Since I started living on my own, I have become a loyalty-card collector.
I have apps for all my local supermarkets: each time I go grocery shopping, they scan my card and I get special discounts or something for free if I spend a certain amount of money.
I also get to collect points, so I can claim a gift at the end of the year.
Why am I telling you all this?
Because these loyalty programs, with their “collect and redeem” mechanics, are a real-life example of gamification!
They turn grocery shopping into a quest, which becomes more rewarding and encourages you to go back to the same supermarket more often.
The truth is, gamification is everywhere today, and everyone is using it to increase their app engagement.
From education to finance, from health to surveys, it has become a go-to feature for apps.
So let’s dive into the reasons why it works so well and take a look at some examples that you can use in your app as well.
What is Gamification, Really?
Gamification means adding features that usually belong to games to apps or websites that aren’t games.
For example, an e-commerce app may add a spin-the-wheel feature for users to get discount coupons, or a running app have a leaderboard of the fastest runners in the neighborhood.
These features are designed to make the app more engaging for users and improve retention, so that users keep coming back.
Gamification can take many forms, but the most common gamification techniques are:
- Badges
- Points
- Leaderboards
- Quizzes
- Progress bars
- Streaks
What Kind of Apps Use Gamification?
The good thing about gamification is that there isn’t just one approach to it, so it’s used widely across different kinds of apps.
For example, it’s very common in:
Learning and Education
Duolingo is the prime example of this approach, and it’s often mentioned as a perfect model of gamification.
They’ve got it all: badges, progress bar, points, rewards, leaderboards, and the most famous of all, their streak.
@mydailyrandomvid Keep going 🔥 @Duolingo #duolingo #study #fyp #concert ♬ original sound – lapsiu
Coming back each day for a lesson increases your streak, and there are people out there with a streak of over 1000 days!
Why does the streak work?
It’s a combination of a few factors.
On one side, there’s the motivation to continue learning. At the end, you can only learn a new language if you practice constantly.
On the other hand, Duolingo leverages what it’s called the “sunk-cost fallacy”. It’s a psychological phenomenon for which we are hesitant to change something when we’ve already invested many resources into it, like time or money.
So you keep coming back, because you’ve already spent too much time on the app and you don’t want your efforts to go to waste.
Fitness and Health
See Strava, WeWard, Nike Training Club.
All these apps use features like badges and leaderboards to hook users and improve retention.
The reason leaderboards are effective here is because people who use these apps enjoy competitiveness.
And being able to see where you stand among your friends or neighborhood is a strong motivator to keep using the app and improve your results.
Productivity
Have you ever struggled to complete a task?
Apps like Forest or ToDoist have found a way to keep you on track.
With Forest, you can plant (real!) trees to keep you focused.
You set a timer, and the app blocks your phone until the timer stops. If you check your phone while the timer is on, your tree dies and you can’t plant it.
The motivation behind this?
Your actions have a concrete impact, so you are more likely to stick to it and complete your task.
Travel
Travel apps can have gamification features as well.
Genius by Booking, their loyalty program, is a good example of this.
I travelled a lot in the last couple of years and I often used Booking for my accommodation. For each booking, I get points, and when I reach a certain level, I unlock new benefits.
It feels a bit like progressing in a game!
Why Gamification Works
In 2017, a group of researchers studied walking apps to see whether gamification and competition actually made a difference in the number of steps walked every day.
It turned out that the average user increased their physical activity by 23%!
Gamification usually relies on a few core motivators, such as:
- Progress, which gives us a sense of achievement.
- Competition taps into our natural drive to measure ourselves against others.
- Community turns mundane experiences into social ones.
- Rewards deliver a hit of motivation that keeps us coming back.
Taken independently or combined together, these elements can tap into our motivation and turn an activity into a daily habit.
Gamification Examples
As we said, gamification examples are everywhere, but let’s take a look at some that took gamification to the next level.
Fitness: Zombies, Run!
Would you run faster if you were chased by zombies?
This is the idea behind Zombies Run!, a fitness app that combines fitness and audiobooks.
Basically, before you start your workout, you pick an adventure. A narrator guides you through your run, but you never know when zombies will chase you.
And when they come, you need to sprint faster!
Moreover, during your run, you can collect useful objects and trophies, which will make you progress in your future runs.
This is an excellent example of gamification.
Workout, and especially running, feels like a burden to many people, and making it this exciting can be a strong motivator for many.
Zombies, Run! combines engaging storytelling, which gives a sense of purpose to your running, with the collection of badges and objects during your run, which encourage you to work out frequently.
Fintech: Fortune City
Several fintech apps have started implementing gamification in different ways: you get badges when you save a certain amount of money, or you have a progress bar that shows you when you will reach your financial goals.
However, there’s an app that has made gamification its core design model.
We’re talking about Fortune City.
Fortune City is an expense tracker. But, there’s a fun twist to it: every time you add a new transaction, a new building is added to your Fortune City.
In this way, by keeping track of your expenses, you’re also building a little city, with people walking around and missions to accomplish.
Fortune City wins because it takes something that’s usually boring – keeping track of your expenses – and turns it into a Farmville-type game.
Advertising: Playable Ads
We know, we know. Advertising is usually annoying, especially when it interrupts your in-app activity.
That’s why the trend of playable ads is getting more popular.
Playable ads are interactive interstitials. They are mainly used for mobile games, and they allow users to try the game before downloading it.
They work better than static formats because they gamify something annoying, advertising, often by challenging the user.
This is gamification at its core.
Walking App: WeWard
WeWard is a walk-and-earn app that wants to make walking more engaging through gamification and rewards.
It uses various features to achieve that:
- Challenges and a leaderboard.
- Monetary rewards.
The mix of gamification and rewards can also be beneficial for your app, because it combines two powerful engagement and motivation levers.
How You Can Get Gamification Right
If you’re planning to add gamification features to your app, we suggest that you identify your player personas first.
It’s like a buyer persona, but it refers to the gaming approach your users have.
Each player persona has a different motivation lever: some love skill development, others thrive in competition, and others are more into the social aspect of gaming.
For example, users of a running app may enjoy the competition of both competing with themselves and with others. So, it would make sense to have both badges for new milestones and a leaderboard.
Final Thoughts
Gamification isn’t just a “fun thing” to add to your app, but it can completely change how your users experience it.
The key is to design gamification with purpose.
Don’t add points or badges just because they sound cool. Instead, tie them to the behaviors you want to encourage.
Start small: test a progress bar, a streak counter, or a fun challenge, and see how your users respond.
