Have you heard about gamification but aren‘t quite sure what all the hype is about? Don‘t worry, I‘ll catch you up to speed on this exciting trend that is transforming businesses and driving powerful results across metrics like engagement, motivation, training, conversions, and more.
By implementing game mechanics into non-game situations, gamification taps into the human psychology of desires like achievement, competition, status, self-expression and even altruism – getting us hooked and invested.
And the numbers speak for themselves…
- 70% of Forbes Global 2000 companies are using gamification to motivate employees and customers
- 80% of users say gamification makes them more productive and willing to collaborate
- 90% increased job interest and satisfaction from enterprise training games (Growth Engineering)
It’s no wonder the global gamification market is accelerating rapidly, expected to reach over $32 billion by 2026 according to projections by Mordor Intelligence.
So how can you start incorporating gamification into your business and see these types of stellar results?
I’m going to walk you through everything you need to know:
- Key elements that make gamification so sticky and habit-forming
- Top 12 software platforms providing enterprise-grade tools
- Smart tips to drive adoption and engagement
- Key innovations on the horizon
Let’s dive in…
What Makes Gamification So Powerful?
Effective gamification leverages principles from game design to motivate target behaviors in non-game contexts. Users tap into their natural desires for achievement, status, self-expression, competition and even altruism.
Some of the most common elements used by gamification platforms include:
🔸 Points provide quantitative feedback on progress and status for taking actions. Most basic element.
🔸 Badges become visual representations of achievements earned like merit badges. Rare badges connote more value.
🔸 Leaderboards tap into competitive instincts by ranking users against peers on points, badges and other metrics.
🔸Levels allow users to progress into new tiers like apprentice, expert, master etc. as they amass points and badges. New privileges unlock.
🔸 Challenges give users specific goals to strive towards – like learning 20 new product features in 2 weeks or closing 3 sales deals in Q1. Maintaining a 30-day activity streak is another example.
🔸 Rewards allow users to redeem points earned for real-world prizes, contest entries, discounts and other benefits. Combines extrinsic and intrinsic motivation.
These standard elements combine into compelling gameplay loops that scratched our human itch for progression. Well designed experiences motivate users to invest more, accomplish harder challenges, and stick around longer.
Now let’s explore some leading gamification software vendors that enable creation of these habit-forming platforms with ease.
12 Top Gamification Software Platforms
1. Gametize
Gametize provides an enterprise-level platform purpose built for scalable gamification. Custom competitions and multiplayer modes drive team performance. Branded experiences increase brand advocacy and loyalty.
Use Cases: Sales training, employee motivation, loyalty programs, community engagement
Key Features: Competitions, rewards engine, auto challenges, robust analytics, integrations with Salesforce, Slack etc.
Benefits: Increases sales productivity, boosts training retention over 60%, better brand affinity
Pricing starts at $16/month per admin. Volume discounts available.
2. Kinly
Kinly combines microlearning and gamification for better employee training and communications. Learning through play increases retention while closing skill gaps.
Use Cases: Onboarding, skills development, compliance, diversity and inclusion
Key Features: Curated content library, rewards and certificates, teams competition, analytics dashboards
Benefits: 75% faster ramp up, 60%+ engagement boosts, skills mastery visibility
Starts at $8 per user per month. Custom enterprise pricing available.
3. Growflow
Purpose built for sales teams, Growflow aims to increase rep performance with tailored gamification mechanics tied to sales activities and metrics.
Use Cases: Sales contests, employee motivation, referrals, channel incentives
Key Features: Sync reps to leaderboards, track growth, custom challenges based on goals
Benefits: Drives 40%+ engagement, faster deal conversion rates, positive ROI in months
Plans start at $19 a rep a month. Volume discounts available. 7 day free trial.
4. Play2Lead
Play2Lead combines gamification techniques with built-in rapid course development tools – like branched scenarios, quizzes, and simulations.
Use Cases: Soft skills building, product/service training, compliance, qualifications
Key Features: 4000+ microlearning games and courses, custom gamification mechanics
Benefits: 90% learner knowledge retention, 60%+ cuts in training costs and time
Packages start at $6 a learner a month for annual plans. Free trial available.
5. Practically
Practically is an enterprise training platform focused on sales, customer service and operations use cases. Game design principles onboard users faster.
Use Cases: Onboarding, product knowledge, objection handling, microskills development
Key Features: Curated training catalog, badges, bots and role playing scenarios
Benefits: Employees ramp 38% faster, 94% course completion rates
Packages start at $29 per rep per month. Custom pricing available. Free trial.
6. Habitica
Habitica gamifies personal goals like health habits and productivity tasks by turning progression into a mobile RPG. Great for self-motivation.
Use Cases: Building helpful habits, task management, behavior change, skills mastery
Key Features: Quests, magic spells, boss battles, pets, parties with friends
Benefits: Makes accomplishing goals more fun/motivating. Kids privacy mode.
Free to use. Optional subscription ($5/month) unlocks more features.
7. Playfully
Playfully is a code-free gamification platform for driving user engagement and conversions on websites and apps. Easy drag and drop setup.
Use Cases: Lead gen, brand awareness, concept testing, customer surveys, conversions
Key Features: Funnel builder, points engine, power ups marketplace, social sharing integrations
Benefits: Builds high intent leads. Easy integration without dev resources.
Pricing based on monthly active users. Starts at $99/month for up to 1000 MAUs.
8. Freadom
Gamify reading progress for K-5 students struggling with literacy. Make achieving fluency more rewarding with Freadom.
Use Cases: Primary school reading curriculum, special education, homeschool
Key Features: Hundreds of gameplay hours, curriculum-aligned adaptive activities
Benefits: Builds reading confidence and skills mastery. Kids love it.
Starts at $9.99 per month per student. School and district licensing available.
9. AchieveIt
AchieveIt provides an enterprise gamification platform tailored to the sales vertical. Leaderboards, contests challenges, bonuses, and recognition fuel performance.
Use Cases: Sales contests, SPIFs, onboarding, skills development, referral programs
Key Features: Flexible rewards engine, levels progression, analytics integrations, mobile access
Benefits: Drives rep engagement over 40%, increased conversion rates. Fast ROI.
Packages start at $12.50 a rep per month when billed annually. Volume discounts available. Free trial.
10. Trivie
Trivie gamifies lead gen, brand awareness, concept testing and surveying. Create fun trivia games to educate and reward players.
Use Cases: Lead generation, list building, consumer research
Key Features: Templates for different trivia formats, custom branding, lead management integrations
Benefits: Increases conversions and retention. Gathers consumer insights.
Pricing based on campaign scale and leads generated, starting around $1 per lead.
11. Bunchball
Veteran gamification vendor Bunchball offers flexible tools for motivation across use cases like marketing, innovation, training, and wellness campaigns.
Use Cases: Sales incentives, employee training, customer loyalty programs, health goals
Key Features: Points, levels, challenges builder, leaderboard templates, analytics integrations
Benefits: Drives 10-30% gains common in revenue, conversions, engagement KPIs
Packages start customized quote. Historical prices around $20 per user per year.
12. Growinho
Growave specialized in creating branded mobile games to drive user acquisition and advertising ROI across different verticals.
Use Cases: App install campaigns, brand awareness, customer education, market research
Key Features Ad supported or premium game options, playable ad units, robust analytics
Benefits Effective direct response and high retention marketing channel, gathers consumer insights
Pricing starts at $1500 project setup fee plus additional based on game complexity, features, and usage.
How Do You Ensure Success?
Now that you‘ve got a primer on some leading options, here are key tips for getting the most from your gamification platform:
Set Clear Goals First
Carefully map desired target metrics and behaviors before anything else. If goals misaligned to platform mechanics, desired outcomes won’t happen.
Guide Users in Effectively
Don’t just set it and forget it! Guide users how mechanics work, expected behaviors, how challenges relate to real jobs. Make super easy at first.
Structure Skill Progression
Start with easiest challenges first, then increase complexity over time. Spread incentive awards out to sustain motivation. New privilege unlocks should align to mastery demonstrated.
Promote Collaboration
Enable team challenges, collaborative quests, and social engagement opportunities. Making progress a group effort leads to better results long term.
Highlight Achievements
Let users show off hard won statuses and achievements. Have org leaders and managers recognize and call out top performers frequently.
Where is Gamification Heading?
Gamification still in very early days with so much potential ahead as tech expands possibilities:
🔹 Personalization engines tailor challenges and suggestions to individual user needs and behaviors for maximize relevance and impact.
🔹 Immersive simulations via virtual reality allow safe practice of real world skills where mistakes come without harsh consequences – enabling faster mastery.
🔹 Contextual triggers encourage specific actions or tasks exactly when a user needs them most — via notifications, reminders, cues integrated into daily workflows.
🔹 Expanded integrations centralize experiences across the platforms and channels users frequent daily —surfacing achievements, leaderboards, challenges in tools they already use via APIs.
The foundations are solid. Now it’s a race to find the most effective mechanics for motivating target behaviors across every industry and use case imaginable.
Reach New Heights with Gamification
The right gamification software creates experiences where hard challenges pay off in ultimately satisfying rewards and progress moments. Points rack up alongside statuses that reflect users’ efforts. Fun competitions give chances to showcase skills against peers.
And organizations reap very real benefits as people upskill faster, make healthier choices, promote brands to friends, and invest more deeply in crafted experiences designed to tap intrinsic human drives.
Gamification provides the tools to help make advancing key metrics feel more like playing games than tedious work. It allows tapping our instinctive desires for growth and achievement — directing them towards targeted behaviors pros want to see.
The 12 excellent platforms above enable creation of habit-forming and engaging experiences fueled by purposeful game mechanics tailored to your specific needs and objectives.
Consider where gamification principles can create new possibilities for your training initiatives, customer engagement campaigns, sales incentive programs or even personal goals. Choose options matching desired use cases and budgets to start leveling up the experience!
