What is gamification and what are game mechanics? Check out Juliette has to say about game mechanics below: https://youtu.be/8xnWImSubI0

1. GAME
MECHANICS
@juliettedenny

2. GAMIFICATION &
GAME MECHANICS
British-born videogame producer Nick Pelling coined the term
‘gamification’ back in 2002. But what is it?
In 2014, Gartner shared the following definition: Gamification is ‘’the use
of game mechanics and experience design to digitally engage and
motivate people to achieve their goals”.
Growth Engineering use game mechanics to drive learner engagement
across our technology solutions. But which game mechanics are used
and why are they so effective?

3. MECHANIC #1
BADGES
Badges are virtual rewards that provide recognition for
learners’ growing skills and heroic feats. It feels great to win
something, but it’s even better to have a token of your victory
– something that you can show off to your peers so they
know that you are a winner!
Using badges on a learning technology solution is a great way
to award your learners and to satisfy their natural desire for
recognition.
Badges drive activity, because they appeal to our natural
desire to complete a collection, help us to set goals and act as
markers of status and progression.

4. MECHANIC #2
EXPERIENCE POINTS (XP)
Any game you can think of, from tennis to Tetris, will use
points to decide the best player. This game mechanic has
become a huge part of the real world through things like
frequent flyer points and store reward cards. In both of
those cases, more points are awarded to those who
engage with the initiative the most.
On learning technology solutions, points can be assigned
to different pieces of content. For example, if a certain
test is particularly challenging or important, it would have
a higher points value. This is a really simple way to
engage your learners and to spark behaviour change.

5. MECHANIC #3
LEADERBOARDS
There’s a huge difference between being good at
something and being the best. We might not like to admit
it, but we all love a bit of competition. As soon as you show
everybody where they rank against each other, a curious
thing happens – their engagement levels go through the
roof!
Leaderboards within learning technology solutions show
off who has earned the most badges or points, helping to
drive the kind of activity that L&D practitioners would like
to see across their platform.

6. MECHANIC #4
LEVELS
Levels are a series of stages that can be progressed
through, where one stage must be completed to reach
the next. Each level provides learners with a series of
actions to complete. Levelling up is a reward for effort
put in and a marker of progress. They allow learners to
measure their proficiency.
Levels are powerful as they serve as both goals and
rewards. We have a natural urge to complete things. By
splitting your content into levels, you create a series of
mini-victories.

7. DON’T
FORGET
We’ve detailed the most common
gaming mechanics used within the
learning technologies space, but
there are plenty more:
• Streaks
• Scorecards
• Battles
• Challenges

8. WHY MECHANICS
WORK
Game mechanics help in the fight against the forgetting
curve by encouraging learners to return to their
training environment again and again and incentivising
the experience.
Game mechanics also:
• Raise learners’ dopamine (the ‘feel good hormone’) levels.
• Encourage the brain to release oxytocin – the ‘love
hormone’.
• Release endorphins, which lower stress and anxiety
levels.
• Control cortisol (the ‘stress hormone’) levels.