Methods

Player Levels

Player levels are a certain type of status reward that both demonstrates the player’s expertise and often unlocks further abilities. They are most common in role playing games. As opposed to achievements, player levels are typically major milestones. In gamification, player levels act primarily as a status marker and as a means to encourage continued participation in the activity. For example, frequent flyer members are often awarded higher ranks (such as gold or platinum) once they’ve reached a requisite number of flights each year. In the classroom, levels are often tied to customizing the difficulty of the class for each student. Students might unlock new exercises (more difficult work) once they reach a certain level (by completing previous work).

Points

Points have a long history in videogames, going all the way back to arcade systems. Often these were status markers that demonstrated a player’s expertise at a game. In modern gaming systems, these might also be attached to achievements in a gamer profile. In gamification, points are often an abstracted form of currency that the user earns for completing objectives. Usually these points can be exchanged for rewards. In the classroom, this might be a further way of abstracting evaluation away from the expected letter grades.

Rewards

Rewards are usually physical items that the player earns. For example, for completing a particular quest, a player may receive a new set of armor or a new weapon. In gamification, rewards most often represent the real goal of the “game.” Users utilize the system in order to obtain the rewards. For example, the frequent flyer might exchange points for an item or discount. In a classroom, a student might be given objects of negligible value (a pencil, eraser, etc.) for gaining levels, reaching point totals, or achieving goals.

Quests

In many games, players are given quests that they are told to pursue. These are usually explicit goals. Sometimes quests are followed in a particular order, but this isn’t always the case. In gamification, quests might offer special rewards. For example, a user might be given a special discount if they purchase a certain amount of a specific type of item in a set time frame. In a classroom, a student could be given these quests instead of assignments. The idea is that the path to achieving the end might be more exploratory and that students might stop thinking of school as a set of tasks they are obligated to complete. Below is a short video about the Quest to Learn middle school that was created around this structure of quests: