The more game makers consciously “tap into human psychological and sociological tendencies”, the more gamers must consider a game’s intention and the experience of playing it. Are you having fun or, as in the example below, are you a monkey pressing a lever?
Reading through SCVNGR’s Game Mechanics Flash Cards could be part of a new mental self-defense kit, along with sets for logical fallacies and cognitive biases.
[slide from SCVNGR’s Game Mechanics Flash Cards via TechCrunch]