Are You Gamified? Yes You Are! But Don’t Worry, You’re Not Alone

Is gamification the same as playing games? Or, are you being played? You are likely to have been gamified, irrespective of whether you know about gamification. We all have fond memories of playing games as a child, and many of us keep the inner child alive for much longer. But, what happens when these game elements transcend from the field of gaming to the world of marketing? Have you ever wondered what strategies marketers use to make their apps or platforms “oh so interesting”? Let’s find out more about gamification with Debayan Ganguly, and watch out when we are being gamified.

Gamification: Are You Gamified?

Yes You Are! But Don’t Worry, You’re Not Alone

In this article, I share my experience with Gamification. I define what is Gamification, why is it so successful, how it forces the user to spend more time on apps. It is a light hearted take which is descriptive as well as anecdotal.

Let’s see if you can do this Math

Generations of Gamification

As a kid, I still remember how my parents used to turn every chore into a game and throw an unexpected challenge at me to pique my interest in the tasks I would otherwise not do. Perhaps even unknown to themselves at that time, they were using the very process every app uses in this day and age, the process of Gamification.

It was a simple example, passed on for generation after generation, for coercing children into doing things they wouldn’t do willingly. Now, that very process is being used world wide to bring huge profit to app developers.

A Personal Realisation

It would not have occurred to me if I didn’t succumb to the game of Chess from Chess.com. I have been playing chess regularly for a few weeks on the app. One day I realized that I needed top catch up with my weekly rankings, and that realization was enlightening enough for me to play a few more matches to increase my score. After getting ahead in the weekly dashboard, I sighed with relief. Taking a step back, I realized this wasn’t the first time I spent considerably extra time on an app, fearing I would be left behind by others who were using the same app.

Gamified Language Learning

There was also this language-learning app, and I wanted to learn Spanish (Money Heist hangover). Thanks to social media targeted advertising, after a few Google searches, my social media feed showed me what I needed. I downloaded the app and started learning. One word, one phrase at a time. This app, too, had the same elements of daily scores and weekly dashboards, where it compared my progress against my fellow learners. Soon enough, what started as a hobby became a battlefield. I lagged behind other learners when I didn’t practice “enough” for a particular day. And thus, I was forced to practice more and use the app for longer.

A Widespread Strategy

Now, multiple applications are using the same tactics to make us glued to the app using the so-called ‘Gamification’. Even UPI apps ask us to use their app daily and give us reward points, daily bonuses etc. The delight we, as a user, feel upon finishing the daily challenge and the rewards we get is similar to the satisfaction we received as a kid when someone said ‘Good Job’ upon finishing the Maths homework or getting the cursive alphabet correct. This, my dear reader, is nothing but proof that we have been a victim of Gamification, and our screen time and ego are getting boosted while our attention span and eyesight are paying the GST!

Side Note: GST stands for Goods and Services tax, and not Good and Simple Tax, as you were led to believe!

What is Gamification?

Raise your hand, now raise it a little higher. Take that same idea and wrap it around a sales behavior…and that’s Gamification.

Bob Marsh

As it may have been clear, Gamification is the process of using the elements of a game – like scores, competition, progress, and rewards – to add to the stickiness of the mobile application / website to make the user spend more time on their app / website and earn more revenue.

Does it feel gimmicky? Maybe it does.

Do I like being Gamified? Absolutely Not.

Should it be used ubiquitously? Well, I am a marketer too. So, I would rather not say so, to avoid any conflict of interest!

Related Read: Games at work

How is Gamification successful?

Games are the only force in the known universe that can get people to take actions against their own self-interest, in a predictable way without using force.

Gabe Zichermann

The reward system helps satisfy the user’s ego. Stupid app – I win every time… do I?

The comparison and score table exploit users’ competitive nature. Poor souls, whose parents thought they were preparing their kid for the cut-throat world outside. Little did they know the world outside would use this against them.

The more progress one makes, the harder it becomes to let go of the app and lose out on days of consistency; thus adding to the stickiness.

Video Series: Psychology in 60 seconds

Is Gamification all bad?

No!

Learning a language at your own pace requires self-motivation and perseverance. They are the pillars made of concrete, diluted with our short attention span and distractions, which are way more than the number of people currently stuck in traffic. So it is challenging to stay focused on our path to glory. In such a scenario, having moments of small rewards help fight the distractions. So Gamification here is good.

Our grown bodies and overgrown accomplishments do not let us accept that we need to sit down and learn. Often we need to be better adept at the changes happening in the world, and to grow (mentally) is not a cakewalk. Here Gamification eases out the pain and lets us adopt the new comfortably.

Thus NO, Gamification is not all bad.

But, why does my payment app need Gamification?
Will it be successful in making me use it more and more?
I do not know; for I am a miser!

Related Read: Abundance: Make Money Work For You

About The Author

Debayan Ganguly has done MBA and is working at a corporate since 3.5 years. He is adept at writing and has written for a number of companies starting from FinTech start-up to a branding agency; as well as companies in the Augmented Reality and IoT Domain.

Apart from this, he also holds 3 ISBNs to his name and has written primarily for Children. His stories have appeared in few anthologies by Independent Publishers. Debayan’s articles are mostly about business and marketing, but he also writes reviews and personal essays.

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Fun Fact!

Wordle, the word game, was the most searched term of the year 2022. Watch this video to know more about this Year in Review.