What is Gamification, and How Can I Use It?
Part of the game.
GAMIFICATION OF ELECTIONS – PART 2
“Gamification is the use of features and concepts (e.g. points, levels, leader boards) from games in non-game environments, such as websites and applications, in order to attract users to engage with the product.”
So, what are those “features and concepts from games”? How do they work and with what purpose? While these features are present in basically every game there is (after all, they are what makes them a game) there are variations in their use. Some games focus on one or two specific game mechanics, other games go all out and take advantage of the whole catalogue of game design features. The mix, however, is important. Game mechanics have to be used with purpose, not just for the sake of it.
Games that use gamification techniques almost to perfection are often Free to Play games (F2P games) like Farmville, Candy Crush or Clash of Clans (we’ll take an in-depth look at them later in this series). Their revenue stems from advertising and micropayments*, so naturally their goal is to make the user play for as long as possible.
Not only do they combine the most efficient game designs, but they also constantly monitor user behaviour during the game. This results in millions of data points that can be used to tune every variable of the game with unimaginable precision. Nothing in F2P games is left to chance, every bit of gameplay is precision engineered. In practice, this assembly of different game mechanics, reward systems and addicting game elements works in tandem like a finely tuned orchestra – to create a perfect harmony of reinforcement and gratification.
But what are those mechanics? Over the next few articles I will introduce some of the elements that make up the toolkit of gamification methods.
Scoreboards
As old as games itself is the scoreboard. From simple tally-keeping during a card game, to the leaderboards in football leagues or other sports, displaying the score is not only showing you information about the game / games, but also motivating you to fight harder and better. Score keeping was also among the first actual game designs in video game history. Roughly speaking, half of the pixel in the original Pong game were used for score keeping. Writing down your three-letter-acronym in the leader board of your Pac Man arcade was an almost magical moment and training hard to one day beat the high score devoured many a schoolkid’s lunch money.
Scoreboards motivate you to step up your game, spend just a little more time and just a little more money on the game, jump up one step of the ladder and beat the person above you.
Pacman Leaderboard ©hockey-blog-in-canada
Progression bars
The common user will have mostly negative associations with progress bars. Associated with waiting time for loading or saving something, they are a frightful sight in the world of UX design. Not so in games. Progression bars show your progress towards the next level. No matter how arbitrary those levels are defined, they act as stepping stones – as intermediary goals on your journey. Often times promising rewards, level ups are as basic as they are effective. Granting the players more power, stronger weapons, or better abilities will keep the game fresh, change the gameplay, or allow the player to advance further.
Close to level 17, just one more game! Overwatch — ©Sparton220/Twitter
*Micropayments are small online payments (commonly just a few dollars), that are used to buy either In-game currency or small, often temporary, boosts to your game.
Up next: Six Degrees of Gratification
Further reading:
www.soziotech.org/gamification-steigerung-der-nutzungsmotivation-durch-spielkonzepte