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Gamification is the wrong word for the right idea. The word for what’s happening at the moment is pointsification. There are things that should be pointsified. There are things that should be gamified. There are things that should be both. There are many, many things that should be neither.

Games are good, points are good, but games ≠ points.

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Can’t play, won’t play

This is something that needed to be said. 

We’re cheapening the richness of actual games by referring to everything with incentives, as a game. 

Part of the reason we love games, whether they be board, video, bar or other types of games is that they have many ways of doing the same thing. In a game of pool, I can shoot at a variety of balls, make one and move on to the next. My choices and actions have consequences that influence my next set of choices. 

Adding badges for me saving money each month doesn’t have the same effect. I can either save or not save. That either gets me points or it doesn’t.

The essence of gaming lies in the player’s option to be creative. We have to remember that if we’re trying to make something compelling. Or we should just be honest and call it what it is: pointsification. 
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