GWAPs: Games with a problem

Games with a purpose (gwaps) are expensive and challenging to create, yet are touted as a cure-all for getting people to do uninteresting and repetitive tasks in exchange for fun and entertainment. Not only are poorly-executed gwaps ineffective for their purposes, but they can potentially undermine future gwaps by burning out players and discouraging potential gwap supporters and investors. The goal of this paper is to challenge the role of gwaps as tools for disguising boring work as entertainment. We discuss recommendations for future gwap designs that are informed both by commercial game design and by parallel developments in paid crowd work.