Gamification

PBL Battle – The Greatest Game Ever Made*

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Pbl battle 1 PBL Battle 8211 The Greatest Game Ever Made

I’ve finally done it! After countless hours of brainstorming and coding, I’ve created the ultimate game for those who live and breathe gamification. Say goodbye to boring gameplay—because there isn’t any—and wave farewell to contrived narratives. Game mechanics? Nah, not really! This is pure, unfiltered gamification with a satirical twist, designed to both engage and amuse.

What Makes PBL Battle So Special?

  • No-Nonsense Fun:
    Forget traditional game elements. PBL Battle is not about complex stories or puzzles—it’s about pure, addictive engagement.
  • Satirical Edge:
    It’s a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the futility of bad gamification. If you’re a gamification designer or consultant, you’re bound to appreciate the irony.
  • Global Competition:
    Test your mettle by climbing the global leaderboard. How many times can you push the big red button before your streak ends?
  • Challenging and Addictive:
    With its minimalistic design, PBL Battle proves that sometimes less is more. There’s no hidden trick or convoluted strategy—just a race to see who can push the button the most.

Ready to Join the Battle?

Try it for yourself and see if you have what it takes to reach the top of the leaderboard in PBL Battle! This is gamification, reimagined with a dash of satire and a whole lot of fun. Read More ...

R.I.S.E. Up Against Bad Gamification

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RISE Up R I S E Up Against Bad Gamification

Gamification gets a bad rap sometimes—and let’s be honest, it’s not undeserved. Overused leaderboards, pointless badges, and those “motivational” points that no one cares about have all contributed to the problem. But what if we could, quite literally, rise above all that? Enter R.I.S.E, a four-step approach to designing gamification that players actually want to engage with.

Relevance: Make it fit

Bad gamification often feels like sticking a plaster on a broken leg—sure, it’s there, but it’s not helping anyone. Gamification must align with the context, content, and audience. Throwing random points at users won’t fix a dull experience. Instead, ask yourself: does this enhance the experience or just tick a box? Read More ...

Expanding the BMEM Framework (Behaviour, Motivation, Emotions, Mechanics)

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BMEM Header 1 Expanding the BMEM Framework Behaviour Motivation Emotions Mechanics

Designing Gamified Systems with Emotional Depth

Gamification is far more than sprinkling points and leaderboards over a system and hoping for the best. Real success lies in crafting meaningful experiences that connect with users on a deeper level. That’s where the BMEM Framework—Behaviour, Motivation, Emotion, and Mechanics—comes into play. It provides a robust foundation for designing systems that not only engage and entertain but also inspire and resonate.

This guide explores the framework in its entirety and delves deeply into how each element integrates with the others. By connecting Behaviour, Motivation, Emotion, and Mechanics, you’ll create systems that truly matter. Read More ...

Why Gorillas (and Games) are such good Teachers

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Gorillas Why Gorillas and Games are such good Teachers

Games have always been excellent tools for teaching and learning. There are plenty of reasons why this may be, but for me, it comes down to one simple thing – they give context to the materials.

Let us for a moment take a simple example—projectile paths.

We could look at the equation

Or, we could add context to the idea and play Gorillas instead, where we get to alter the velocity and angle of a player throwing a projectile at another player.

https://github.com/HunorMarton/gorillas

Obviously, the game is more fun. We are learning about how velocity, launch angles and gravity all work to create parabolic projectile paths in a fun way. Do you learn everything? No, but it gives context to the formula and brings it to life. Read More ...

Is Gamification Really a Long Term Solution to Anything?

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Designer 5 Is Gamification Really a Long Term Solution to Anything

When you look at how gamification has been used over the years, I personally have seen the greatest successes coming from short term “interventions”.

  • Use gamification to improve onboarding into a product
  • Use it to make a learning module, or course more interesting
  • Use it to learn a few words in another language
  • Use it to help build better excercise habits
  • Use it to build better medication routines

All of these have great success stories, but by their nature are short interventions being used to either reduce the barrier to entry, create short term engagement or help to build intrinsic habits.

I ask you this – who has become fluent in a language using Duo Lingo?

However, gamification experts (myself included) always talk about gamification being better used as a long term strategic change, rather than a quick win enabler? Read More ...