Gameification Can Be Used For Good

I think Gamification is a pretty great concept. Gamification can make boring things a little more fun to do or at least offer an incentive accomplish them. I read the article Gamification is Bullshit by Ian Bogost, I don't agree with everything he writes about but  he does point out some things I find valid. Specifically when he writes about gameification being used for marketing. I believe that gameification is pretty powerful and with things that hold power they can often be used for good, evil, or a little of both. But what is an evil use of gameification? Using game elements to sell things to people? Well then gameification is no more evil than advertising, but it is a lot more engaging. Don’t get me wrong here I not trying to promote or discourage the use of gameification to sell products or services. I think it’s can be easily used be bullshitters to do bullshitty things but I don’t think it is all bad. I do also think that it is a clever and smart way to get consumers to connect with brands.

Gamification can play an important part in education and teachers have been using gamification (without calling it that) in the classroom for years. When I was in elementary school we had a sticker chart. You did something that was kind of boring to do to, like homework and you got a sticker. A sticker is pretty much a badge, some stickers even say things like I did my homework, or I lost my tooth, right on them. You then added your stickers to the chart and once your chart is complete you earned a prize. I really enjoyed earning stickers and prizes for doing my homework. The thought that I would miss a sticker if I didn’t do my homework motivated me to get it done. So without that badge reward, I might have been held back a grade.