Jane McGonigal (born October 21, 1977) is an American author, game designer, and researcher. McGonigal advocates using mobile and digital technology to channel positive attitudes and collaboration in a real-world context. Biography Early years McGonigal was brought up in New Jersey. Her parents are teachers who emphasized intellectual attainment. Her identical twin sister, Kelly McGonigal, is a psychologist. Education McGonigal received her Bachelor of Arts in English from Fordham University in 1999, and her Ph.D. in Performance Studies from the University of California, Berkeley in 2006. She was the first in the department to study computer and video games. Personal life In 2009, she suffered a debilitating concussion that helped her develop a game, Jane the Concussion Slayer, for treating her concussion and other similar conditions; the game was later renamed SuperBetter. Philosophy McGonigal writes and speaks about alternate reality games and massively multiplayer online gaming. She also writes about the way that collective intelligence can be generated and used as a means for improving the quality of human life or working towards the solution of social ills. She has stated that gaming should be moving "towards Nobel Prizes." McGonigal has been called "the current public face of gamification." Despite this, McGonigal has objected to the word, stating, "I don't do 'gamification,' and I'm not prepared to stand up and say I think it works. I don't think anybody should make games to try to motivate somebody to do something they don't want to do. If the game is not about a goal you're intrinsically motivated by, it won't work." Career After earning her Bachelor of Arts in English, McGonigal started developing her first commercial games. As a designer, McGonigal became known for location-based and alternate reality games. She has taught game design and game studies at the San Francisco Art Institute and the University of California, Berkeley. In 2008, she became the Director of Game Research and Development at Institute for the Future, and in 2012, the Chief Creative Officer at SuperBetter Labs. Games McGonigal has been developing commercial games since 2006, some of which are listed in the following chart: SuperBetter In July 2009, Jane suffered a concussion after hitting her head in her office. The symptoms were severe and lasted for several weeks. They made her feel suicidal. She requested her friends to give her tasks to do each day. Wanting to recover from her condition, she