two types, whose motivations are a little less black and white are Disruptor and Player. The images
below show the basics.

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Types Hexad Read More
In brief
Socialisers are motivated by Relatedness. They want to interact with others and create social connections.
Free Spirits are motivated by Autonomy and self-expression. They want to create and explore.
Achievers are motivated by Mastery. They are looking to learn new things and improve themselves. They want
challenges to overcome.
Philanthropists are motivated by Purpose and Meaning. This group are altruistic, wanting to give to other
people and enrich the lives of others in some way with no expectation of reward.
Players are motivated by Rewards. They will do what is needed of them to collect rewards from a system. They
are in it for themselves.

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Disruptors are motivated by Change. In general, they want to disrupt your system, either directly or through
other users to force positive or negative change.

Players are happy to play your game, where points and rewards are up for grabs. Disruptors want nothing to do
with it and the others need a bit more to keep them interested. This looks a bit like this

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Willing to Play

The point of these types is to give gamification designers a simple framework to think about the types of people they
may have using their system. It is essential to keep in mind that people can not be broken down into simple
categories like this, they will likely display most if not all of these traits in varying degrees. You need to design to
encourage the behaviours that will give your system the best outcome, whilst engaging users. These types can help
with that.

Intrinsic User Types

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Intrinsic User Types

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Socialisers (as in the original Player Type) are the ones who want to interact with others. They like to be
connected to others. They are interested in parts of the system that help them do this. These are the ones will
evangelise your internal social networks. Most motivated by the social connections aspects of relatedness.
Free Spirits like to have agency. They have two basic subtypes, Creators and Explorers. Explorers dont want to
be restricted in how they go through their personal journey, to explore the system. They are also likely to find
the most holes in a system. Creators want to build new things.They will have the fanciest avatars and create the
most personal content. They seek self-expression and autonomy.
Achievers are the ones who want to be the best at things or, at least, be achieving things within the system.
They want to get 100% on the internal learning system. They do this for themselves and are probably not that
bothered with then showing o to others about it. (This di ers from the original definition, but I could not think
of a better word!!). Will compete with others, but as a way to become better than others. The system provides
the platform, other players are just things to be overcome and mastered. May also be motivated by status as a
representation of their personal achievement They need a system that will enrich them and lead them towards
mastery.
Philanthropists want to feel that they are part of something bigger. They want to give to others but expect
nothing in return. These are the ones who will answer endless questions on forums, just because they like to
feel they are helping. They want a system that allows them to enrich others and feel a sense of altruism
andpurpose.

Player (Extrinsic) User Sub-Types

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Player User Sub-Types

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Essentially the Player is motivated by rewards, plain and simple. They will do similar things to the intrinsically motivated group, but only if there is a
reward at the end of it!

Self-Seeker: This group of users will act in a similar way to Philanthropists. They will answer peoples questions,
share knowledge and be helpful but for a cost. If there is no reward, dont expect them to get involved! They
can be useful, however, if they are being asked to get involved for rewards, expect quantity over quality!
Consumer: Consumers will do what is needed to get rewards. If that requires them to learn new skills or take on
challenges (like an Achiever), then they will do it. However, if they can get rewards for just doing what they were
already doing even better. Think of them as the ones who will enter competitions just for the prize or who
shop at one store just for the loyalty programme.
Networker: Where a Socialiser connects to others because they are looking for relatedness, Networkers are
looking for useful contacts that they can gain from. They follow the big influencers on social networks, not
because they are interested in them, but because they hope it will get them noticed, increase their influence
and lead to a reward.
Exploiter: Like Free Spirits, these guys are looking for the boundaries of the system, where they can go and what
they can do. However, for them, it is a way to find new ways to rewards. If they find a loop-hole, dont expect
them to report it unless they feel others are earning more than them exploiting it! They are the most likely to
exploit the system (you could say cheat!). They are also the people who will build things just to sell. Think of
Second Life. Loads of people started to build things some realised that as well as being fun, they could make
some money from selling items. For a few this turned into a way of making a living. They stopped making things
for fun and just made them for profit.

The Player User Type is important to recognise as most people coming into a gamified system are probably there
initially due to rewards (points, prizes etc). The trick is to try and convert them from being reward oriented into
intrinsically motivated users (Socialiser, Free Spirit, Achiever, Philanthropist). There is some evidence to show that the
extrinsic types will convert to their analogous intrinsic types (so Networker -> Socialiser etc) but it is not a dead
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certainty in all cases. Design for the intrinsic user types that benefit your system, but include reward paths for the
onboarding process for best e ect and greatest coverage.

Disruptor User Type and Sub-Types

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Disruptor User Sub-Types

Disruptors disrupt a system in some way. This may be by acting on users or on the system itself. As with the Player
type, the Disruptor type is a group rather than a single type. However, I dont tend to go into the detail as the e ect
on your design is generally similar for all the variations of the type. Going into a deep dive, we get these 4 main types
of disruptor:

Griefer: This is our Killer (yep, finally I have an answer for those who kept asking where it was!). I have chosen to
use Bartles description from his 8 types because this is the pure arsehole type. They want to negatively a ect
other users, just because they can. It may be to prove a point about the fact they dont like the system, it may
just be for fun. They have no place in most gamified systems, so you need to find ways to either change their
minds or get rid of them.
Destroyer: This type of user wants to break the actual system directly. This may be by hacking or finding
loopholes in the rules that allow them to ruin the experience for others. Their reasons again may be because
they dislike the system or it may just be because they find it fun to hack and break things. If you cant convince
them to at least convert to an Improver, then you have to get rid of them.
Influencer: These users will try to change the way a system works by exerting influence over other users. This is
not to say they are a negative type, far from it. If they feel the system needs to change and you actually allow
them a voice to help change it, they could become massive advocates. Make use of them or lose them worse
still the could end up switching to a Griefer!
Improver: Improvers will interact with the system with the best intentions in mind. They may hack it or find
loopholes,This
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 they want to have the chance to explore the system, find problems and try to fix them. Take care of these users
as they can help you massively. Mistreat them and they may well become Destroyers.

As you can see, the Disruptor can be a complex type and whilst they make up a very small percentage of the overall
user group, they can be very powerful. Handled correctly they could help improve your system, handled badly and
they may destroy it.

Summary of the User Types

Intrinsic Icon
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User The people you are building your gamified experience for. They are the most
important element!

Philanthropist Motivated by Purpose. This group are altruistic, wanting to give back
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to other people and enrich the lives of others in some way.

Achiever Motivated by Mastery. They are looking to learn new things and improve
themselves. They want challenges to overcome.

Free Spirit Motivated by Autonomy. Some are looking to be creators, others

explorers. Try to cater for both if you can. All like to be free!

Socialiser Motivated by Relatedness. They want to interact with others and create
social connections.

Player Icon
Player Motivated by Rewards. Will play your game, for the purpose of gaining
rewards. A subset of users containing Networkers, Exploiters, Consumers & Self
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 Seekers.

Self-Seeker Will act in a similar way to Philanthropists but only for reward or
recognition. Value quantity over quality (unless needed!)

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Consumer Consumers will do what is needed to get rewards. If that requires them to
learn new skills or take on challenges (like an Achiever), then they will do it.

Exploiter Like Free Spirits, these guys are looking for the boundaries of the system,
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where they can go and what they can do. However, for them, it is a way to find new
ways to rewards.

Networker Where a Socialiser connects to others because they are looking for
relatedness, Networkers are looking for useful contacts that they can gain from.

Disruptor Icon

Disruptor Motivated by Change, Disruptors come in four types. They can be of great
assistance but can cause a lot of trouble as well.

Griefer They want to negatively a ect other users, just because they can. It may be
to prove a point about the fact they dont like the system, it may just be for fun.

Destroyer This type of user wants to break the system directly. This may be by
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 others.

Influencer These users will try to change the way a system works by exerting
influence over other users. This is not to say they are a negative type, far from it.

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Improver Improvers will interact with the system with the best intentions in mind.
They may hack it or find loopholes, but their aim is to change the system for the
better.

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The Dodecad of User Types

The Dodecad is a visual summary of the 12 user types. Some have found it very useful for understanding the full
picture, so you may as well! If you look at the chart, closer to 12 oclock and 6 oclock are the Player user types. 9
oclock and 3 oclock are the disruptors and the rest are the intrinsic types.

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 Gamification User Types Dodecad

Appendix
Possible Interactions
All of these di erent user types have the potential to a ect each other in your system. For example, Philanthropists
are the parent figure. They are the ones who are likely to want to help anybody they can, no matter of the other
persons motives. Exploiters, on the other hand, will make use of anyone and everything they can to get personal
gain from the system. Socialiser and Networkers will wish to interact with people. Neither will be a er anything
from people directly. In the case of a networker, their reward comes from being connected; whereas the socialisers
reward
41 is knowing you and interacting with you. Self Seekers have no real interest in the people within a system,
they are just a means to an end (that end being the shiny shiny things). In a similar way, Achievers are not there for
the people, they are there for self-enrichment. The big di erence here is that the Self Seeker is the one who will
collect badges and trophies in a system to show o their expertise to others. The Self-Seeker is very similar to the
Bartle Achiever player type! Free Spirits and Consumers have the least impact on any of the other users. Their
interests are purely personal, using the system to get what they want from it. Other users are of no direct interest to
them.

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Proposed User Type Evolution

How do you create a balanced system for all types of users?

The answer is, with great di iculty and it depends on the goals of your system. However, if you go back to when we
just had five user types, Player and then Philanthropists, Socialisers, Achievers and Free Spirits, it becomes a little
clearer. Create a system that appeals to the four basic intrinsic motivations and user types. Make it social, make it
meaningful and give people some freedom. Then, integrate a well thought out reward system (points, badges etc.). If
you do it this way around, you are not creating a system that relies on the rewards to run. That way, you get the
intrinsically motivated people anyway and those that are there for rewards are catered for. It is important to keep in
mind that you want more of the intrinsically motivated users if possible. These are the ones who will keep coming
back, keep producing content or whatever else they are meant to be doing. Philanthropists and Achievers can both
help a system thrive. Philanthropists want to help everyone. They want to answer questions and guide users.
Achievers, depending on the type of system, may also wish to do the same. They are interested in being the best at
mastering things. They will want to give the best answer to a question, not so much to help the user, but to know
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they were the best. However, as their main aim is self-enrichment, they can also give very little back to as system
aimed at teaching which may be just what you want! Free Spirits tend to give very little back to the people if all the
system allows them to do is explore. Too many of them and the social aspect of your system stands a good chance of
not working. Give them the chance to be creative if you want to get anything back for others. Socialisers are great for
evangelising a system and bringing more people to it, however, they dont add content to systems as much as other
types can. Too many and all you have is a social network. Disruptors are generally unavoidable. They want to
change the system and will find a way if they can. Make sure you have solid rules that can be enforced. If you dont
want people to do something, make sure they system doesnt let them do it! Also, keep in mind, disruptors can work
as improvers or destroyers so they are not all bad and may actually help you improve the system! If the system is
flooded with Players then you stand the chance of devaluing everything. They run the risk of generating lots of
meaningless content, upvoting and liking just for the reward, abusing others in an attempt to network and so on.
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Keeping them involved in a controlled way can be time consuming and expensive, so look at creating a system that
converts them to intrinsically motivated users!

Final Thoughts
A few final thoughts It is really important to keep in mind, this is all here to help clarify thinking. Real life is not as
black and white, users will most likely display traits from multiple user types. But, they will usually have one that
guides them more than the others. They are also likely to change user types as they get to know the system. In
systems where rewards are used in the onboarding process but are phased out as the user becomes more capable,
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you will see them going from extrinsically motivated user types to intrinsically motivated types. This is when they
realise that there is more to be gained from the system than just the points and badges. Finally, why not take the User
Type Test and see which of the 6 types you may be?

Supporting Gamification User Types

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References
[1] Bartle, R. a. (1999). Players Who Suit MUDs. Retrieved March 22, 2015, from http://mud.co.uk/richard/hcds.htm

[2] Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social
development, and well-being. The American Psychologist, 55, 6878. http://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68

[3] Pink, D. H. (2009). Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. Distribution (p. 256). Canongate. Most of the
icons are available atgame-icons.net. For more information, check the icons accreditation info here.

[4] Sigmund, K., & Hauert, C. (2002). Altruism. Current Biology. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0960-9822(02)00797-2

Usage / License
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The User Types Hexad is free to use in an unmodified state for non-commercial purposes (research, education etc)
with attribution. If you wish to use the Hexad or associated content for commercial purposes, all I ask is that you let
me know so I can promote the work here! If you are interested in modifying anything here for your own purposes,

again please get in touch and we can discuss it. Gamification User Types Hexad by Andrzej
Marczewski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
License.
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Jump To Expansions and extras

Intrinsic Types Dodecad (All 12 types)

Player / Extrinsic Sub-Types 47 Elements to support the types
Disruptor Sub-Types Spanish Translation!
Summary User Types in Use
Dodecad User Types and the 4 Keys 2 Fun
Appendix Supporting User Types
Final Thoughts User Type Test
References

The concept of the Gamification User Types was born at the end of 2012, with my first o icial published version going
live on the 30th of January 2013. It was with the help of Professor Richard Bartle that they truly went from mere idea
to writing it all down here!

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