And It's Always Stars

Our society loves to make new year's resolutions, even if though only about 22% actually succeed at the goals they set.  I've been part of the other 78% for the last.... well, forever.  For the last four or five years, I've made the same resolutions, including the ever popular goal to lose weight.  I've had varying degrees of success through January, but by February, I've usually abandoned my resolutions entirely.  However, this time I'm actually making great progress.

So what's different this time around?  There's a few undeniable factors that are helping me out:  I've graduated from DigiPen, so I have the time and energy to focus on my personal goals.  I also spent most of December mentally preparing myself to stick to these resolutions.  While these are definite advantages I have this year, I know that my true secret to success is gold stars.

No, not those gold stars.

Gold Stars as Motivation
Gold star stickers were the greatest award possible in elementary school.  If you did really well on a test, you'd get a gold star.  It's easy to forget how awesome those gold stars made you feel when you were a kid.  If you got a gold star, you were a champion.  You were unstoppable.  The gold star was a clear sign of your success, so all the world could see that you were fantastic.

Gold stars looked like this when you were a kid.

Here's the thing:  Gold stars still work.  At some point in our lifetime, people stopped giving us stickers.  We gradually just assume that stickers are just for kids, and that stickers have no place in the grown up world.  Then someone gives you a sticker out of the blue, such as your creative writing professor in college.  You feel all warm and fuzzy inside because you got a sticker - you earned that sticker.  You did it.

How adults view gold stars.

There's something undeniable about the power of gold stars - even as an adult.  For the new year, I bought myself a pack of gold star stickers and a calendar.  I put the calendar on the way right next to my whiteboard at home, and every day that I do well, I get a gold star.  Because I picked up a pack of multi-color stars as well, I do have silver stars for "almost" days - days that I just miss my target for some reasonable excuse.  I can't say whether I'd advise this method (because silver stars are still encouraging to try for the gold) or not (because awarding yourself when you haven't reached your goal feels like cheating), but the gold stars are definitely working.  In fact, it seems I'm not the only one who came up with this idea, and it's working for them as well.

Gold stars in game development
When we were developing Runeshift, I decided it would be fun to buy a pack of stickers so that whenever someone completed a task there would be a little reward.  The team loved it, and it definitely helped to keep us motivated throughout the project.  It was the little reminder to have fun with the project.  It was the little reminder that we were doing good work.  It was little, but little things add up.

I'm not going to lie, I think it'd be great if my producer gave me a gold star for working late or for finishing up a big task.  A lot of my drive comes from knowing that I've done well, so it would have been great to get a gold star for coming in last week during the fire and brim-snow.  (Yes, that is a bus on fire, and no, the driver does not get a gold star.)  It would have been great to get a gold star for pulling a 14 hour day.  I think I'll talk to my producer about this tomorrow, actually...

The point is, it's good to feel appreciated as part of a team, and that's what gold stars do.  They make you feel like the work you do is worth a little bit more than just a "Thank you" or a "Good job."  It's a bit of a bonus, and it's a great reward.

Gold stars in games
Speaking of rewards, gold stars have been around in Mario games forever.  Back in Super Mario Bros., the gold star provided limited invincibility and you could destroy any enemy just by touching it.  You were unstoppable (well, except for pits).  This is the function stars served until Mario made the jump to 3D (see what I did there?).  These stars were rare, and you felt awesome whenever you got one - not just because of the effect.  You found one, and you earned it.

Before 3D, Mario made a stop in the 2.5ish dimension in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.  Notice that stars is in the title - however, theses stars are not gold stars.  Gold stars in this game provided an incredible power similar to their 2D brethren.  When Mario grabbed a gold star, enemies would sometimes pour into the room, and any enemy touched would be defeated instantaneously, bypassing the combat sequence yet still awarding the full experience value of the enemies.  This is about as awesome a bonus as you can give the player - especially in the package of a gold star.

Once Super Mario 64 came along, stars suddenly became the primary goal of the game.  This new role means that the player will have to work hard to achieve their gold stars - and there is a very active count of how many gold stars the player has recovered.  The player is then aware of just how well they've done, and they have the gold stars to prove it.

Of course, there's also the "gold star effect" - giving the feeling of accomplishment without actually using gold stars.  The most immediate concept that comes to mind is the Xbox 360's Achievements mechanic.  This is precisely what gold stars are great at - making you feel accomplished for doing something, even it it was something silly.  It's a nice little player reinforcement that acts just like getting a gold star for passing a math test in elementary school.  Everyone can make it through the tutorial level, and you just wouldn't feel special without getting that achievement declaring your success.

Gold stars are a favorite among elementary school teachers, but it's important to remember that the shiny little stickers never stopped making us feel good - we just stopped getting them as we grew up.  So get out there, get yourself some gold stars, and reward yourself for whatever you deem worthy - even if it's just going to the store and buying gold stars.