Suggestions (for general audience outside of LW/Rationalist circles)
I like the name “Confidence Game”- reminds people of a con game while informing you as to the point of the game.
Try to see if you can focus on a positive-point scale, if you can. Try to make it so that winning nets you a lot of points but “losing” only a couple. (Same effect on scores, either way) This won’t seem as odd if you set it up as one long scale rather than two shorter ones: so 99-90-80-60-50-60-80-90-99.
Setting it to a timer will make it ADDICTIVE. Set it up in quick rounds. Make it like a quiz show. No question limit, or a bonus if you hit the limit for being “Quick on your feet.” Make it hard but not impossible to do.
Set up a leaderboard where you can post to FB, show friends, and possibly compare your score to virtual “opponents” (which are really just scoring metrics) Possibly make those metrics con-man themed, keeping with the game’s name.
Graphics will help a lot. Consider running with the con-game theme.
Label people: maybe something like “Underconfident” “Unsure” “Confident” “AMAZING” “Confident” “Overconfident” “Cocksure” (Test labels to see what works well!) rather than using graphs. Graphs and percentages? Turn-off. Drop the % sign and just show two numbers with a label. Make this separate from points but related. (High points=greater chance of falling toward the center, but in theory not necessarily the same.) Yes, I know the point is to get people to think in percentages, but if you want to do that you have to get them there without actually showing them math, which many find off-putting.
Set up a coin system that earns you benefits for putting into the game: extended round, “confidence streak” bonuses, hints, or skips might be good rewards here. Test and see what works. Allow people to pay for coins, but also reward coins for play or another mini-game related to play or both. (Investment=more play)
Another thought: once you have a large bank of questions, consider “theme questions” as something people can buy with coins. Yes, that becomes a matter of showing off rather than the main point, but people LIKE to show off.
Suggestions (for general audience outside of LW/Rationalist circles)
I like the name “Confidence Game”- reminds people of a con game while informing you as to the point of the game.
Try to see if you can focus on a positive-point scale, if you can. Try to make it so that winning nets you a lot of points but “losing” only a couple. (Same effect on scores, either way) This won’t seem as odd if you set it up as one long scale rather than two shorter ones: so 99-90-80-60-50-60-80-90-99.
Setting it to a timer will make it ADDICTIVE. Set it up in quick rounds. Make it like a quiz show. No question limit, or a bonus if you hit the limit for being “Quick on your feet.” Make it hard but not impossible to do.
Set up a leaderboard where you can post to FB, show friends, and possibly compare your score to virtual “opponents” (which are really just scoring metrics) Possibly make those metrics con-man themed, keeping with the game’s name.
Graphics will help a lot. Consider running with the con-game theme.
Label people: maybe something like “Underconfident” “Unsure” “Confident” “AMAZING” “Confident” “Overconfident” “Cocksure” (Test labels to see what works well!) rather than using graphs. Graphs and percentages? Turn-off. Drop the % sign and just show two numbers with a label. Make this separate from points but related. (High points=greater chance of falling toward the center, but in theory not necessarily the same.) Yes, I know the point is to get people to think in percentages, but if you want to do that you have to get them there without actually showing them math, which many find off-putting.
Set up a coin system that earns you benefits for putting into the game: extended round, “confidence streak” bonuses, hints, or skips might be good rewards here. Test and see what works. Allow people to pay for coins, but also reward coins for play or another mini-game related to play or both. (Investment=more play)
Another thought: once you have a large bank of questions, consider “theme questions” as something people can buy with coins. Yes, that becomes a matter of showing off rather than the main point, but people LIKE to show off.