Best iphone apps gamification. At the game

Lately, I've been offered more and more things to play on the Internet. And it’s okay if these are small online games from the Vulcan casino series.

But when Google started sending me all sorts of tasks that required me to scour the city, I realized: gamification has arrived everywhere.

And although belatedly, it reached Russia. This means it’s time to learn how to use it to attract customers, manage personnel, onboard employees, create loyalty programs, and conduct surveys.

In general, everywhere. Of course, to increase sales. So let's figure out how to do it then. Of course, I will try to give examples and all kinds of tools.

As always, back to the roots

This will probably be one of my favorite paragraphs, because the very concept of gamification (or “gamification” in English) originally came from another word – “gamification”. And by the way, I’m a big fan of video games, if not even a gamer.

Gamification is the introduction and application of various approaches from games (hence gamification) in everyday life, in our case in business.

That is, the use of game approaches and process to engage people and solve various problems. These game processes are aimed primarily at human emotions (involvement, motivation).

Moreover, there is no need to confuse the classical concept of a game with a business game. This does not mean that you need to start playing tanks in your company.

This means that based on the goal, you need to implement in your process game uniform, which will make it easier to get to point B. This is gamification in marketing.

To do this, you can take any popular game– GTA, Battlefield, Need For Speed, and break it down into details.

And apply these details to your organization. It sounds complicated, but further examples will make everything very clear.

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Newfangled misfortune

That's right, it's newfangled. After all, the history of this word is not so rich. It itself was invented by the founding father of gamification, Gabe Zicherman.

And to my great pleasure, he is also a business consultant by profession, albeit from Canada.

The word itself was described in the recent 2010 book “Game-Based Marketing,” and then again in the book “Gamification by Design” in 2011.

This is all good and beautiful, of course, but how can this be applied to the realities of life? Very simple! Here are examples of how you can use gamification elements in everyday life.

Example 1

Do you like to run? To be honest, I hate cardio and everything related to it. I do it only because it helps me keep my body in shape.

And of course, I always find dozens, no, even hundreds of reasons to postpone this hated activity to... someday later, that is, never.

As it turns out, there are quite a lot of people like me. And in order to make us run, or rather, to make us want to run ourselves, manufacturers of fitness bracelets and manufacturers of sports/weight loss applications came up with and implemented the following gamification.

For achieving certain indicators, you receive badges that highlight your status (“Completed 10,000 steps in a day,” for example).

And you can boast about the result at any time social networks, and also involve your friends and arrange competitions between each other.

Collect achievements and celebrate your success

That is, this is something akin to leveling up a hero. When you take a hero in the basic configuration and by completing tasks, you get more and more high level, develop it.

Using these same gamification elements in real life, manufacturers of fitness bracelets and applications are pumping us up, accustoming us to physical activity in an accessible, interesting and playful way.

Example 2

The second example is an excellent Russian application that stands out among many loyalty programs, Plazius, specifically designed for the catering industry.

By the way, this application is currently being finalized so that it can be used in retail networks.

If they do everything just as beautifully, then I think soon you can forget about discount/savings cards.

Plazius

When paying a bill at an establishment, the client receives a certain amount of bonus points on his balance linked to his phone number.

The application also sets ranks and thresholds, upon reaching which the player achieves certain privileged conditions (participation in closed tastings and special offers).

Example 3

Although this is a small involvement, it is still gamification only in advertising. Advertising for the TNT channel (not to be confused with our TNT).

Briefly about the main thing

If you are not a huge corporation with a multi-billion dollar budget (and I would be pleased that such corporations are reading me now), then I recommend starting small.

Create small game processes in which a client/employee can get involved for a short period of time and receive the coveted prize.

Well, when will you become big company, with a large number of marketers and personnel, then you can move on to complex processes, the development of which takes months, and the budget amounts to hundreds, or even millions of rubles.

In general, everything is about gamification. Must be used. In small portions. Gradually. Otherwise on general background(fashionable movement) you can waste a lot of time on activities that will not bring you money in the amounts that you invest.

What is gamification? Gamification is implementation game mechanic into non-game processes. Various mobile applications and services are actively trying to use this tool to improve their key indicators - involvement in product use and conversion to a target action, for example, purchases.

The success of gamification greatly depends on the specific product. Some fail to benefit from and interest users with gamification elements, while others qualitatively increase their performance.

For example, MTS, when promoting one of its tariffs, launched a quest game, which increased tariff sales by 20%.

Successful cases

1. SKADI ski guide & adventure game

The SKADI ski guide & and adventure game mobile application is a “live” ski guide, a personal assistant for skiing in the mountains, which makes your vacation more exciting.

In the first days of skiing, SKADI literally becomes an indispensable assistant for a person, as it allows you to confidently ski throughout the resort from the very first day. But we saw that from the 3rd day of riding the return to using the application decreases. A person believes that he has studied the routes enough, has found those that he likes the most and has less need for such a product.

To change these indicators, game elements were added to the standard functions of the application. A quest starts at the resort.

His main goal is to collect as many crystals as possible, coming up with his own strategy, which is helped by voice guidance and navigation of the application. In this case, you will have to fight with magical creatures on the mountain (gnomes, bears, capricorns).

This gaming functionality made it possible to increase the return to use of the application on the 3rd day by 24%.

The Strutapp application allows you to diversify your travel - you need to open the map (clear the squares) during the trip.

Together with such a service, a person can make even the most routine business trip exciting. Especially if he travels to some regions several times, on each visit the application will encourage him to go to a new place.

Mango Health is an app that helps you take care of yourself. It helps in taking medications on time and creates a habit that has a truly positive impact on the user's health.

The creators of the app turned the routine process of reminding you to take a pill into entertaining game- every time a person drinks the medicine on time, he gets points.

When the user types required quantity points he gets gift certificate, which can be used in partner stores to purchase real goods. In this case, the person opens the next level of the game, to complete which he needs to gain points again, that is, take medications in a timely manner.

According to statistics, more than 50% of patients with chronic diseases forget to take their medications on time. More than 90% of Mango Health app users start taking medications regularly immediately after installing the service on their smartphone.

Mobile learning service foreign languages Duolingo is one of the most famous tools that uses gamification to make a routine process more fun.

After completing each subsequent level (training course), users color their skills tree in a certain color and earn virtual currency within the application, which can be spent on in-app purchases, additional courses and language modules, and special features.

It is this approach that allows Duolingo to show excellent results - the majority of users of the application use it on a regular basis (the retention rate is very high).

Conclusion Gamification in mobile applications can make the consumption of the main functionality of the service more exciting process and allows you to increase the main indicators of user involvement in using the service.

The main thing is to skillfully use the game functionality. That is, there is no need to gamify the application simply for the sake of having some kind of game inside.

The game should be aimed at motivating people to use the main functionality of the service. Those products that manage to successfully integrate gaming functionality into the application will receive a significant increase in application usage rates.

SECTION III. THEORY AND METHODS OF PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

UDC 37.016:811

DOI: 10.18384/2310-7219-2017-4-64-71

MOBILE APPLICATIONS AS A TOOL FOR GAMIFICATION OF LANGUAGE EDUCATION

Avramenko A.P., Shevchenko V.N.

Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosova 119991, Moscow, Leninskie Gory, 1, Russian Federation

Annotation. This article is devoted to the issue of using mobile applications as one of the means of implementation play activity in the process of teaching a foreign language. The paper examines the concept of “gamification” and presents various approaches to classification educational games. Specific mobile services that contribute to the development of students' communicative competence are also proposed and analyzed. Based on the results of the analysis, it was possible to establish what technologies can be used to form the linguistic, speech and sociocultural components of communicative competence.

Keywords Keywords: ICT in education, methods of teaching foreign languages, gamification of education, mobile learning, communicative competence, educational mobile application.

MOBILE APPLICATIONS AS A TOOL OF LANGUAGE EDUCATION GAMIFICATION

A. Avramenko, V. Shevchenko

Lomonosov Moscow State University

GSP-1, Leninskie Gory, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation

Abstract. The article focuses on the issue of mobile application use as one of the means of introducing game activities into the process of language teaching. The article studies the concept of "gamification", various classifications of learning games are examined. Certain mobile applications contributing to the development of linguistic, discourse and sociocultural elements

© Avramenko A.P., Shevchenko V.N., 2017.

of learners" communicative competence are given and analyzed. The results of the analysis enable the author to state that the mobile technologies can be used with the aim of forming the language, speech and social-cultural components of communicative competence.

Key words: ICT in education, methods of language teaching, gamification, mobile learning, communicative competence, mobile application.

Mobile applications have become an integral part of the life of a modern person. Currently, they are used in all spheres of human activity: culture, communication, transport, entertainment, finance, sports, professional activities, etc., including education. The main purpose of educational mobile applications is to facilitate educational process, make it more exciting, interesting and effective for users, often through the introduction of a gaming moment into training, i.e. through gamification of education.

Gamification is the use of game techniques and thinking in a non-game context, in this case with the goal of increasing students' interest and motivation in the learning process. This concept was first used by British IT expert Nick Pelling, but until 2010 the term was not very popular.

Extensive research conducted by various educational institutions around the world, found that the most significant factors influencing the effectiveness gaming technologies in teaching are: the level of activity and motivation of students, the degree of interactivity of the game and the involvement of students in gameplay. The higher these indicators, the more dynamic and lively the game is and, consequently,

but, the more effective its final result.

At the moment, there are a huge number of different classifications of educational games created for foreign language classes. It is important to note that each of them has both strengths and weaknesses. Let's look at some of the classifications.

M.F. Stronin identifies the following types of educational games: preparatory games, grammar games, vocabulary games, phonetic games, spelling games, creative games, educational games, speech games[cited from: 4, p. 220, 221].

There is also a classification developed by D. Hadfield and based on the principles of actions performed by students during a particular game:

1. Information gap.

2. Connection or selection of elements (jigsaw or fitting together principle).

3. Exchange (barter principle).

According to E.N. Solovova, educational

games are divided into:

1. games like “Loto” (bingo games);

2. games based on the use of the “information gap”, discrepancies in the assessment and perception of information (information gap, opinion gap, perception gap);

3. puzzle games based on the principle of jigsaw games;

4. games using dramatization (simulations).

Based on the above, we can confidently note the variety of existing classifications of educational games for learning a foreign language. When choosing one or another type of gaming technique, it is necessary to pay attention to such parameters as the age of the students, the academic discipline for which this or that game is chosen, the topic of the lesson, the goals for which it is aimed, etc.

Taking into account the social order of society, which has led to the high popularity of the communicative approach to teaching foreign languages, we will consider gamification as a way of developing the communicative competence of students, and mobile applications as a tool with the help of which this process is implemented. With this approach, it is important to note how specific electronic services contribute to the development of all components of communicative competence, namely its linguistic, speech and sociocultural components.

Linguistic competence is the ability to understand and produce an unlimited number of linguistically correct sentences using learned linguistic signs and rules for their connection. Below is an analysis of the didactic potential of applications aimed at developing language competence.

Duolingo is an application and website containing a wide range of exercises, games and tasks aimed at developing the lexical, grammatical and phonetic skills of students with a level of proficiency in a foreign language.

com from A1 to C1. The technology includes the following types of tasks: translation exercises, recording one’s own voice (pronouncing phrases and sentences), tests, filling in the blanks, recording heard phrases, etc. The application can be used to consolidate or repeat already learned grammatical and lexical material as homework.

The Phrasal Verbs Machine (Cambridge University Press) is a mobile application for expanding students' vocabulary, namely learning phrasal verbs. The application provides visualization and graphics: to explain phrasal verbs, a real-life situation is played out (animation is used), and various meanings of verbs and examples of their use in sentences are given.

Quizlet is a service that can be used both on a PC and on mobile device. Using this technology, you can learn new vocabulary using next tasks: Flashcards - cards will be useful for familiarizing yourself with new words, memorizing them and further practicing them; Learn - a task to consolidate vocabulary (Russian translation/definition is given, you must enter the English version); Spell - task for spelling training. The student needs to listen to the pronunciation of the word (the Russian equivalent/definition of the word is also shown as an additional hint) and write it in the box; Test - this task includes several exercises at once: translating a word, matching a word with its translation/definition, multiple choice

and determining whether the submitted translation is correct. This task is suitable for checking the acquisition of new words. Match is a game where you need to connect a word with its translation to make it disappear. The sooner all the words disappear from the field, the better; Gravity is a game in which you need to save the Earth from asteroids by typing the correct translation of the words written on them.

Practice English Grammar is an application that, despite its name, is designed to train not only grammatical skills, but also lexical ones. The service contains the following types of exercises: flashcards, test tasks, games (like Tetris), determining the correctness of a statement (true/false), filling in the blanks.

Learn English Grammar (British Council) - an application that includes a wide range of grammatical topics and provides the opportunity to use exercises in various formats: multiple-choice tests, making sentences from the given words, classifying words according to their grammatical categories, listening to audio recordings with further answer to the question etc.

Merriam Webster Dictionary contains not only the dictionary, but also games for learning and practicing English words and expressions: games to find synonyms, to determine the correct origin of words, to choose names of things from different areas (areas change every week; for example, this week the theme is flowers) and words that name various musical phenomena.

Pear Deck is a unique service that allows the teacher to

during the presentation, ask questions of various types (yes / no, agree / disagree, with a choice of answer, with a short answer, with a detailed answer, with an answer in the form of a picture, etc.), while students can see the slides and questions for them not only on big screen, but also on the screen of your phone or tablet; for this you need to enter a code that will appear on the computer screen used by the teacher. Thus, you can instantly find out how well students have mastered this or that language material, and, if necessary, comment on the results.

Words, Sounds: Pronunciation App by Macmillan - this mobile application is aimed at developing students' listening and pronunciation skills. A table is provided with all vowel and consonant sounds English language, when you click on any of them, they are played back. After studying the table, you can practice or go straight to the test. Principles for constructing training and test tasks coincide: the first task is to write down a word using transcription; the second task is to write down a transcription of the word; The third task is to write down a transcription of the word according to its pronunciation.

LearnEnglish Kids: Phonics Stories by British Council - games for children consisting of video stories and songs with subtitles that will help students become acquainted with new words, develop listening and understanding skills of spoken text, and also remember how grammatical structures are used in speech.

Phrasalstein is a game built on the same principle as The Phrasal

Verbs Machine, and pursuing the same goal - the study of phrasal verbs.

Lingualeo is one of the most popular services for learning English, including interactive learning tasks based on videos, audio recordings, written texts, multiple choice exercises, tests, etc., the purpose of which is to comprehensively and harmonious development the student's linguistic personality.

The Anki application is based on the flashcards method, which is designed to expand and deepen knowledge of foreign language vocabulary.

Speech competence is mastery of methods for forming and formulating thoughts through language and the ability to use such methods in the process of perceiving and generating speech. The formation of speech competence is facilitated by such communication services as Learn English with SpeakingPal, Seesaw, etc.

Learn English with SpeakingPal - the application includes speech recognition technology, with the help of which the user's pronunciation is analyzed and an assessment of its correctness is given. Moreover, video dialogues are used, so that the student has the impression that he is participating in live communication.

Seesaw allows the student to create their own audio and video recordings with which they can practice their speaking skills. In addition, the teacher can give such exercises as homework and then check the correctness of its completion.

VoiceThread gives you the ability to create presentations and narrate them in your own voice.

This task is well suited for homework, but it is important that when recording a voice, students do not read a prepared text, but try to train spontaneous speech. PodOmatic is an application for recording your own podcasts, which again promotes the development of skills in formulating thoughts in a foreign language and the ability to use them in the process of generating speech.

While playing Pokemon Go, children can take screenshots of their phone screens with monsters on them, and then prepare a presentation or report with them, telling about their adventures in a foreign language, showing the locations of the caught Pokemon, thus training their speech skills through the game of interest to them. topic.

Finally, sociocultural competence is the ability to operate with a system of sociocultural knowledge and skills when communicating in a dialogue of cultures, i.e. at the intercultural level. The following services are suitable for developing sociocultural competence.

Story maker (British Council), Storybird - services for creating your own stories in digital storytelling format, with the help of which both teachers and students can conduct their own presentations related to the history and culture of the country of the language being studied.

Memrise is not just an application for learning foreign languages, it provides a wide range of topics for study: science and humanities, memory training, art, entertainment, tests, games, etc., therefore, using this technology, you can introduce

children with a variety of topics, simultaneously expanding their horizons and language knowledge.

The principle of working with Pear Deck has already been described earlier, but this service has a wide range of capabilities, so it can also be used for the presentation of sociocultural material with further testing of its understanding.

ESLvideo is a video service that uses a testing system to determine how well children have learned the information illustrated in the video. When selecting suitable material, this approach can be implemented to help children acquire knowledge about the culture, countries and people of the language being studied.

The Lingualeo technology, already mentioned above, also includes material useful for the development of sociocultural competence: video and audio recordings, texts, songs, games, etc.

Kahoot! - an interactive test system that will help the teacher evaluate the speed and quality of

learning the material by students, and will also introduce a moment of competition and play into the learning process. Testing is carried out in class in teams or individually; the correctness and speed of the answer play an important role in the assessment.

Prezi - technology for creating interactive presentations, which can be used by the teacher himself to present the material, or offered to children for preparing a presentation as homework.

So, we can conclude that when the teacher carefully develops a teaching strategy and selects the most appropriate means in accordance with the goals, needs and age of students, modern mobile applications as a gamification tool provide ample opportunities for achieving high results when learning a foreign language within the framework of a communicative approach to learning, as they allow you to smoothly and harmoniously introduce game elements into the educational process, as well as increase student motivation.

LITERATURE

1. Azimov E.G., Shchukin A.N. New dictionary of methodological terms and concepts (theory and practice of language teaching). M., 2009. 448 p.

2. Dareeva O.A., Dashieva S.A. Sociocultural competence as a component of communicative competence // Bulletin of the Buryat State University. 2009. No. 15. P. 154-159.

3. Zhazheva D.D., Zhazheva S.A. Formation of linguistic competence based on the use didactic game [Electronic resource] // Bulletin of the Adygea State University. Series 3: Pedagogy and psychology. 2013. No. 4. P. 99-108.

4. Solovova E.N. Methods of teaching foreign languages: advanced course: a manual for pedagogical students. universities and teachers. M., 2008. 272 ​​p.

5. Titova S.V. Didactic problems of integrating mobile applications into the educational process // Bulletin of Tomsk State University. 2016. No. 7-8 (159160). pp. 7-14.

6. Titova S.V. Control and assessment in the language class using mobile applications // Bulletin of Moscow University. Episode 19: Linguistics and intercultural communication. 2017. No. 1. P. 24-35.

7. Pappas C. How Gamification Reshapes Learning [Electronic resource]. URL: https:// elearningindustry.com/how-gamification-reshapes-learning#introduction (accessed 09/11/2017).

1. Azimov E.G., Shchukin A.N. Novyi slovar" metodicheskih terminov i ponyatii (teoriya i praktika obucheniya yazykam). Moscow, 2009. 448 p.

2. Dareeva O.A., Dashieva S.A. . In: Vestnik Buryatskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, no. 15, pp. 154-159.

3. Zhazheva D.D., Zhazheva S.A. . In: Vestnik Adygeiskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya 3: Peda-gogika i psikhologiya, no. 4, pp. 99-108.

4. Solovova E.N. Methodology obucheniya inostrannym yazykam: prodvinutyj kurs. Moscow, 2008. 272 ​​p.

5. Titova S.V. . In: Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, 2016, no. 7-8 (159-160), pp. 7-14.

6. Titova S.V. . In: Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 19: Lingvistika i mezhkul "turnaya kommunikatsiya, 2017, no. 1, pp. 24-35.

7. Pappas C. How Gamification Reshapes Learning. Available at: https://elearningindustry. com/how-gamification-reshapes-learning#introduction (accessed: 09/11/2017).

Avramenko Anna Petrovna - Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Department of Theory of Teaching Foreign Languages ​​at Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov; e-mail: [email protected]

Shevchenko Valeria Nikolaevna - student at the Faculty of Foreign Languages ​​and Regional Studies at Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov; e-mail: [email protected]

Anna P. Avramenko - PhD in Pedagogical sciences, associate professor, associate professor at the Department of Theory of Teaching Foreign Languages, Lomonosov Moscow State University; e-mail: [email protected]

Valeriya N. Shevchenko - student at the Faculty of Foreign Languages ​​And Area Studies, Lomonosov Moscow State University; e-mail: [email protected]

INFORMATION ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Avramenko A.P., Shevchenko V.N. Mobile applications as a tool for gamification of language education // Bulletin of the Moscow State Regional University. Series: Pedagogy. 2017. No. 4 P. 64-71. DOI: 10.18384/2310-7219-2017-4-64-71

Avramenko A., Shevchenko V. Mobile applications as a tool of language education gamification. In: Bulletin of the Moscow Region State University. Series: Pedagogics. 2017. no. 4, pp. 64-71. DOI: 10.18384/2310-7219-2017-4-64-71

Performance 360 ​​explains what gamification is and how it helps businesses.

What is it?

The term gamification (or gamification) appeared in 2008. It means applying approaches typical of games to non-game processes, in our case - in business (and also in training or within companies to motivate employees).

For example, when you collect points on savings card store to win a prize - this is gamification. And when you compete with other participants in the application to see who left the most useful review about a place, this is also gamification.

Gamification gives marketers a wide scope for experimentation, and they are using it successfully.

The “frivolous” approach is loved by serious companies: Google, Apple, McDonald’s, many banks, coffee shops and restaurants. Small companies will also find gamification useful: the mechanics of the game can be quite simple (and inexpensive), but still effective.

Why is this necessary?

Thanks to games, companies increase consumer loyalty, promote new products and services, increase demand, and use it in other cases where they need to attract and retain the attention of the audience.

The approaches of twenty years ago are no longer so effective: now, in order to retain a client, you need to ignite in him passion and a desire to return to the product.

Gamification allows you to “reach out” to an audience that is used to playing games. computer games and communicate on social networks. If done correctly, this approach can bring good results.

Who used it and how?

Some interesting examples of gamification.

Foursquare: Become a Mayor

The social network is built on the user updating his location and monitoring the location of friends - “check in”. If a person actively uses the application, he is awarded badges - small medals. If he frequently visits a place, he becomes mayor, but he can be “overthrown” by another user. Particularly active people can earn “Super User” status (not to be confused with the “Super User” badge) of three levels, each of which unlocks privileges.

The service, launched in 2009, had gained an audience of 7 million people by March 2011. Game elements allowed Foursquare to remain popular for a long time. Subsequently, the application was divided into 2 separate ones: Foursquare became a search engine best places, where you can have lunch or drink coffee, and check-ins and other old mechanics have moved to the new Swarm application.

McDonald's: collect the street

The collaboration between Hasbro and McDonald's has been bearing fruit for years. It's simple: restaurant visitors receive a monopoly card along with their trays, and they collect “streets” (or, for example, small prizes) by buying food from the restaurant menu. By collecting all the streets of a certain color, the player can win a trip to the sea, game console and iPhone. Or, for example, a monthly subscription to Yandex.Music.

Thus, McDonald's increases traffic and revenue. The buyer cannot predict what he will get: if he needs to collect only one black street to win, then, most likely, this will force him to buy more than one Big Mac.

Apple Watch: to give medals

In 2014, at its annual presentation, Apple introduced new product- smart watch Apple Watch. A big bet was placed on health and the new “Activity” application, which represented daily goals. Goals look like rings that need to be closed. There are three rings in total: the “Mobility” ring is responsible for the calories burned during the day, the “Exercise” ring is for physical activity, and the “Warm-up” ring tracks the number of hours the user moved. For closing the rings, the owner of the Apple Watch receives medals. For example: “Close all rings for 365 days in a row.”

Apple Watch became the first in the watch market, overtaking such famous companies as Rolex and Tissot. Apple does not disclose exact numbers, but the fourth version is being released this year. It will have an even greater number of sensors and, accordingly, achievements.

Danil Plesnyavy

The mobile app audience is becoming more and more demanding. No one will be impressed by a normal, stable, working application. In our society, standards are deeply written into all of us somewhere. Some are vulnerable to one thing, some to another. But we all want to be part of something big and important. We want not just to exist, but to move towards some goals, to feel our importance and experience emotions. Superiority, influence and fame are ineradicable in our consciousness, which is formed in the era of multimedia that sells us new idols every day. Gamification is a mechanism that puts pressure on all the sore spots mentioned. It is widely used in all industries as a powerful tool for managing and motivating people. Industry mobile development- is no exception.

Have you ever thought about the power of a Facebook like? One day he changed the way information was exchanged. This is a very strong social element. Vanity implants in our minds the programs of “people like what I said,” “people like what I like,” “people think I’m important,” which become addictions.

Whether gamification in mobile apps is good or bad, its ultimate goal is to improve monetization. So what should you consider when adding game elements to your application? Let's see.

1. Create a story

Without the original story, it is sometimes (quite often) difficult to understand why certain actions have value. Imagine the situation: on a walk you come across a young guy trying to beat an oak tree with a small stick. What are your impressions? To put it mildly, it looks awkward. But just because you don't know that Peter (the guy) is the last samurai defending his village from the invasion of the villain (the oak tree); and his weapon (stick) is a unique katana, created 10 thousand years ago. Conclusion: try to touch the feelings of users with your story, make them feel something, support your story with images.

2. Prepare tests

There should always be a challenge in the game. Challenges make people feel the significance of achievements. Without a challenge, even the most fun game will look like this:

Every challenge starts with goals. They must be explicitly presented in your application. Goals can be personal, pre-created, or community-created. When creating default goals, make sure they are varied and challenging enough. Otherwise, the goals don't make much sense. Just imagine that you are playing billiards. The goal is to place all the balls in the pockets. If you only have this information, you can just come and put all the balls in their places. It's not interesting! There is no challenge in this! Tests should be interesting! This is where the rules come into play. You are given a special stick. You need to hit the white ball with this stick to drive the other one into the hole and so on. This process may seem strange, but we know that people love the strangeness. Why do they like it? That's right - because it's fun. Make your challenges fun.

Maintain a balance between tasks that are too easy, which will bore people, and tasks that are too difficult, which will anger users. Let them learn from their failures. Achieving success after several failures brings more satisfaction.

3. Create a reward

We don't do anything selflessly. There's always a reason. You help a friend build a house because you love being around him, expect him to help you in the future, and want to spend time in the house later. You help your grandmother cross the road - you feel like a better person.

Every achievement should be rewarded. Whether it's a badge or a place in the ranking depends on your application. The main idea here is that these awards should be valuable for more than just the fact that they are awards. If you add rewards to your food delivery app, include a loyalty program to retain customers; wiki application - an honor rating that motivates people to write more; social app - include some ego rewards to satisfy the human desire to stand out and so on... There is a lot of room for imagination here, find something that interests your audience.

Some good examples:

• eye2eye - completing goals gives real rewards to children: Lego train, transformer, lightsaber, etc.

• untappd is a rating system for those who really care about beer quality.

• Streak - tracker personal development allows you to clearly track your progress.

Positive feedback from the app for completing tasks is vital—think of it as a paycheck at the end of the month. What else? - unexpected incentives or rewards. Just imagine that you come to the office in the morning and find a chocolate bar on the table. You did nothing to deserve it (nothing obvious to you), but you feel better for a period of time. You may get fired later that evening, but you feel better in the morning. Great attention should be paid to protecting your system from cheaters and building an achievement system that is not based on abuse. The challenges are exciting, the rewards are satisfying, and there are no unfair conditions.

My friend is annoyed by people who got expensive cars, luxury apartments, private jets without investing any effort. To some extent I understand him. At birth, the complexity of our lives is randomized. Some play on normal mode, while others get the difficult or “nightmare” mode. Place all participants in the same conditions, please.

Give people freedom and avoid punishments that can demotivate. Don't force users to carry out your will, make them think that they are playing in their own sandbox, not yours.

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