Overview

This article will introduce you to course games, which allow learners to earn points and badges to advance through game levels. Learners and teams can compete against each other, with point totals and rankings tracked on leaderboards. 

1. For more information on site-wide games, administrators can visit the site-wide games article.
   
2. For more information on adding a game to a path, visit the Paths article.
   

Adding a new course game

Please note CYPHER for business defaults to the term course. CYPHER for academia defaults to the term class. The terms course and class are interchangeable in this article. 

1. Access a course or class.
   
2. Click Admin from the course navigation menu.
   
3. Click Features from the fly-out menu.
   
4. Select the Games checkbox.

1. Click the Games tab on the course navigation menu.
   
2. Click + Add.
   

1. Enter the name of the game.
   
2. Make a selection in the Level using section:
   
1. Points: Selecting points uses a point system to rank players.
   
2. Periodic promotion/demotion: The periodic promotion/demotion option allows you to set a designated period of time for the game. At the end of the time period, the top players are promoted to the next level and the bottom players are demoted to the previous level.
   
3. Click Save.

The course game page displays. To modify the course game:

1. Click Edit to edit the game name and description.
   
2. Click Delete to delete the game.

Clicking Edit will allow you to modify the game:

1. Edit the game name and description.
   
2. Click Save. 
   

1. Click Add from the Levels section of the course game page.
   
2. Enter the name of the level.
   
3. Enter the number of points needed to obtain the level.
   
4. Click Save. 

1. Click the Edit icon.
   
2. To remove a level, click the Remove icon. 

Please note that if you change the points associated with a level, the current levels for learners won't be recalculated.

1. Click + Add in the level actions section.
   

1. Awards: This tab includes actions that award badges, certificates, coupons, and points.
   
2. Integrations: This tab includes actions related to integrations for your site, such as webhooks and xAPI.
   
3. Membership: This tab includes actions that add users to groups or enrolls them in courses.
   
4. Other: This tab includes actions that add or remove tags, add to-do items, or send custom notifications.

Note: By default, the "achieve level" canned message action is added to every level.

1. Enable: Select the checkbox to enable a leaderboard for your game.
   
2. Show to learners: Select the checkbox to make the leaderboard visible to learners.
   
3. Include completed learners: Select the checkbox if you want learners who have completed the course to be included on the leaderboard.
   
4. Support teams?: Select the checkbox if you have set up teams and want them to display on the leaderboard.
   
1. Team games will be covered later in this article.
5. Size: From the size drop-down list, select the number of players the leaderboard will display on the course landing page.
   

1. Click the Games tab.
   
2. Click + Add. 
   

1. To see the overview page of a game, click on the game tile.
   
2. To go back to the games list, click the back to Games button on the top right of the page.
   

Rules and badges

Rules

After configuring the game, you can add additional rules to award points and badges. You can add actions that are triggered upon completion, enrollment, unenrollment, and inactivity. Completion rules are available for courses, modules, sections, and assessments, allowing you to set up rules that award points for nearly every part of your course.

As an example, you may want to award points to a learner for enrolling in a course. To add an enrollment rule:

1. Access a course or class.
   
2. Click Admin from the course navigation menu.
   
3. Click Enrollment from the fly-out menu.
   
4. Click + Add in the Enrollment actions section.

1. Click Award points.
   

1. Select the game the rule will apply to.
   
2. Enter the number of points for the rule.
   
3. Select the notification type: Dropdown or Popup.
   
4. Determine if you would like to send a canned or custom message.
   
5. Add filters to the action to further define which users are impacted by the rule. 
   
1. Filters are optional.
6. Click Save.

The enrollment action has been added, and the points will help learners advance through the game levels.

For more information on creating rules, visit the Rules article.

Badges

The platform supports the creation and awarding of badges. To learn more about how to create a badge, visit the Badges article. 

You can award badges to learners for reaching various levels of the game. To award a badge:

1. Access the course or class.
   
2. Click Games from the course navigation menu.
   
3. Click + Add in the level actions section of the game.
   
1. Note: You can award different badges for each level of the game.
   
4. Click Award badge.
   
5. Select your game and the badge you created.
   
6. Click Save.
   

Please note that badges do not count as points and do not advance learners through the game levels.  

Manually awarding points

The platform also allows you to award points manually. To award points manually:

1. Access a course or class.
   
2. Click Learners from the course navigation menu.
   
3. Select the learner(s) from the list.
   
4. Click + Award.
   

The Award page displays.

1. Select the Points radio button.
   
2. Select the applicable game from the drop-down menu.
   
3. Enter the number of points to award.
   
4. Enter a message.
   
5. Click Save.
   

Periodic promotion/demotion

A game that utilizes the periodic promotion/demotion feature incentivizes learners to stay on the top of the leaderboard, as the top point earners are promoted up a level, while the lowers point earners are demoted down a level.

1. Enter a name for the game.
   
2. Select the Periodic promotion/demotion radio button.
   
3. Click Save.
   

The course game page displays. You can edit the name and description of the game, and add levels and actions for each level. To review these steps, revisit the Adding a new course game section.

1. Click Edit to configure the settings for the game.
   

The Settings pop-up displays with various options to configure:

1. Max players: Enter the maximum number of players allowed in each group.
   
2. Start: Enter the start date for the game.
   
3. Frequency: Enter the frequency of the game in weeks or months.
   
4. Promotion percent: Determine what percent from the top of the leaderboard will be promoted at the end of the period.
   
5. Demotion percent: Determine what percent from the bottom of the leaderboard will be demoted at the end of the period.
   
6. Group by: Indicate how you would like the users grouped. The most common is to group members by their organization.
   
7. Click Save.
   

Adding teams to games

Team games allow you to group players into teams and add the teams to the game. The teams added to the game will be displayed on the leaderboard along with the number of points and badges earned by the players in each team. 

To enable teams for a game:

1. Access the course or class.
   
2. Click the Games tab.
   
3. Select a game if you have multiple games for the course.
4. Click the Support teams? checkbox in the Leaderboard section of the course game page.
   

1. Click + Add under teams.
   

1. Select teams from the list.
   
1. If you have not set up teams, visit the Teams article to learn more.
2. Click Submit.
   

1. To remove a team from the list, click the Remove icon.
   

1. Click the team points and badges icons to view the details of how each player contributed to the total.
   

Instructor view of games

When instructors and teachers access a course, the leaderboard displays on the right panel (if the leaderboard is enabled).

1. To see a detailed overview of the game, click the arrow icon on the course game widget.
   

1. To view game details for a specific learner, click the learner's name on the leaderboard.

Learner view of games

Learners can access course games in multiple ways.

1. Learners can click the Games icon directly on a course tile in the Courses widget.
   

When learners access a course, the Course game widget displays on the right panel. 

1. Learner's level, points, and badges display in the widget.
   
2. If enabled, the leaderboard also displays.

1. Learners can click a course game tile to view more details for each game. 
   

1. Learners can view the course levels, badges, and points, and their progress in each category.
   
2. Learners can also view the full leaderboard for individual learners and teams, with current rankings, points, and badges.
   

As leaners progress through the course, they are notified when they receive points and badges.

1. Points are indicated with the Star icon. 
2. Badges are indicated with the Badge icon.