Jane McGonigal (born October 21, 1977) is an American author,

game designer Game design is the art of applying design and aesthetics to create a game for entertainment or for educational, exercise, or experimental purposes. Increasingly, elements and principles of game design are also applied to other interactions, in ...

, and researcher. McGonigal advocates using mobile and digital technology to channel positive attitudes and collaboration in a real-world context.

Biography

Early years

McGonigal was brought up in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. Her parents are teachers who emphasized intellectual attainment. Her identical twin sister, Kelly McGonigal, is a psychologist.

Education

McGonigal received her Bachelor of Arts in English from

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

in 1999 and her

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

Performance Studies Performance studies is an interdisciplinary academic field that uses performance as a lens and a tool to study the world. The term ''performance'' is broad, and can include artistic and aesthetic performances like concerts, theatrical events, ...

from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

in 2006. She was the first in the department to study computer and video games.

Personal life

In 2009, she suffered a debilitating concussion that helped her develop a game, ''Jane the Concussion Slayer'', for treating her concussion and other similar conditions; the game was later renamed ''SuperBetter''.

Philosophy

McGonigal writes and speaks about alternate reality games and massively multiplayer online gaming, especially about the way that

collective intelligence Collective intelligence (CI) is shared or group intelligence (GI) that emerges from the collaboration, collective efforts, and competition of many individuals and appears in consensus decision making. The term appears in sociobiology, politic ...

can be generated and used as a means for improving the quality of human life or working towards the solution of social ills. She has stated that gaming should be moving "towards

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

s." McGonigal has been called "the current public face of

gamification Gamification is the strategic attempt to enhance systems, services, organizations, and activities by creating similar experiences to those experienced when playing games in order to motivate and engage users. This is generally accomplished thro ...

." Despite this, McGonigal has objected to the word, stating, "I don't do 'gamification,' and I'm not prepared to stand up and say I think it works, I don't think anybody should make games to try to motivate somebody to do something they don't want to do. If the game is not about a goal, you're intrinsically motivated by, it won't work."

Career

After earning her Bachelor of Arts in English, McGonigal started developing her first commercial games. As a designer, McGonigal became known for location-based and

alternate reality game An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive networked narrative that uses the real world as a platform and employs transmedia storytelling to deliver a story that may be altered by players' ideas or actions. The form is defined by inten ...

s. She has taught game design and

game studies Game studies, also known as ludology (from ''ludus'', "game", and ''-logia'', "study", "research"), is the study of games, the act of playing them, and the players and cultures surrounding them. It is a field of cultural studies that deals with a ...

at the

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximately ...

and the University of California, Berkeley. In 2008 she became the Director of Game Research and Development at

Institute for the Future The Institute for the Future (IFTF) is a Palo Alto, California, US–based not-for-profit think tank. It was established, in 1968, as a spin-off from the RAND Corporation to help organizations plan for the long-term future, a subject known as ...

and in 2012 Chief Creative Officer at SuperBetter Labs.

Games

McGonigal has been developing commercial games since 2006, some of which are listed in the following chart:

SuperBetter

In July 2009, Jane suffered a concussion after hitting her head in her office. The symptoms were severe, lasted for several weeks, and led to her feeling suicidal. She requested her friends give her tasks to do each day. Wanting to recover from her condition, she created a game to treat it. The game was initially called ''Jane the Concussion-Slayer'' (after

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the 1992 film of the same name, also written by Whedon, although the events of the film are not consid ...

), then renamed ''SuperBetter''. McGonigal raised $1 million to fund an expanded version of the game. Additionally, she has collaborated on commissioned games for the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), ...

and the

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) is a contemporary art museum with two locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near the Walt Disney Concert Hall. MOCA's ori ...

Books

On January 20, 2011, McGonigal's first book, ''Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make us Better and How they Can Change the World,'' was published. In this book, McGonigal looks at massively multiplayer online gaming and

alternate reality games An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive networked narrative that uses the real world as a platform and employs transmedia storytelling to deliver a story that may be altered by players' ideas or actions. The form is defined by inte ...

and at games more widely. Using current research from the

positive psychology Positive psychology is the scientific study of what makes life most worth living, focusing on both individual and societal well-being. It studies "positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and positive institutions...it aims t ...

movement, McGonigal argues that games contribute powerfully to human

happiness Happiness, in the context of mental or emotional states, is positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Other forms include life satisfaction, well-being, subjective well-being, flourishing and eudaimonia. Sin ...

and

motivation Motivation is the reason for which humans and other animals initiate, continue, or terminate a behavior at a given time. Motivational states are commonly understood as forces acting within the agent that create a disposition to engage in goal-dire ...

, a sense of meaning, and community development. The book was met with a favorable reception from ''The

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' and ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fran ...

'' and mixed reviews from ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

''. The book received criticism from some quarters, notably the '' Wall Street Journal'', which felt that her thesis, which claimed to use games to "fix" everyday life by giving it a sense of achievement and making it seem more fulfilling and optimistic, made "overblown" claims from minor examples, and did not address conflicting individual goals and desires, or the influence of "evil." The ''

New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'' also criticized some points in her book, citing the lack of evidence demonstrating that in-game behavior and values could translate into solutions to real-world problems such as poverty, disease, and hunger. On September 15, 2015, McGonigal's second book
''SuperBetter: A Revolutionary Approach to Getting Stronger, Happier, Braver, and More Resilient''
was published by Penguin Press. It was #7 on the ''New York Times'' Best Seller: Advice, How-to, and Miscellaneous List its debut week. McGonigal's third book, ''Imaginable: How to See the Future Coming and Feel Ready for Anything―Even Things That Seem Impossible Today'', will be released on March 22, 2022. McGonigal has a chapter giving advice in

Tim Ferriss Timothy Ferriss (born July 20, 1977) is an American entrepreneur, investor, author, podcaster, and lifestyle guru. He became well-known through his ''4-Hour'' self-help book series—including ''The 4-Hour Work Week'', ''The 4-Hour Body'', and ...

' book ''

Tools of Titans ''Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers'' (2016) is a self-help book by Timothy Ferriss, an American writer, educational activist, and entrepreneur. He interviewed more than 100 "wo ...

''.

Recognition

Publications

#''Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World'', , (20 January 2011) #''SuperBetter: A Revolutionary Approach to Getting Stronger, Happier, Braver and More Resilient'', (15 September 2015).

References

External links

*
IT Conversations: Interview on Alternate Reality Gaming
(2007)

(2011)
Mother Jones: Wii Shall Overcome
(2011)
Hollywood Reporter: How Video Games Can Change Your Life
(2012)
How Gaming Can Make A Better World: Ted Talk
(2010) {{DEFAULTSORT:Mcgonigal, Jane 1977 births American video game designers Living people Writers from Philadelphia San Francisco Art Institute faculty University of California, Berkeley faculty University of California, Berkeley alumni Video game researchers 21st-century American women writers American twins Women video game designers Women video game developers Pervasive games Identical twins American women academics