Gamification is the application of game mechanics to typically non-game based systems and processes with the aim of changing behaviour or raising awareness. 

The psychology of motivation, reinforcement and developmental theory are central to understanding why games are so powerful and engaging. 

To understand gamification it is important to understand rewards and motivations; A reward simply put is a process that reinforces behaviour — something that, when offered, causes a behaviour to increase in intensity. 

Games are great at getting us to perform repetitive behaviour for perceived rewards. 

In games, rewards are in context of the activity, for example you gain more power, more lives, an opportunity to explore a new area, talk to a new character etc, they help you play the game. Rewards give you a reason and motivation to keep playing. 

The function of rewards is directly to modify behaviour. Rewards induce learning, approach behaviour and feelings of positive emotions. Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the task itself and Extrinsic motivation comes from outside of the individual. 

Social psychological research has indicated that extrinsic rewards can lead to over justification and a subsequent reduction in intrinsic motivation. This is pretty bad for continued engagement, fun, and learning. 

Serious games and gamification focus on intrinsic motivation and reward which is so much more powerful! 

Shigeru Miyamoto the famous Nintendo game designer says;

I'm not a big fan of using carrots to motivate people to play. I want people to play because they enjoy playing and they want to play more.

When you’re exploring the use of games for learning and development, it feels simple to think about adding points badges and leaderboards to your LMS or elearning but I’d encourage you to think deeper about how rewards can be blended into your content to provide intrinsic motivation for your learners. 

5 Top Tips for using rewards:

1. Users need to be rewarded for their interaction with the game and content presented, they need to feel good through instant feedback. Providing rewards is a proven way of helping users understand what they have to do.

2. Victories and rewards should be explicit. Winning should feel like a celebration. 

3. Making user success a rewarding and fun experience helps to boost their morale through a sense of achievement. It is also important to detail any reward in a clear way to encourage users further. 

4. Highlighting upcoming rewards is another good way to inform users of what rewards are coming helps to encourage progression and retention within the app.

5. Blend rewards in with the content - think about how reinforcing the positive behaviours will be rewarded in the real world and replicate this in the game world - it’s important for learners to understand the real world consequences of their actions.