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Gamification is the use of mechanics—including things like narratives, rewards, and personalisation—across other industries. It’s an easy way for providers to drive engagement and make using their site a more interactive experience. Gamification is used throughout industries like iGaming, education, and travel to improve user experience. Let’s look at some ways gamification works and why it’s so impressive.
Understanding How Gamification Works
According to its Cambridge definition, gamification is the process of making activities more enjoyable by incorporating gaming elements, like leaderboards, quests, and rewards.¹ Not only do these features make the user experience more enjoyable, but they also allow for increased interaction and engagement. Some of the different methods of gamification include
Narratives and Quests
It goes without saying that narratives and quests play a crucial part in the playing experience of most video games. Whether players are trying to save the world or improve their farmstead, there’s usually an overall goal to work towards throughout gameplay. This helps guide and motivate players throughout the game. In many cases, players unlock different levels or content as they progress, which contributes to the narrative.
On many websites or apps, users are given an ultimate goal to achieve in the form of a narrative or quest. In the online learning world, courses utilise these elements to guide users along their journey, setting them an overall goal, like ‘learning basic Spanish’. One example of this is the learning website Memrise, which encourages students to continue learning by using a plant. The student’s quest is to help their plant thrive, which can only be done through sustained learning on the site. Users are encouraged to use the site consistently to fulfil their goal, driving engagement and interaction.
Rewards and Bonuses
In the gaming world, players are rewarded for completing quests through features like in-play gifts, which can involve unlocking new elements and earning badges. Rewards are some of the most widespread ways of gamification—customers might receive discount codes for visiting a website daily or for spending a certain amount, for example. Another common method is rewarding user interaction using points that can be used to unlock bonuses or move up through a leaderboard.
One industry that has widely embraced this area of gamification is the iGaming industry, which uses features like loyalty programs to provide players with rewards. Loyalty programs are often set up in tier systems, which users progress through as they play more. Each tier unlocks greater rewards, like more free spins, exclusive games, and deposit bonuses. Many experts, like the authors at NewCasinos, also highlight the ‘psychological’ factor of these rewards, which creates “an entirely new kind of motivation for some players”.² Not only do loyalty programs offer players bonuses as a result of their playing, but they also increase engagement and interaction.
Unlockable Content and Levels
In many video games, some areas or content can only be unlocked when a player achieves a certain result or takes a certain path. When a player progresses through levels, they may unlock bonus content, including upgraded weapons or new character content, like outfits. In Overwatch 2,players start out with a basic skin, which can be upgraded through content that is unlocked as they level up.³
Many industries have started using these elements of gamification, such as travel websites like Booking.com, where users are able to track different hotels or flights they have booked. As they gain more points and higher badges, they are able to unlock better deals. One of the simplest ways these features are included is in learning platforms, where new levels only become available after students complete or achieve a certain score in the previous one.
Building Connections
In many video games, players are able to connect with others by adding friends or using multiplayer games. In gaming series, like Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto, players are able to experience the game with their friends through live audio and group chats. Multi-player options help increase interaction and engagement for these games.
In the online learning industry, games have been using these methods to increase interaction and engagement. An example of this is the online learning quiz platform, Kahoot, which has over 70 million monthly users and frequently uses multiplayer games.⁴ It’s often used within schools, with whole classes of students able to answer questions at once. Kahoot can be an entertaining and interactive way for users to learn.
Personalisation
In many video games, players are able to customise different features of their avatar, including physical attributes and names. Players can customise their avatar to reflect themselves, helping them to feel more engaged and connected with the game. It allows players to have a unique experience that they have some level of control over, improving interaction and engagement.
Personalisation is starting to be included across different industries as a way to better connect with customers. In the iGaming industry, players are able to customise their avatars in the virtual world when playing virtual reality games. As well as this, players can add their pictures and details, or create a character, when establishing their profile on many platforms.
Why is Gamification So Effective?
There are many different studies that look at the effectiveness of gamification across various industries, from education to iGaming. Let’s look in more detail at the impact of gamification.
The Effect of Gamification in Education
Gamification is incredibly effective in education, with many learning apps and websites incorporating the mechanics. It’s important for these platforms to engage users to make sure they return to the app for continual learning. Points, badges, and rewards can help encourage students to continue and finish a course, and leaderboards can promote a sense of competition between students, ensuring they’re keen to progress. 41 studies with over 5000 students found that the gamification of learning platforms had a “significant large effect” on motivation and course completion.⁵ The impact was found to be wide-ranging across different learning topics, including languages, computer science, and communication.
Gamification is so effective within educational settings because of the psychological aspects behind it. The drive that motivates students to continue courses is a result of the chemical release of dopamine they get when they reach a goal or unlock bonuses.⁶ Rewards give students a sense of instant gratification, which can be essential for motivation throughout lengthy courses where rewards from learning are further off. One example of this is gamification tools like streaks, points, and leaderboards in the popular language learning app Duolingo. Duolingo also utilises challenges, setting players the goal of completing a specific section of learning or earning a certain number of points. Challenges or streaks can be effective in keeping students engaged and coming back to courses daily to continue progress.
The Effect of Gamification in iGaming
Gamification in iGaming also taps into the same neural pathway that triggers the release of dopamine. When a player wins a reward like bonus spins, their brain tells them they’ve done something well and should do it again.
As well as being prevalent when a player receives a bonus, dopamine is key to why the loyalty system of many iGaming providers works so well. When players progress through the different levels, unlocking further bonuses and rewards, they feel a chemical release, which motivates them to continue. Using point systems is an especially effective way of doing this, as players can track their progress using numbers and progress bars, further motivating them.
Why is Gamification So Popular?
Gamification is increasingly popular across industries to help make learning, playing, and other activities much more interesting. Studies show that students are consistently better engaged and motivated by websites that include elements of gamification, like rewards, leaderboards, and streaks. The reasoning behind the greater levels of interaction lay in psychology, with dopamine pathways triggered. The consistently higher levels of engagement as a result of gamification mean that in the future, we could see even more industries adopting features like rewards, personalisation, and unlockable content.
1: Gamification, Written by Cambridge Dictionary, Published by Cambridge Dictionary.
