

Gamification
(GAYm-IF-ih-KAY-SHUN)

GAS-LIKE
What is Gamification?
Gamification is an instructional strategy that combines intention with a coherent collection of game elements to produce an engaging learning experience connected to objectives and outcomes.
Other Common Names
Other common names for gamification include:
- Game design
- Game mechanics
Key Properties
There is a difference between element 42 (games) and element 21 (gamification). Games—as you’ll read in chapter 5, “Radioactive Elements”—are something you play, and are often isolated activities within a larger learning experience. Gamification, on the other hand, is an intentional design strategy applied to some or all of a learning experience.
If you’re curious whether your learning program has truly “gamified” the
experience for your learners, you may want to ask whether it has any combination
of these gamification properties:
- Engages learners by carrying game-based elements throughout the design of a learning experience
- Balances content delivery and game play in an ongoing basis
- Introduces or reinforces new knowledge, skills, or abilities

quotes from what's your formula about gamification
- "What are these “game-based elements”? Points are perhaps the most commonly used—get an answer correct, you get points; get it incorrect, you lose points. Once you’ve reached a certain number of points, or perhaps if you have the most points at the end of the game, you (and your team) win. Another commonly used game-based element is the leader board. You keep accruing points over time and see how you stack up against colleagues, peers, co-workers, people in other offices, and so forth. Points can be carried over a multi-day in-person session or can be tracked in a learning management system that shows a leaderboard over time."
- "These three game elements can offer incentive and create new streams of engagement for learners, especially those who thrive on competition and achievements, and those who like to play games outside work. However, relying on points, leaderboards, and badges in an overall gamification strategy is a bit like relying on hamburgers, tacos, and pizza for a nutritional strategy. They’re easy, but relying exclusively on them means you’re missing out on a lot of other effective game elements; eventually you and your learners may get tired of what you’re serving up."
- "Badges are yet another commonly used game element. Accrue enough points, complete enough courses, or hit a certain score on an end-of-course test and you’ve earned a badge. Can you collect every badge offered across our training offerings?"