From game design elements to gamefulness: defining "gamification"
Abstract
Recent years have seen a rapid proliferation of mass-market consumer software that takes inspiration from video games. Usually summarized as "gamification", this trend connects to a sizeable body of existing concepts and research in human-computer interaction and game studies, such as serious games, pervasive games, alternate reality games, or playful design. However, it is not clear how "gamification" relates to these, whether it denotes a novel phenomenon, and how to define it. Thus, in this paper we investigate "gamification" and the historical origins of the term in relation to precursors and similar concepts. It is suggested that "gamified" applications provide insight into novel, gameful phenomena complementary to playful phenomena. Based on our research, we propose a definition of "gamification" as the use of game design elements in non-game contexts.
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A gamification strategy in education improves learning motivation and participation through the application of game elements and game mechanisms.
“A gamification strategy is implemented in education to improve learning motivation and participation through the application of game elements and game mechanisms [10].”
From Design and Implementation of Gamified Augmented Reality Learning System to Enhance Biodiversity Education (2026) · cites this paper as [10]
Gamification has emerged as a promising approach for increasing engagement, motivation, and user participation.
“Gamification - defined as the application of game design elements in non-game contexts - has emerged as a promising approach for increasing engagement, motivation, and user participation (Deterding et al., 2011; Hamari et al., 2014).”
From An Experimental Analysis of Gamification’s Impact on Customer Engagement and Retention in Subscription-Based Business Models (2026) · cites this paper as Deterding et al., 2011
Gamification in mobile app technology has emerged as a popular strategy, both in commercial culture and the field of academia as a means of influencing behaviors.
“Gamification in mobile app technology has emerged as a popular strategy, both in commercial culture and the field of academia as a means of influencing behaviors [15,16,20,21].”
From Just a Fad? Gamification in Health and Fitness Apps (2014) · cites this paper as [15]
Coding of the 10 effective game elements was taken from the work of Reeves and Read, quoted in Deterding et al.
“Coding of the 10 effective game elements was taken from the work of Reeves and Read, which outlined the ten effective elements of games, and quoted in the work of Deterding et al [15,28].”
From Just a Fad? Gamification in Health and Fitness Apps (2014) · cites this paper as [15]
The six gamification components were determined by reviewing the current body of literature and finding common themes and components of gamification used or discussed in the literature for impacting health behavior.
“The six gamification components were determined by reviewing the current body of literature and finding common themes and components of gamification used or discussed in the literature for impacting health behavior [15,17,18].”
From Just a Fad? Gamification in Health and Fitness Apps (2014) · cites this paper as [15]
The push towards gamification assumes that the use of rewards, levels, leaderboards, and external incentives are enough to sustain health behavior responses without using other components of games like problem solving, storytelling, and fantasy.
“Additionally, the push towards gamification assumes that the use of rewards, levels, leaderboards, and external incentives are enough to sustain (health) behavior responses without using other components of games like problem solving, storytelling, and fantasy [15,18,36].”
From Just a Fad? Gamification in Health and Fitness Apps (2014) · cites this paper as [15]
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Miloff, A., Lindner, P., Hamilton, W., Reuterskiöld, L., Andersson, G., & Carlbring, P. (2016) · Trials · doi:10.1186/s13063-016-1171-1 · Cited by 141 · see citing works
“Serious games designed for purposes other than entertainment and allowing users to experience situations impossible or dangerous in real life [23], with gamified elements such as points and goals to increase engagement [24], may provide a particularly promising advancement in exposure therapy.”
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Pham, Q., Khatib, Y., Stansfeld, S., Fox, S., & Green, T. (2016) · Games for Health Journal · doi:10.1089/g4h.2015.0033 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
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Using Gamification to Motivate Students with Dyslexia
Gooch, D., Vasalou, A., Benton, L., & Khaled, R. (2016) · Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/2858036.2858231 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Self-citationGamification in biology teaching: A sample of kahoot application
Yapıcı, İ. Ü., & Karakoyun, F. (2017) · Turkish Online Journal of Qualitative Inquiry · doi:10.17569/tojqi.335956 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
Gamification of Mobile Experience Sampling Improves Data Quality and Quantity
van Berkel, N., Goncalves, J., Hosio, S., & Kostakos, V. (2017) · Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies · doi:10.1145/3130972 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Designing interactive systems through a game lens: An ethnographic approach
Rapp, A. (2017) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.02.048 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Integrating Augmented Reality, Gamification, and Serious Games in Computer Science Education
Lampropoulos, G., Keramopoulos, E., Diamantaras, K., & Evangelidis, G. (2023) · Education Sciences · doi:10.3390/educsci13060618 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Game elements improve performance in a working memory training task
Ninaus, M., Pereira, G., Stefitz, R., Prada, R., Paiva, A., Neuper, C., & Wood, G. (2015) · International Journal of Serious Games · doi:10.17083/ijsg.v2i1.60 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Effectiveness of Gamification Elements in Blended Learning Environments
MESE, C., & DURSUN, O. O. (2019) · Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education · doi:10.17718/tojde.601914 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Understanding applicants’ reactions to gamified recruitment
Buil, I., Catalán, S., & Martínez, E. (2020) · Journal of Business Research · doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.12.041 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Kazu, İ. Y., & Kuvvetli, M. (2023) · Education and Information Technologies · doi:10.1007/s10639-023-11756-y · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Does gamification engage users in online shopping?
García-Jurado, A., Torres-Jiménez, M., Leal-Rodríguez, A. L., & Castro-González, P. (2021) · Electronic Commerce Research and Applications · doi:10.1016/j.elerap.2021.101076 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Playing to Wait: A Taxonomy of Idle Games
Alharthi, S. A., Alsaedi, O., Toups Dugas, P. O., Tanenbaum, T. J., & Hammer, J. (2018) · Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3173574.3174195 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Chatbot-Based Assessment of Employees’ Mental Health: Design Process and Pilot Implementation
Hungerbuehler, I., Daley, K., Cavanagh, K., Garcia Claro, H., & Kapps, M. (2021) · JMIR Formative Research · doi:10.2196/21678 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Gamified Requirements Engineering: Model and Experimentation
Lombriser, P., Dalpiaz, F., Lucassen, G., & Brinkkemper, S. (2016) · Lecture Notes in Computer Science · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-30282-9_12 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
How gamification boosts learning in STEM higher education: a mixed methods study
Ortiz-Rojas, M., Chiluiza, K., Valcke, M., & Bolanos-Mendoza, C. (2025) · International Journal of STEM Education · doi:10.1186/s40594-024-00521-3 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
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Alhalafawy, W. S., & Tawfiq Zaki, M. Z. (2022) · International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET) · doi:10.3991/ijet.v17i06.28885 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Chen, M.-F., Chen, Y.-C., Zuo, P.-Y., & Hou, H.-T. (2023) · Education and Information Technologies · doi:10.1007/s10639-023-11708-6 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Systematic literature review about gamification in MOOCs
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Emerging trends in gamification for clinical reasoning education: a scoping review
Lee, C.-Y., Lee, C.-H., Lai, H.-Y., Chen, P.-J., Chen, M.-M., & Yau, S.-Y. (2025) · BMC Medical Education · doi:10.1186/s12909-025-07044-7 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
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“This includes not just applying commercial video games outside of an entertainment context, for example, psychological therapy [15], but also serious games (video games developed for a primary purpose other than player enjoyment [16]) and gamification [17,18].”
Health Behavior Theory in Physical Activity Game Apps: A Content Analysis
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Gamification design framework based on SDT for student motivation
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The Use of Gamification in the Self-Management of Patients With Chronic Diseases: Scoping Review
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Science to practice: Does gamification enhance intrinsic motivation?
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Sustainable Development for Mobile Health Apps Using the Human-Centered Design Process
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Reflective Informatics Through Family Storytelling: Self-discovering Physical Activity Predictors
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Psychotherapy and Artificial Intelligence: A Proposal for Alignment
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A Gamified Smartphone-Based Intervention for Depression: Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial
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Intensive online videogame involvement: A new global idiom of wellness and distress
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Correcting Misconceptions About Gamification of Assessment: More Than SJTs and Badges
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Cognitive prostheses for goal achievement
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The affiliation between student achievement and elements of gamification in learning science
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- Authors
- Deterding, S., Dixon, D., Khaled, R., & Nacke, L.
- Affiliations
- Universität Hamburg (DE)
- University of the West of England (GB)
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- Ontario Tech University (CA)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the 15th International Academic MindTrek Conference: Envisioning Future Media Environments
- Publisher
- ACM
- Published
- 2011-09-28
- Pages
- 9-15
- OpenAlex
- W2023718959
- Cited by
- 8,402
- References
- 64
- Citations by year
- 2026: 974 · 2025: 1073 · 2024: 825 · 2023: 742 · 2022: 630 · 2021: 713 · 2020: 587 · 2019: 551 · 2018: 537 · 2017: 481 · 2016: 414 · 2015: 388 · 2014: 295 · 2013: 153 · 2012: 33
- FWCI
- 399.83
- Type
- conference paper
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Academic Mindtrek Conference (Mindtrek) (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Educational Games and Gamification
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Games and Media
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Innovative Human-Technology Interaction
- Keywords
- gamification, game elements, serious games, pervasive games, alternate reality games, playful design, history of the term
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