Casino Gamification | The Latest Trend in Online Casinos

Gamification is simply the  application of  game based thinking to your brand, business or organisation. It is the theory that holds the opininon that applying gaming elements to a process will boost engagement and retention. It is commonly used in marketing to attract new customers and used to to boost overall engagement with a product or service by making situations like video games, loyalty schemes with tiers for point collection etc.

Gamification in the online casino industry is often applied to the use of video game design and story elements in standard slot and Table Games. It is also a new trend where rather than offering players straight loyalty or vip points for their play, they are offered coins, seeds, badges, medals, etc. The players can then trade this in at his/her convenience.  Sometimes with huge random rewards. Often extra tasks, quests or games are on offer for greater rewards. RPG game type level upping is also very common.

Entry into these promotional games sometimes  will depend on the player’s wagering on a particular day or week, this makes the players more competitive and involved in the action. All of these techniques are designed to keep the players happy – and to encourage them to spend more time and money at the casino.

There are different types of gamification being praticsed, while gamification differs from casino to casino, generally, it  involves activities and rewards. In brick and mortal casinos, gamification involves gamers playing a casino game and receiving a reward for their efforts. But in  online casinos, Gamers can receive rewards for simply liking a casino's social media pages referring a person or even downloading a casino's mobile application. We’ll talk about some of the most common and different types of gamification you may find in the online casino world.

Loyalty Points

Loyalty points are given by online casinos to customers  who play games  on their casino frequently, it simply means that  the more time a customer spends at a particular online casino, the more benefits and rewards earned. It is given by online casinos to appreciate and show gratitude to loyal members and to encourage them to keep coming to the site.

The basic concept of loyalty points is that the more time you spend at an excellent online casino, the more perks you’ll have down the line, the more loyalty points you gain, the more diverse your rewards will be. The rewards can include anything from a few free spins at slot games to special promotional deals, and special VIP treatment. Some online casinos has online shops where you can use your loyalty points to actually shop online!

Leaderboards

The ‘Leaderboard’ is the ongoing list of scores which signify the position in rank for each competitor. The online casino software often constructs their gamification around leader boards to engage people’s competitive instincts, offering a way for dedicated game players to feel achieved.  When gamers play certain games they receive points which then boost them up the leaderboard- the more points you acquire, the higher up the leaderboard you go, Aside from the fact that you'll receive that public recognition for being the best which is a good felling, you may also get different treats depending on the casino as another form of motivation.

Many online casinos have Leaderboards for their latest online slots games, and this gamification technique have been proven to increase the customer base of online casinos.

Tournaments

Casino Tournaments are now  a regular event at some online casinos and there is much that you can gain from participating in one. They are popular because the barrier to entry is relatively low, cheap and even sometimes free and you can take part in one even if you know next to nothing about it. You also have the option of competing with other gamblers  by joining a tournament, instead of playing against a computer on your own . Based on the amount of players participating in a tournament, leaderboards will be formed at the end of the game and winners will be rewarded.

Through this gamification  technique,  online casinos are able to engage their dedicated user base and provide them with an hour or so of high-quality fun, in addition to drawing in some new users.   tournaments have become quite popular with the online gambling community and players from all over the globe are able to participate.

Goals, Missions, Adventures

The introduction of goals, missions , levels and adventures in online casino games is a sure way to keep gamers engaged as they will always have a new goal to aim towards. This may be the most creative and versatile gamification type introduced because casinos can come up with any objective for players to fulfill  in a game and they can also  add a new mission or goal  to virtually any game.

When missions or adventures are completed, online casinos offers cool prizes as rewards, which might  come in form of free spins, free in game currency or other bonuses. Goals system give customers a target to aim for and work towards and makes them keep coming back to the online casino. In this case, it  is a win-win situation for both the casinos and the players.

Level-up Progress Bar

Levelling up which is usually common with video games but is now being introduced into other casino games by online casinos. It refers to the process by which all players progress to next stages of the chosen character’s abilities where you have to complete certain requirements such as completing certain tasks to move on to a new stage in the game.
Experience points are units used to track the performance of a player’s character and once a player achieves the required amount of progress they move on to a new level. In most casinos, players are rewarded for completing a level, by making their wins bigger or easier to come by and giving them several other bonuses. The flip-side is that the new level will be harder to complete than the last.

Virtual Currency

Virtual currency or in-game currency is a currency created by a casino that can be exchanged for other items of value at that casino, such as high street shopping vouchers, or to unlock new games. Its main use is to bring additional challenges and fun time to the picture.

Each casino can provide you with their own virtual currency. This should not be mistaken  for  Bitcoin or chips as the currency is only useful In the online casino or the game you are playing only. This virtual currency can be  used to unlock new content or to buy something from the game shop. and for rewards distribution as well.  Virtual currency is going to be the next big thing in gamification as a lot  of casinos are bringing out games that let you wager more real money for game credits.

Shops

Several online casinos also run some form of online shop by the side to cater for their players. The casinos virtual currencies, credits or bonuses awarded during games can actually be used in place of real money to purchase goods from these shops.Although this feature is not offered by many casinos, but this is a cool gamification technique and will make players work more at games so as to get credits for shopping. Shop in this sense could be in form of an in-game shop where you can buy or unlock more features to aid your game or an online store.

Badges

Badges are among the most visible elements of gamification, they are used by online casinos to engage players. A badge is used to demonstrate customers status and progress and it is given when players have completed a certain task, levelled up or fulfill a certain requirement. Members of a casino are always happy to get these badges because it confers the role of a professional on them and increases their status in the game or online casino and this comes with increased game credits, bonuses etc.

Community

Online casinos have found out that having a social casino gamification in form of a community for their members is another important way of making them active in the casino. There are various ways in which casinos try to make gambling at their casino more sociable. For instance, they introduce games that might allow players to create user profiles, create different gaming rooms and topics and allow them to talk to each other on forums, this further increases the possibilities of connecting with other people in the community.

The crazy-hot buzz and media hype surrounding  gamification ultimately exists for a reason. Adding gamelike elements to brands, or businesses  isn’t just a cool trend or fun new feature, it is an authentic, competitive business strategy that has been yielding high returns for business owners and quite enjoyable to customers.

Taking online casino gamification into view, players have many more options now than in the early days of online casino gamification. There are plenty of gamified casinos to play in nowadays casinos, each with their unique style and elements that enhance your gameplay.

Gamification is also sought after because it’s often used for loyalty and VIP programs. The reward systems are often built into a game scenario where you have to complete tasks or reach goals to claim your goodies.

However, it is not just the fun of winning money that appealed to a large base of gaming fans. It is also about the players’ experience too, with gamification being able to transport you to a whole new, different world and adding a lot of interesting perks of an otherwise plain, monotonous similar tasks that don’t vary much between casino. Also, the inclusion of mini-games within games and special bonus features, all serve to get players more deeply into the game and all these have made gamification increase its popularity over the years.

Gamification has a lot of interesting features, and like all other things, it also the possibility of leading to a gambling addiction as side effects. Gambling addiction describes a person that prefers gaming over other activities such as socialising, work or school work and other interactions at the  expense of his/ her social or financial well-being. The effects of gamification on users is only starting to be understood. Although there are many successful implementations, but the long term effect of gamification on users is that it has the potential for people to become addicted to become to — and substantially influenced by — gamified experiences. Game dynamics are also used to add triggers to games that will encourage players to continue playing.

One reason that attributes to this is the understanding behind games itself. Games are the most powerful source of non-coercive influence in the world, and they are frequently designed with mild addiction and extreme flow in mind. The latter effect in particular puts users into a state where they are markedly more likely to accept what the system tells them,and to respond to its stimuli (if only just to beat the level). The Powers of game can not be overemphasized and the beautiful features of gamification such as levelling up, goals, adventures etc only does more in increasing this power. However, it is important to note that gamification is not a major  factor  inducing  gambling addiction.

The membership base of gamification casinos are increasing day by day because gamblers are aware that playing at gamification casinos have several benefits that you are not likely to get while playing games at casinos that have not been gamified. Some of these advantages are:

• Unique gambling experience: Gamification casinos stand out from the rest of the casino operators by  providing  players with a unique gambling experience where the entertainment starts before they’ve even opened any of the available games.
• Different gameplay features: There are several game features that are exclusive to gamification casinos, some of which are Level-Up Progress bar, Experience Points, Leaderboards, Avatar Creation, Shops and in-game currency, goals and Player's community. The aim of these features  is to make sure that players have an enjoyable experience that will encourage them to return to the site.
• More games: gamification adds more games with amazing graphics and more fun, to gaming. It ultimately gives players more value for the money they spend at their favourite casinos and greater odds of winning prizes. With mini-games involving choices, and even some skill, It’s a better experience that, hopefully, will continue to evolve into bigger and better benefits for the players in gamification casinos .
• More prizes and bonuses: players tend to get more prizes and bonuses on gamification casinos through their experience credits or in gake currency you get after levelling up or fulfilling a certain task. The in-game currencies can be traded for special bonuses, cash bonuses or even status boosts at the casino shop. For many players, it allows them to enter into jackpot competitions with huge payouts that their bankroll otherwise wouldn’t permit.
• Player to player interaction: through their online communities, you get to interact and engage other players in the casino, which is a big advantage for people who play from home and may crave for some human interaction, aside from live games. You can also take on fellow gamblers across the globe from the comfort of your own home, your friends or even strangers in duels or races to make your way to the top for additional rewards.

Players love the functionalities of a gamified casino, it gives an overall  enjoyable  experience and because we care about the experience of gamblers while playing games in online casinos, we believe that casino gamification is an effective technique that should be adopted by all online casinos, this would also benefit casinos by boosting their audience and engaging their players through different features, though casino gamification may lead to gambling addiction but as we noted above it can not really be called a major factor of gambling addiction because before the advent of casino gamification and even online casinos, there have been cases of  gambling addiction in land based casinos (it all boils down to the power of a game and a person's will) and think about it, the  benefits casino gamification  offers clearly supercedes the fear of it causing gambling addiction.

Therefore, Casino gamification is an essential factor that an online casino must check before it can be ranked as the best among its peers in this century.