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Professor Game Podcast

Professor Game Podcast

Written by: Rob Alvarez
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#1 Gamification Podcast | Insights and Real-World Strategies to Boost Engagement, Loyalty & Retention. Professor Game helps innovators, product leaders, and educators use gamification and game thinking to create engagement that lasts. 🎙️ Hosted by Rob Alvarez — TEDx Speaker, consultant, and host of the #1 Gamification Podcast — each week brings you practical insights, case studies, and frameworks from 400+ global experts and proven real-world examples. Expect interviews with top practitioners in gamification, game design, and behavioral strategy, plus solo episodes where Rob breaks down practical frameworks you can apply in your team, classroom, or product. Join the movement to make engagement, motivation, and loyalty truly meaningful — with stories and strategies that transform the way people learn, work, and play. 💡 Listen. Learn. Apply Play to Your Strategy.professorgame.com © 2025 Economics Management Management & Leadership Self-Help Success
Episodes
  • Stop Dumping Textbooks Into Your Games, with Alan Yeats | Episode 449

    Stop Dumping Textbooks Into Your Games, with Alan Yeats | Episode 449
    Jun 15 2026
    Struggling with retention, churn, or adoption in your product, service, or program? Get the free Core Drives in the Wild guide and see how to apply real behavioral design to your engagement: professorgame.com/WildCD Episode Summary Alan Yeats, CEO of Pocket Sized Hands, a co-development game studio in Dundee, Scotland, explains why the best learning games start with play and add the curriculum second. He walks through real projects, a knife-crime prevention game stopped cold by school firewalls and a stem cell science game built with Cambridge University, to show how co-design keeps everyone pointed at the same goal. Alan argues that the job is to find the underlying play and the real "why" behind a request, not to cram years of lessons into one product. Listeners come away with a practical filter for any educational or engagement project: build a genuinely good game first, then weave the learning in so people actually engage. About the Host Rob Alvarez is Head of Engagement Strategy, Europe at The Octalysis Group (TOG), a leading gamification and behavioral design consultancy. A globally recognized gamification strategist and TEDx speaker, he founded and hosts Professor Game, the #1 gamification podcast, and has interviewed hundreds of global experts. He designs evidence-based engagement systems that drive motivation, loyalty, and results, and teaches LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® and gamification at top institutions including IE Business School, EFMD, and EBS University across Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Key Takeaways Pocket Sized Hands built a polished Jackbox-style game to steer young people away from knife crime, then hit a wall when school IT firewalls blocked the phone-to-screen connection the experience ran on. The end user is never the only stakeholder a product has to satisfy.For Cambridge University, the studio corrected public misconceptions about stem cell science by running back-to-basics workshops to isolate the one message that mattered, rather than cramming an entire syllabus into a single game.Alan Yeats's rule for education clients who want to throw the whole textbook at a game: make it genuinely fun first, then layer the lessons in, because curriculum with no play earns no engagement to teach against.Co-design converts a client from someone who merely commissioned a product into an owner who evangelizes it, which is why Pocket Sized Hands opens projects with a workshop for facilitators and real users instead of a written spec.Pitching the visual register openly, from a corporate LinkedIn-style progress bar to a fully magical world, lets a team test how far it can push a client before the client pushes back with "that is too much fun." Topics Covered 0:00 - Stop cramming textbooks into games0:16 - Meet Alan Yeats and Pocket Sized Hands3:16 - A knife-crime game blocked by firewalls5:23 - Design for the stakeholders you forget8:08 - The Cambridge stem cell game that worked9:03 - Make the game fun first10:40 - Co-design and finding the real problem12:33 - From corporate progress bars to magical worlds14:54 - Focus on the play, not the game16:25 - The future guest he would want to hear17:46 - Why Deep Work sharpens his focus19:04 - His superpower, favorite game, and final advice Struggling with retention, churn, or adoption in your product, service, or program? Get the free Core Drives in the Wild guide and see how to apply real behavioral design to your engagement: professorgame.com/WildCD About Alan Yeats Alan Yeats is the CEO of Pocket Sized Hands, a co-development game studio based in Dundee, Scotland. He left school at 16 to work on games, dropped out of university, and founded the studio nine years ago. Since then, Pocket Sized Hands has helped ship titles including Pocket Mortys for Adult Swim, Oddworld: Soulstorm, and Bendy and the Ink Machine, working with clients ranging from indie developers to major publishers. The studio specialises in co-development, porting, networking, and live ops. Find the Guest Online Pocket Sized Hands: pocketsizedhands.comPersonal site: alanyeats.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alanyeatsX (studio): @PKTSizedHands Mentioned in This Episode Some links below are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Proposed future guest: someone who wants to use gamification but hasn't yetRecommended book: Deep Work by Cal NewportFavorite game: Ratchet & Clank 3 Free Resources and Get in Touch Core Drives in the Wild: Professor Game Free GuideGet Daily Value on Your EmailLet's chat about your gamification projectYouTubeLinkedInInstagramFacebookStart Your Community on Skool for FreeAsk a question
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    22 mins
  • Same AI, Opposite Outcome (It's Not the Tool) | Episode 448

    Same AI, Opposite Outcome (It's Not the Tool) | Episode 448
    Jun 8 2026
    Get the free Core Drives in the Wild guide, behavioral design applied to real corporate cases: professorgame.com/WildCD Episode Summary Rob breaks down why enterprise AI adoption stalls even with paid licenses and training, while a group of students beat a locked, proctored exam with ChatGPT and no support at all. Reading both cases through the Octalysis Framework, he shows how the exam accidentally stacked Core Drive 8 (Loss & Avoidance), Core Drive 6 (Scarcity & Impatience), and Core Drive 2 (Development & Accomplishment) into a ferocious, if mispointed, motivation engine. The enterprise bought the most capable tool and surrounded it with zero motivation, so nobody opened the app. Listeners learn why AI adoption is a motivation problem wearing a tooling costume, and leave with a two-part diagnostic question to ask of any AI initiative. About the Host Rob Alvarez is Head of Engagement Strategy, Europe at The Octalysis Group (TOG), a leading gamification and behavioral design consultancy. A globally recognized gamification strategist and TEDx speaker, he founded and hosts Professor Game, the #1 gamification podcast, and has interviewed hundreds of global experts. He designs evidence-based engagement systems that drive motivation, loyalty, and results, and teaches LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® and gamification at top institutions including IE Business School, EFMD, and EBS University across Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Key Takeaways Students beat a lockdown, proctored, face-to-face online exam by getting ChatGPT to answer questions live through a Chrome extension, with no license, no training, and no change management. Adoption was instant, total, and creative enough to defeat the security.The exam accidentally stacked three Black Hat Core Drives: Core Drive 8 (Loss & Avoidance, failing is high-stakes), Core Drive 6 (Scarcity & Impatience, one timed shot), and Core Drive 2 (Development & Accomplishment, clearing the hurdle to the grade).Enterprises buy the paid license, training, IT support, and a leadership mandate, then adoption stalls because none of those things are motivation. There is no personal loss for ignoring the tool and no personal win for using it.Motivation pointed at the wrong goal produces flawless adoption of exactly the behavior you did not want. The students aimed AI at passing, not learning, and got it.As AI removes capability constraints, the human motivation layer becomes the only constraint left, which is why behavioral design matters more in the AI era, not less.The diagnostic: ask what your team personally gains by using the tool and what they personally lose by ignoring it. If the honest answer is "nothing much either way," no rollout plan will save it. Topics Covered 0:00 - Students hacked a locked exam0:52 - Same tech, opposite outcome1:44 - Adoption was never the problem2:39 - The exam's accidental motivation engine4:31 - Almost entirely Black Hat motivation5:18 - Why the funded enterprise stalls6:30 - Adoption and direction both matter7:41 - Why behavioral design matters with AI7:55 - Your diagnostic question for today Mentioned in This Episode The Octalysis Framework, developed by Yu-kai ChouChatGPT (OpenAI)Core Drives in the Wild, the Professor Game free guide Free Resources and Get in Touch Core Drives in the Wild: Professor Game Free GuideGet Daily Value on Your EmailLet's chat about your gamification projectYouTubeLinkedInInstagramFacebookStart Your Community on Skool for FreeAsk a question
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    9 mins
  • I Build War Games for the US Government (And I Hate Video Games) | Episode 447

    I Build War Games for the US Government (And I Hate Video Games) | Episode 447
    Jun 1 2026
    Get the free Core Drives in the Wild guide and see behavioral design applied to real products and services: professorgame.com/WildCD Episode Summary Eleanor Ross, Creative Director at Expert Theory and one of the youngest recipients of the National Training and Simulation Association's Top Under 40 award, breaks down how she designs wargames and simulations that put learners inside high stakes decisions instead of watching from the outside. She walks through the moment a Team USA group tried to buy Greenland mid game, the Logic, Function, Form framework she uses to build every simulation, and a year long Taiwan resilience exercise she ran for the Irregular Warfare Center. Listeners come away with two best practices that make any simulation stick, a debrief discipline and deliberate role reversal, plus a clear view of how AI tools now let a team produce news articles and role player materials in under ten minutes. Ross also makes the case that heavy topics like terrorism, invasion, and irregular warfare land harder when they are engaging, and that good design starts by deciding what people should feel when they walk out. About the Host Rob Alvarez is Head of Engagement Strategy, Europe at The Octalysis Group (TOG), a leading gamification and behavioral design consultancy. A globally recognized gamification strategist and TEDx speaker, he founded and hosts Professor Game, the #1 gamification podcast, and has interviewed hundreds of global experts. He designs evidence-based engagement systems that drive motivation, loyalty, and results, and teaches LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® and gamification at top institutions including IE Business School, EFMD, and EBS University across Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Key Takeaways In an early Arctic simulation run as an alpha test for the Canadian Department of National Defense, a Team USA group went off script and tried to buy Greenland, a move no one had prepared for, which forced Ross to build the response live.Ross and her team at Expert Theory adjudicated that unplanned move and used their AI backend to produce news articles, tweets, and formatted materials for a role player in under ten minutes, a turnaround the wargaming community historically treated as impossible.Her Logic, Function, Form framework stacks design like a pyramid: Logic defines what players should know and feel on the way out, Function defines the actors and goals that get them there, and Form covers constraints like the 30 or 90 minute time box.A quality debrief is the most important best practice in simulation design, because the takeaways people carry out are set up by the structured discussion, not by the game itself.Putting participants in roles they would never hold, such as US military officers playing the Somali government or the US embassy in a Fort Bragg deployment game, forces the perspective shift that makes the lesson land.Ross builds her design philosophy on Rutger Bregman's Humankind and its claim that people are inherently good, using games to surface the nuances behind how opposing sides actually see themselves. Topics Covered 0:00 - A wargamer who hates video games2:59 - Inside a wargame designer's week4:18 - When Team USA tried buying Greenland7:45 - Why failure is a junior mindset13:02 - A Taiwan resilience wargame for DOD17:26 - The Logic, Function, Form framework20:34 - Best practices: debrief and role reversal24:30 - The books behind her design philosophy26:33 - Perspective taking through languages29:27 - Making heavy topics engaging31:12 - Her favorite game: Votes for Women33:01 - Building games in six minutes with Providence Get the free Core Drives in the Wild guide and see behavioral design applied to real products and services: professorgame.com/WildCD About Eleanor Ross Eleanor Ross is Creative Director at Expert Theory, an AI powered simulation startup building immersive learning experiences for clients including the U.S. Department of Defense, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Georgetown, and Penn State. She designs and facilitates simulations that restore agency to learners by placing them inside complex, high stakes decisions, and her co-authored research with the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology and Education Center has shown that simulations measurably deepen learning while strengthening confidence, teamwork, and decision making. She chairs programming for the Women's Wargaming Network and is one of the youngest ever recipients of the National Training and Simulation Association's Top Under 40 award. Her work focuses on the Arctic and high north, irregular and gray zone warfare, and leadership. Find the Guest Online Expert Theory (website)Eleanor Ross on LinkedInExpert Theory on LinkedIn Mentioned in This Episode The Art of Wargaming by Peter PerlaHumankind by Rutger BregmanVotes for Women, Eleanor's favorite game (by Fort Circle Games)Proposed future guest: Yuna WongProposed future guest: John CurryProvidence, Expert Theory's platform for building games in ...
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    36 mins
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