Gamification Explained
by cjcoughlin
Thanks to the prevalence of video games and the coming of age of people who grew up playing video games, the approach of “gamifying” situations and jobs has become very prominent in the past few years. Gamification applies the core concepts of video games such as gaining virtual rewards and experience points for doing tasks to the real world. Getting kids to do their chores without complaining has been a hassle for centuries but turning those same chores into a video game experience can provide motivation and more importantly make it fun; apps like Chore Monster are customizable by parents and provide feedback to kids and encourages continued progress to complete more and more chores.
I use the Fitocracy app to track workouts I do and keep records of what exercises I’ve done on a specific day. Fitocracy is heavily integrated with social media and allows the sharing of fitness goals and the encouragement of the community towards those goals. As workouts are completed and logged, users gain experience points that go towards leveling up and earning achievement badges. Fitocracy is a great example of effective gamification of a real world activity; encouraging users to live healthy lives and share positive reinforcement with one another.
You made a great point about the social aspect of this app. By connecting users with one another, the app adds an important motivator that might otherwise fail to have the same impact for some player types.