The "Gamification" movement continues to gain speed. And while I appreciate some of the careful thinking and discussions, the entire movement is at risk of getting it more wrong than right. Quite frankly, badges and points are, well, missing the point. Gamification should not be based on simplistic, Pavlovian responses to stimulus. Click on a button. Get points. Brush your teeth. Get points. No cavities? Wow a sticker. If that's the best that game designers can do, the world is going backward, not forward, and I don't want any part of the Gamification movement.

Although we're a serious games company, we enjoy playing games for fun. We recently decided to marry our love of fun and serious games by creating a "Favorite iPad Games" contest in our iPad game Knowsy. Each member of our little team submitted a few of their personal favorite games, ranging from Angry Birds and Trucks and Skulls to Doodle Blast! and Cut the Rope?

The contest starts today, Dec. 16th and features 16 of the top iPad games as chosen by our staff. We'll be tracking game play and revealing the results on December 22 -- and to encourage more people to play, we're offering Knowsy for free in the iTunes store through Dec. 21. The 16 games featured in the contest, include (in ABC order):

With our Innovation Games for Customer Understanding course in Reykjavik, Iceland this past November, we surpassed 200 Innovation Games® Trained Facilitators worldwide -- 211 trained facilitators, in fact, across Europe, Asia, North and Central America. Our community includes members of the agile community, market research experts, game developers and designers, management consultants and more. We cross almost every vertical, including finance, insurance, software, professional services, media.

It's heartening to see the community thrive -- especially now that we've expanded our qualification initiative to include the Innovation Games Qualified Instructor program, which certifies individuals to teach Innovation Games classes around the world. (Watch next month for a profile of our new iGQIs!)

If you're interested in becoming a trained facilitator or a qualified instructor, contact Tami Carter

This month Community Director Tami Carter is in the hot seat. She's the former general manager of a series of conferences

for software developers and magazine editor who knows the power of Innovation Games having used the games to improve conference offerings and marketing efforts. She now runs The Innovation Games Company's training and community efforts.

What's your favorite Innovation Game®
It's a toss up between Buy a Feature and Knowsy. Both are really fun to play -- and great examples of how games can do "real work".

What makes you smile?

Getting to play games for a living! I love helping people plan and design innovation Games and facilitating them -- especially online games using our online game platform Innovation Games Online.

What is your favorite place in the world?
India. It's overwhelming and wonderful -- a complete and total assault to the senses and full of the most amazing sights and people.
 
If you could meet any famous historical person, who would it be?
Eudora Welty. I met her briefly when I was in the 10th grade and heard her read her short story "Why I Live at the PO", but I would love to have another chance to speak with her.

Who do you want to play Knowsy with?
I love playing Knowsy with my 5 year old. It's how I found out what she really wanted for Christmas.