By Jan Julin, Oulu University of Applied Sciences
Imagine transforming a traditional and often overlooked craft of tanning fish skin into an engaging, hands-on learning experience. This is exactly what gamification makes possible. By incorporating game-like elements such as points, badges, and progress indicators, even routine or unfamiliar tasks can become compelling. In CRAFT-IT4SD, our team developed a simple educational game to revive the nearly forgotten process of tanning fish skin. Step by step, players learn how to process fish to leather through interactive challenges and immediate feedback. It’s a clear example of how gamification can spark interest and curiosity in places where it might otherwise be absent.
What is Gamification?
Gamification is often defined as applying game design elements in non-game contexts (Li et al., 2024, p. 766). In practice, this means giving learners clear goals, instant feedback, and small rewards for progress. For example, one mental-health study listed “goals, challenges, feedback, rewards, progress, and fun” as key gamification components (Cheng & Ebrahimi, 2023, p. 578). Educational platforms like Duolingo use these elements: learners earn experience points, maintain daily “streaks”, and see their rank on a leaderboard. Fitness apps similarly give badges or trophies for running distances, workouts and retention. In corporate training, quizzes often incorporate points and badges to motivate employees (Gupta, 2023, “Key Features of Gamification for Employee Training” section).
These game elements work by tapping into basic human drives. Points and badges act as extrinsic motivators, external rewards that trigger our brain’s dopamine system. Users feel a sense of achievement when they “level up” or earn a badge (Gupta, 2023, “Why Is Gamification Training Effective?” section). At the same time, well-designed gamification can also support intrinsic motivation (doing something for its own sake). According to self-determination theory, people learn best when tasks satisfy their needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness (Li et al., 2024, p. 766). Gamification can address these needs. Leaderboards and progress indicators show competence, choices of badges or paths support autonomy and team challenges foster social connection (Li et al., 2024, p. 766). For example, seeing your name on a leaderboard can make you feel capable, while collaborating on a team quest creates a sense of belonging.
However, designers must tread carefully. Some researchers warn that too much focus on rewards can undermine intrinsic interest. If learners only chase points, the joy of learning may vanish. Studies have debated this issue, extrinsic rewards can sometimes decrease interest in a task, but they can also boost motivation on otherwise boring or uninteresting tasks (Li et al., 2024, p. 768). The key is balance. Ideally, gamification should complement the content rather than replace it, so students engage both for the fun of the game and the value of the skill.
Designing an effective gamified experience is not trivial. It requires expertise in game design, psychology, user experience, and on the subject. A poorly planned point system or clumsy interface can feel like empty “busywork” rather than play.
While gamification is often associated with digital apps and video games, it doesn’t have to be digital at all. Many effective gamified experiences happen in analog formats, card games, board games, and even sticky-note simulations can be powerful tools for learning and engagement. These low-tech approaches are especially useful in workshops, classrooms, or environments with limited access to technology. What matters most is not the platform, but how game elements like goals, feedback, and progression are structured.
Good gamification demands careful calibration; it must strike a balance between usability and challenge to maintain learner engagement. The game should be easy enough to use to minimize cognitive overload but stimulating enough to sustain interest over time. Clear rules, meaningful feedback loops, and well-structured progression systems are critical to this balance. Research in behavioral psychology supports this approach, motivation and task performance are highest when individuals perceive a task as both achievable and rewarding (Deci & Ryan, 2000). In gamified systems, this is often achieved through layered goals, immediate feedback, and reward mechanisms that reinforce positive behavior (Sailer et al., 2017). Studies have also shown that incorporating scaffolding such as tutorials, guided hints, or graduated difficulty can enhance learners perceived competence and encourage continued participation (Dichev & Dicheva, 2017). When thoughtfully designed, gamified systems can successfully align learner motivation with desired behavioral outcomes.
Where Gamification Shines
Gamification tends to be most effective for repetitive or challenging tasks that require ongoing effort. Language learning is a classic example, studying vocabulary can feel tedious, but apps like Duolingo have turned it into a habit. In fact, a recent industry report notes that Duolingo’s clever gamification (daily streaks, experience points, and social features) helped it reach 19 million daily active users by 2023. These features drove more consistent use, after changes made in 2022, Duolingo saw its “power users” (those using the app 15+ days a month) jump from 20% to over 30%, while its one-month churn rate fell from 47% to 37% (Scacchi, 2023). In short, gamification re-engaged users and dramatically boosted retention.
Fitness and wellness are another fertile ground. Apps like Nike+ or Strava reward you for runs and workouts, tapping into people’s love of competition and social proof. In healthcare and therapy settings, apps like SuperBetter use game mechanics to help users meet health goals. Gamification can even turn chores into challenges. Apps that track housework, exercise, or meditation often give points or progress badges to reinforce habits. Corporate training programs have also borrowed this playbook, instead of dull slide decks, some companies now use interactive scenarios and quizzes with scores and levels. Compared to traditional lectures, gamified training “keeps learners motivated and engaged” by using points, badges, and real-time feedback (Gupta, 2023, “Benefits of Gamification in Training” section). It provides instant feedback (knowing if you answered correctly) and clear goals, which align with how adults learn best.
Why does it work? Gamification activates the brain’s reward circuitry. Employees who earn badges for completing compliance modules or new hires who earn points for learning company policies feel a burst of achievement that reinforces the behavior. Research shows that this taps into goal-oriented and competitive drives. Goals and milestones are inherently motivating when learners see a clear objective and can track their progress, they stay focused. Leaderboards and friendly competition add a social jolt. Many people naturally work harder when they see peers succeeding, and this “competitive drive” can elevate effort. Moreover, games provide immediate feedback loops, you know right away if you’re on the right track which is critical for learning. (Gupta, 2023, “Why Is Gamification Training Effective?” section)
Fish to Wonder: A Case Study
Our first pilot project at OAMK, titled Fish to Wonder, set out to explore how gamification could revive and teach a nearly forgotten Finnish craft: tanning fish skin. This traditional skill, once more commonly practiced, has faded from mainstream knowledge, so we challenged ourselves to reimagine it in a modern, interactive format.
The goal was simple but ambitious: make the process of tanning fish skin engaging, informative, and most importantly, accessible to a general audience. Rather than writing a guide or producing a video, we decided to build a game from scratch with Unity game-engine. Through gamification, we aimed to give players an active role in learning each step of the tanning process, from cleaning and preparing the fish skin to transforming it into usable material.
We quickly discovered that building even a small game is no easy task. Designing meaningful game mechanics around something as tactile and complex as fish tanning pushed us to think deeply. How do you break down a messy, sensory-heavy task into clear, interactive steps? How do you balance realism with simplicity? How do you make something educational and fun?
The difficult part was gamifying the actual mechanics of tanning: turning a technical, multi-step, hands-on process into something playable on a simple phone screen without oversimplifying or distorting the craft. Despite the challenges, the project proved that even a simple, low-tech game could create an engaging learning experience around a forgotten skill.
In the end, Fish to Wonder wasn’t just about preserving tradition, it was about proving that gamification can breathe new life into topics most people wouldn’t otherwise explore. It showed us firsthand how the right mechanics, when thoughtfully designed, can make even raw fish skins a source of wonder.
Closing thoughts
Gamification offers a powerful way to turn learners from passive observers into active participants. By embedding learning goals in a playful framework, it can transform mundane tasks into enjoyable challenges. Well-designed gamification satisfies our natural drives, it clarifies why we’re doing a task (clear goals), shows how well we’re doing (feedback), and often involves community or competition (social motivation) (Li et al., 2024, p. 766). Also gamified programs are especially good at keeping people motivated and engaged compared to traditional methods. (Gupta, 2023, “Gamified Training vs. Traditional Training Programs” section).
That said, gamification isn’t a universal solution. It won’t automatically make any topic fun, and if done poorly, it can feel manipulative or hollow. Experts emphasize careful design: aligning game mechanics with real learning objectives and ensuring users retain a sense of intrinsic interest. Gamification can boost motivation and provide smart triggers (like app reminders), but it must respect users’ autonomy and skill level.
In summary, gamification is a powerful tool for education and skill-building when applied thoughtfully. It can breathe life into mundane exercises and complex processes alike. As you consider this, ask yourself: What routine task or learning process in your world could be reinvented as a game? Could daily practice become a streak to maintain? Could a tough skill be broken into levels with clear rewards? Gamification won’t work everywhere, but where it does, it can turn work into play.
Check out Fish to Wonder project here: https://oamkmetaverse.com/CRAFT-IT4SD/Pilot1/Build/index.html
REFERENCES
Chen, C., & Ebrahimi, O. (2023) Gamification: a Novel Approach to Mental Health Promotion. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-023-01453-5
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The «what» and «why» of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01
Dichev, C., & Dicheva, D. (2017). Gamifying education: what is known, what is believed and what remains uncertain: a critical review. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 14(1), 1–36. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-017-0042-5
Gupta, D. (2024). Gamification in Corporate Training in 2025 (+Benefits, Examples). https://whatfix.com/blog/gamification-in-training/
Li, L., Hew, K., & Du, J. (2024). Gamifcation enhances student intrinsic motivation, perceptions of autonomy and relatedness, but minimal impact on competency: a meta‑analysis and systematic review. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-023-10337-7
Sailer, M., Hense, J. U., Mayr, S. K., & Mandl, H. (2017). How gamification motivates: An experimental study of the effects of specific game design elements on psychological need satisfaction. Computers in Human Behavior, 69, 371–380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.12.033
Scacchi, M. (2023). Duolingo’s gamified success: A language learning triumph. https://sensortower.com/blog/duolingos-gamified-success-a-language-learning-triumph