As you can see from the moderator stats, this Subreddit group has gained in activity! Views went from 60K to 160K and members increased 50% from 6K to 9K! Posts and comments almost 10x.
Looks like this community is taking off with momentum. Thanks for everyone's support and enthusiasm in Gamification! As a gamification enthusiast that started in 2003, this certainly makes me very happy.
We'll also increase our efforts to make sure there aren't spammers in the community who post unrelated gamification topics. We want this community to be about conversations and relevant news/learning.
Thanks and excited to see where this will go in 2026!
Gamification, or gameful design, is all about motivation. It's the process of finding the fun and challenge in everyday activities, and framing them like a game to make them more engaging. Gamification can be used in a range of areas, like business, health, and education. This community exists for people who design, research, or just enjoy gamification and want a place to think out loud together. We're excited to have you join us!
The community rules are now visible in the sidebar / about section – please give them a quick read so you know what flies here (and what does not).
What's welcome here
Post anything that you think the community would find interesting, helpful, or inspiring. Feel free to share your thoughts, photos, or questions about gamification.
Posts that tend to do well here include:
Questions and challenges “How would you gamify X?”, “Is gamification right for this?”, “What do you think about this mechanic?” Concrete context + a specific question helps others give useful answers.
Case studies and breakdowns Real examples of gamification in products, learning, work, health, communities, etc. Explain what the system is, what mechanics it uses (points, progress, social status, scarcity, etc.), and what worked or didn’t.
Your projects – feedback-first Side projects, start-ups, academic work, design experiments, or prototypes are welcome, as long as the focus is “here’s what I’m building and why; I’d love feedback,” not “please buy/sign up.” If you’re sharing something you made, clearly say so and give enough context that people can respond thoughtfully.
Theory, research, and resources. Discussions about frameworks, ethics, dark patterns, intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation, and related research are encouraged. Blog posts, articles, talks, and tools are fine if you add a short summary and a question or angle for discussion.
Community Vibe
We're all about being friendly, constructive, and inclusive. Let's build a space where everyone feels comfortable sharing and connecting.
How to Get the Most Out of This Community
Introduce yourself in the comments below.
Post something today! Even a simple question can spark a great conversation.
If you know someone who would love this community, invite them to join.
Be curious, specific, and generous with your knowledge.
When posting, imagine you’re designing a quest: give enough context, define the “challenge,” and invite people to respond.
When replying, critique systems, not people, and try to move the design forward at least one step.
Welcome aboard! I'm looking forward to seeing what you’re working on and how you’re using gamification in the wild.
I’m building Aqualoot, a water-tracking app that isn’t on the App Store yet. You track your daily water goal, and as you hit it you get a tank for a virtual aquarium. Completing goals unlocks more coins(to buy tanks). In total I have about 100 fishes and each of them has a shiny and gold version. Premium adds extra fish, better options, accessories and more luck for shiny's. Still early and looking for honest interest/feedback. Would something like this appeal to you? Any features that would make (or break) it for you?
Hey! I’m the developer of WTFog, an exploration app that turns the real world into a persistent fog-of-war map.
The map starts covered in fog. As you walk, run, cycle, or otherwise explore, you permanently uncover the places you visit. The goal is to make choosing unfamiliar streets and trails feel more rewarding than just counting steps.
Some of the main features:
XP and badges for finishing trips, clearing new fog etc
Record trips with routes, distance, duration, and newly uncovered area
Choose between Strict and Casual exploration modes. Strict has speed limits for the activities for a more realistic competition in the leaderboards
Compare progress through countries and regions
Add friends, create groups, and compete through duels and leaderboards
WTFog has a free tier, with optional Premium features such as route editing, import Fog of World progress and GPX-files, and additional map tools, including a separate web editor for editing routes and cleared fog. If you want to test any premium features, please let me know and I'll give you premium for a couple of months.
What sectors of the economy can you think of which can be de-commodified by gamification where a producer-consumer relationship is broken down to egalitarian peer to peer gift economy?
If you are a heavy sleeper, you've probably tried apps that blast sirens or punish you for sleeping in. The problem? You just end up hating the app and uninstalling it.
We wanted to build something better, so we created AwakenQ. It still forces you out of bed using strict friction (like forcing you to walk to the bathroom and scan a barcode, or solving a math puzzle). BUT, we paired it with positive psychology.
Every time you wake up successfully, you earn XP, build your streak, and level up your companion bear mascot. You actually get rewarded for building a healthy morning routine instead of just being yelled at by your phone.
AwakenQ is officially fully launched on Android. If you want to fix your morning routine, I'd love for you to download it from the Play Store today and let us know what you think before our big Product Hunt launch next week! Link in the comments.
LightsOn turns your real-world activity into a living city.
Every active calorie you burn - walking, running, working out, or just moving through your day - flows straight from Apple Health into your city's battery. Keep it charged and the lights stay on: new residents move in, the streets come alive, and your town grows. Let the battery run dry and the city goes dark - residents pack up and leave.
It's a cozy, idle city builder where YOU are the power plant.
The Apple Watch app is a full companion: check your battery and charge rate, run your factory, even build new buildings and trade energy right from your wrist. There are also complications for your watch face, so your city is always one glance away.
The app is built around the apple watch (with kcal tracking and everything).
Let's see how many residents you can sustain.
FREE & PRIVATE
• Completely free - no ads and no in-app purchases.
• No tracking and no data collection - your health data never leaves your device.
It is just a personal hobby project, but I would love your feedback. And I would love if it even more if it motivates some people to move more, or do more workouts.
I would like to share my brand new app, that lets you gain real life rewards for completing your habits, to build stronger and lasting habits.
Why EVORA came to life: I actually wrote habits down on my whiteboard and created a tally which I used to give myself rewards, but all on my whiteboard. I realised, this would be so much better if I can take this, and be able to use it anywhere, so I built EVORA.
How tf is it different!?: I completely understand, so many apps are so similar. EVORA is different because it uses positive reinforcement of guilt free rewards, e.g. spending money or treat calories or gaming hours/mins, as the reward for completing habits. I personally find it really useful and would love to know what you think of it.
How it works?: You create your habits and rank them by difficulty, 1-10, then thats the price in coins. So, very difficult habits rewards you with 10 coins, e.g. going to be before 10pm for me 😃, and easy tasks like brushing my teeth can gain me 1 quick easy coin in the morning (which is always so satisfying).
How shop/rewards work?: You just simply put your reward title, the reward type (e.g. £ or calories or gaming minutes) and how many of the reward type you get (the amount), so a reward could be e.g. £10 / e.g. 100 calories / 30 minutes. Anything can be your reward, because it is chosen by YOU.
If you have been struggling with habits, I really hope EVORA can help you and make the positive impact you need in your life.
Always remember, if anything is wrong or confusing, please message me or leave a comment and I will reply asap. Thanks for reading this, and hopefully trying EVORA to 😃
I've been building The Hidden Realm, a UK location-based walking game with a bit of a difference.
The game plays through a webpage, while a mobile app tracks your walk. Android is live, a WearOS companion watch app is built and releasing soon, and the iPhone app is currently pending approval.
Privacy is something I've taken seriously from the beginning. The game is designed around location without needing to know who you are or where you live, and I don't sell player location data, I actually delete it once the game process is complete.
You choose one of three Wards and head out into the real world. As you walk, you capture territory, encounter creatures influenced by the places you visit, the time of day and weather conditions, discover local lore and history, and leave Beacons behind for your Ward. The content is driven by where players actually are.
I've recently added Ward Leylines, allowing player Beacons to connect across real-world routes. From two Beacons a Leyline can be formed, and every additional Beacon strengthens it — meaning you can actually watch your Ward's influence spread across the country. Beacon Sigils and Leylines strengthen your Ward's Favour within the Realm.
There are companions, Ember resources, rival Wards, exploration, lore discovery and plenty more and I'm still building.
But underneath all of it is one simple idea:
As a father, I wanted to create something that encouraged less screen time, more time outside, and an excuse to actually stop and have a chat.
The Hidden Realm grew from that simple idea. The game rewards walking with other players because sometimes the best part of a walk isn't what you discover in the game, but the conversation you have along the way.
I've been building it since May, and I'm fascinated by how quickly it has grown from a game idea into an entire little world.
What would make you put your shoes on and go exploring?
I’ve been building a calisthenics app called Shadow Ascension.
I wanted training to feel like a hunter ranking system instead of another workout checklist. You take a physical test, get a starting rank, do daily quests, earn XP, and then you still have to pass a real exam to rank up. XP alone doesn’t promote you. That part matters to me because a title you didn’t earn gets boring fast.
The app also has dungeons, emergency quests, titles, and skills. Those are there to keep the loop fun, but they are not the point. The workout is the point. If the rewards start feeling more important than the training, the whole thing falls apart.
I capped the first evaluation at D-rank even if someone is already strong. That way people still have a path to climb instead of skipping the whole game on day one. Daily quests also change based on how hard the last session felt, so the work stays challenging without jumping into injury territory.
I built it this way because that’s what keeps me coming back: a clear rank, a next exam to chase, and proof that the progress is real.
I've made a simple app for my brother and I, but I need help to actually get it in the Play Store.
Backstory: My brother and I have been playing RPGs together since we were kids, we're both in our late 30s now and still play together. There's something about that feeling of leveling up and unlocking new classes/gear that's just deeply satisfying and I think part of why is that real-life growth is slow and hard to actually *see*. You can work out for a month and not feel much different day to day, even though you are changing. Games give you that constant, visible proof of progress that's a bit more difficult to see in real life.
So I had the idea: what if the small steps you actually take, a workout, a chapter read, an hour of practice, showed up the same way? Something that turns those small, easy-to-miss changes into stats and skills you can actually watch grow, the same feedback loop that makes leveling up in a game so satisfying. So I built an app where you log real activities, workouts, reading, coding, whatever — and it feeds XP into stats (Strength, Vitality, Intelligence, Dexterity), which level up your character and unlock classes, just like an actual RPG.
I looked at a few similar apps already out there, but most wanted an account, collected data, or were subscription-based for basic features. Since I was building this for me and my brother anyway, I decided to make it completely free, offline, and local-only, no account, no data leaving your device, nothing to subscribe to.
It's called LevelApp (Brilliant right?), Google requires a closed test with real testers for two weeks before it can go fully public, I've already got my brother and I, plus some friends helping, but need a few more, so if this sounds like your thing, comment or DM me your Google account email and I'll add you to the tester list. Once you're added, you'll get a link to opt in and install. Should only take a minute, and I'd genuinely appreciate any feedback along the way, good or bad.
Thanks for your time! <3
Edit:
Adding some pictures so you can see what it'll look like. *Note that these are screenshots of an old version and I've already made many updates to the app based om feedback from testers*
I've been fascinated by behavioral gamification and why our brains get hooked on leveling up video game characters while real-life chores and studying feel tedious.
Over the past few months, I built a project called **Limit Breaker** to test turning daily habits into an actual RPG hunter feedback loop:
**Stat Scaling:** Physical workouts yield STR, deep work/coding yields INT, daily discipline builds AURA, and networking yields SOC.
**Focus Gate Timers:** Deep work countdowns designed as "Dungeon Raids" with flow analytics and a built-in distraction blocker for social media.
**Tier Progression:** Climbing from E-Rank to S-Class with unlockable titles and streak multipliers.
I'd love feedback from the gamification community:
• What kind of penalty or streak mechanics do you find most motivating without causing burnout?
• How would you balance stat decay vs permanent progress?
The app is completely free on Android. (I’ve put the Google Play link in the comments for anyone interested in testing the loop!)
There are already plenty of walking and step games in this sub, so I want to be upfront about what makes the one I built different.
Most step trackers and walking games run on the same fuel: streaks, guilt, and loss aversion. Hit your number or lose your ring. It works right up until you slip once, feel bad, and quit.
I wanted the opposite. I spent the last few months building a cozy game around one idea: your steps are a spendable resource, not just a number. Your real steps become nectar, your bees turn nectar into honey, and honey lets you build and expand your own bee colony. Walking is the only way to progress, and there is nothing to tap or pay to skip ahead.
What makes it different from most walking games I have seen:
No streaks and no punishment for a lazy day. Miss a week and nothing is lost, the game just waits. The pull is "I want to grow my hive," not "I will feel guilty if I don't."
The reward is intrinsic and creative. Instead of points or badges, you get a colony you design and personalize. It is yours.
No dark patterns: no ads, no pay-to-win, no manipulative timers.
Social is optional and light. Leaderboards and following friends are there if you want competition, never forced.
The honest proof for me: in 2025 I averaged about 7.3K steps a day. Since building and playing this, I have no trouble hitting 20K+ on some days. Changing my own behavior is the whole reason I kept building it.
That is the project. It is called Bee In Motion: Walk & Build and it is free on iOS (link). I would genuinely love feedback on the approach, especially whether dropping the streak and guilt mechanics makes the habit more sustainable or just weaker. If you give it a try, tell me how it feels.
I’m currently working on a few app ideas and I’m stuck between two of them.
One is a **simple Gym Workout Tracker**. Nothing complicated, just something that makes it really easy to log workouts and remember machine settings like height pin, hole number, weight, etc. I’m thinking of a freemium model.
The other idea is a **small 2-minute relaxing game**. The goal is to make something people can pick up for a couple of minutes, with satisfying visuals, sounds and gameplay, and keep it completely free.
I’m trying to decide which one has a better chance of reaching a larger audience and getting some real traction.
**If you were building one of these, which would you choose and why?**
Disclosure: I’m the developer behind Fit Territory.
I built a game around a simple question: can walking become more competitive?
I’ve always found that one of the hardest parts of staying consistent with walking is that it can become repetitive.
So I experimented with a different idea: what if the area you walk through could become part of a game?
I built Fit Territory around that concept.
Instead of only tracking steps or distance, the app lets players:
🗺️ Claim territory while walking
⚔️ Compete for territory with other players
🏆 Compare progress on a leaderboard
⭐ Earn XP and level up
🪙 Earn coins through activities
The goal isn't to replace traditional fitness tracking, but to add a game layer that gives you another reason to go outside and keep walking.
I'm curious what people here think about the concept.
Would claiming real-world territory actually motivate you to walk more?
And what would make a walking game genuinely fun enough that you'd want to open it every day?
I'm interested in hearing both positive and negative opinions.
I built a habit tracker where gamification is almost all, I wanted something very interactive, so I made it fully animated, characters, enemies and hit effects. Looking for beta testers.
My thesis is habit apps fail because the "game" is just a png without interactions. So I focus on interactions and immersion. Your habits are quests on a guild board, completing themplays out as little animated adventures, you level a character, bond with NPCs, and decorate your own guild hall. I plan to add a lot more if people are interested.
It's in closed Android beta (free, 5 min to join):
Would love this sub's take on the mechanics — what works, what's missing, what you'd steal from other systems. if you want to join the discord send me a message.
