A Guide to Gamified Reading Experiences

52 Gamification Mechanics and Elements (Gamified UK)

As you looked over the table, did you spot ‘branching choices’ (hint: game design element 30)?

Well, that's one of the most important game elements when it comes to choice-based interactive fiction! But it isn't the only one. What else on this table can be found in interactive fiction?

Narrative (game design element 10) for sure. Oh, and where there are choices to be made, there are also consequences (game design element 16). If you have one, you also have the other. They are a package deal after all.

Knowing this we can definitely say that interactive fiction is clearly a gamified reading experience because it has choices, consequences and narrative.

Let’s look at choices some more and see how exactly they engage learners in reading. 

Reading is a passive activity. Keep in mind that passive does not mean boring. You can still have fun doing a passive activity, but there is little agency. Now let’s look at the opposite, an active activity. There is lots of agency here, and this is what we see happening in interactive fiction. 

But wait, what does agency mean here?

“Agency is the ability to exert control over an outcome.” (Dillman Carpentier et al., 2015, p. 77)

Basically, having the ability to decide what happens next.

By reading interactive fiction, we take on the role of the protagonist  and agency becomes key here because we now have the ability to make a choice as the protagonist. Through our choices we take ownership of the story and in turn, the story becomes our own creation as it unfolds. (Bell and Ensslin, 2024)

“Within the context of a narrative, agency becomes control over a character. Users control the character’s choices in the narrative, driving the manner in which the narrative unfolds and defining the narrative experience.” (Dillman Carpentier et al., 2015, p. 77-78)

By interacting with the story, we end up engaged in the story and motivated to continue until the end. We want to see what happens next as a consequence of our choices and keep on reading. 

What is motivation?

A simple way to describe motivation is the following: 

"It is the energy that drives you to do something" (Ted-Ed, 2024).

There are two kinds of motivation: extrinsic and intrinsic. The difference between these two types of motivation depends on a person's reasons or goals when it comes to doing something (Ryan & Deci, 2000).

For intrinsic motivation, it drives you to do something because you like it. You are being motivated from within by internal factors. It can be as simple as doing something for enjoyment, like reading a book, or even to experience a challenge, like playing chess.

While the other type, extrinsic motivation, drives you to do something for a specific outcome, or even to avoid one. You are being motivated from outside by external factors, like doing well at work to get a pay raise, or not driving through a red light because you don't want to get a ticket.

Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation can definitely help drive you to do something. However, they both have different effects when it comes to engagement.

Extrinsic motivation usually leads to short-term engagement, while intrinsic motivation leads to long-term engagement. (TED-Ed, 2024). 

Wait, didn’t we already talk about how some game elements lead to short-term engagement while others lead to long-term engagement? Yes, we did. Game elements can motivate learners extrinsically or intrinsically.

For example, using points, badges and leaderboards usually leads to short-term engagement because students are extrinsically motivated to read in order to collect points and badges to move up on the leaderboard. 

Collecting these rewards will be fun at first, but it will soon become less fun and more work. Pink (2011) explains why this behaviour occurs and how "rewards can perform a weird sort of behavioral alchemy: They can transform an interesting task into a drudge. They can turn play into work." (p. 37). 

In order to create long-term engagement, other game elements need to be considered, ones that will not turn play into work. Game elements that lead to long-term engagement are ones that intrinsically motivate learners. Choices is one of these game elements.

How does engagement and motivation improve reading comprehension?

Studies have shown that increasing students motivation leads to better reading comprehension. (Guthrie et al., 2006). Engaging in reading also leads to better reading comprehension.

What is the difference between motivation and engagement?

Both lead to improved better learning, in this case better reading comprehension and reading attitudes, but they are not exactly the same. Engagement has to do with a student’s investment in what they are doing and their willingness to participate in a task. It is the energy that you invest in something. Whereas motivation is “the energy that drives you to do something”, either internally (because you enjoy it) or externally (because you want a reward).

For reading comprehension, you need both.

“When students are engaged in reading, they comprehend better.” (Guthrie et al., 2006)

Guthrie found that motivation increased when students did stimulating tasks. What is a stimulating task?

“According to elementary and secondary school teachers, a stimulating task consisted of providing a hands-on activity." (Guthrie et al., 2006)

"According to Zahorik, hands-on activities consisted of a range of interactions in which students used manipulatives, role-played, or engaged in projects such as growing seedlings in science or making television commercials in Spanish." (Guthrie et al., 2006)

Hands-on activities require interaction to engage students and this is not possible in passive activities, such as traditional reading tasks. 

Basically, interaction requires agency and autonomy.

Looking at interactive fiction, it can definitely be considered a hands-on activity since readers interact with the text they are reading by deciding what to do next. Making a choice can be considered as manipulating the text, but it requires the readers to do some decision-making, leading to cognitive engagement in the task. If there is a mystery to be solved or a puzzle, then the amount of cognitive engagement increases, and in turn so does reading motivation. Another way can be to have the students do a reflection activity after they finish reading and explain their decision-making process or even to reflect on the outcomes of the choices they made.

When it comes to describing students’ reading levels, be careful what labels you use. Labels such as ‘weak reader’, ‘poor reader’ or even ‘low-level reader’ can be a dangerous way to describe a student’s current reading level.

If a student is struggling with reading and gets assigned such a label, they will end up believing that label to be true. They will tell themselves that they are bad at reading and make it a part of their identity (Enriquez, 2014). The problem with this is that it gets carried over into adulthood. 

Labels such as ‘excellent reader’, ‘average reader’ or ‘poor reader’ can encourage a fixed mindset in students. When a student is labelled a ‘poor reader’ and is faced with a reading task in the future, they will always wonder how hard it will be to read the text and if they will be able to understand it. Some will even avoid reading completely (Hall, 2020).

Instead, foster a growth mindset when it comes to reading. Help students level up their reading by showing them that it’s a skill that anyone can practice doing and get better at, no matter their starting point. To make it easier for students to ‘level up’, offer stories and texts that appeal to their interests. 

It’s easier to make progress when you practice reading something that you find fun because it appeals to you compared to reading something that you find boring because it doesn’t appeal to you. Depending on what interests a reader, the type of text (narrative versus informational), the type of genre (fantasy versus science fiction), or even the type of story (mystery versus adventure) will differ from reader to reader. This means that levelling up will be slow when a reader finds the text uninteresting. Don’t believe me? Try giving the same reader a text that they find interesting and observe if there are any differences in engagement.

So why all this talk about fixed mindset and growth mindset when it comes to reading? This is very important because students’ reading attitudes will follow them into adulthood.

Students who have negative experiences with reading or are told that they are poor readers tend to have negative reading attitudes.

“If you get told all your life that you’re not good at reading, then why would you choose to read? I know I just assumed I wouldn’t be able to understand things, and that’s not true.... But I think when you hear all your life that you can’t read, you start to internalize that and put that label on yourself, which is not helpful....Reading becomes something you try to avoid because you assume you won’t be able to do it and it’s not enjoyable.”  (Hall, 2020, p. 677)

If you have students who already self-identify as bad readers, don’t despair. Students can change how they self-identify when it comes to reading if they experience positive reading experiences (Glenn, Ginsberg, & King-Watkins, 2018). Interactive fiction is a great way to create these positive reading experiences because of its gamified nature. 

“If you had asked me if I wanted to download an app and read a bunch of stories, I would have said no because I am not a reader...but I got sucked into this accidentally when I was trying to find a new game to play, and I didn’t realize I would be reading....I almost didn’t stay with it when I saw how much reading there was....I’m glad I did, because the stories are so amazing, and I’ve really enjoyed it.” (Hall, 2020, p. 678)

Interactive fiction allows for the multiple read-throughs because of its branching narrative. There are many different story paths that can be explored, and many different endings to experience. 

This possibility of replayability means there are many opportunities for extensive reading (reading for fun outside of class). No one reading experience is the same. 

This is great news for promoting extensive reading!

When it comes to reading interactive fiction, gamification helps increase learner engagement through the use of game elements such as choices, consequences and narrative. In turn, this motivates the learners to keep reading. 

A gamified reading experience can be fun and create positive reading attitudes, leading to an increase in reading comprehension skills. The possibility to read the same story creates opportunities for extensive reading, which also leads to an increase in reading comprehension skill.

Bell, A., & Ensslin, A. (2024). Reading digital fiction: Narrative, cognition, mediality (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003110194

Deterding, S., Dixon, D., Khaled, R., & Nacke, L. (2011). From game design elements to gamefulness: Defining gamification. Proceedings of the 15th International Academic MindTrek Conference on Envisioning Future Media Environments - MindTrek ’11, 9–11.

Dillman Carpentier, F. R., Rogers, R. P., & Barnard, L. (2015). Eliciting behavior from interactive narratives: Isolating the role of agency in connecting with and modeling characters. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 59(1), 76–93. https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2014.998222

Enriquez, G. (2014). Embodiment of “struggle”: The melancholy, loss, and interactions with print of two “struggling readers”. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 45(1), 105–122. https:// doi.org/10.1111/aeq.12050

Glenn, W., Ginsberg, R., & King-Watkins, D. (2016). Resisting and persisting: Identity stability among adolescent readers labeled as struggling. Journal of Adolescent Research, 33(3), 306-331. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558416684953 

Guthrie, J. T., Wigfield, A., Humenick, N. M., Perencevich, K. C., Taboada, A., & Barbosa, P. (2006). Influences of stimulating tasks on reading motivation and comprehension. The Journal of Educational Research, 99(4), 232–246. https://doi.org/10.3200/JOER.99.4.232-246

Hall, L. A. (2020). How youth and adults with negative reading histories found a way to enjoy reading. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 63(6), 675–682. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.1046

Pink, D. H. (2011). Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us. Riverhead Books.

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 54-67. https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1999.1020

TED-Ed. (2024, January 2). How to get motivated even when you don’t feel like it [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II5h6uJPvvs