HTML5 Game Development

GET A FREE QUOTE How Belitsoft Can Help Our experience in eLearning includes game-based training projects and much more. Here’s how we can assist you: Serious games development. All the stages from setting the goals and game design to post-launch support. Custom learning platform development. If you want your serious game to be a part of a larger project, let us know - custom systems like that are our bread and butter. Consulting. We have cut our teeth on custom eLearning software development, so if you need some advice on game-based learning or other kinds of electronic training, feel free to drop us a line. Serious Learning Games Engage Engaging learners is the #1 challenge faced by L&D professionals. Better engagement means more motivated employees, which then results in substantially higher productivity (202% better performance), better retention, fewer accidents, better employees’ health, and 21% higher profitability (Gallup). Why is it so difficult to engage employees in the required learning courses? Employees aren't engaged with training content, because they aren't engaged at their work in general. 53% of employees are not engaged at work and 13% are actively disengaged (Gallup, 2018). The resistance of organizations to change (including the adoption of the new technologies, and the younger workers’ unique expectations) are among the common reasons. The learning process becomes harder for objective reasons (the limited brain capacity) in today's world where the volume of data is exploding. The information overload damages interest and motivation, different surveys show. The cognitive load forces the learner to miss information, resulting in incomplete training. Traditional engagement techniques such as “a gift card or the privilege of leaving early one day” (the carrot) or “complete it to avoid reprimand from the boss” (the stick) will not inspire a deeper learning experience. How does game-based learning address this challenge? Based on sound instructional design, the learning game approach increases engagement (stimulates interest) and boosts motivation to learn the topic. Learners are engaged in game-based learning significantly longer than in nongame-based learning. Effective serious games form a positive mood to encourage players to continue the play. THE NEUROSCIENCE OF LEARNING GAMES Playing a game stimulates the hippocampus - an area in the brain, where new memories are made, which facilitates the storage and recall of new information. Dopamine, or the “feel-good hormone”, is released whenever we are rewarded for a specific action. Learning games focus on giving learners instantaneous feedback which might not otherwise be available. By giving virtual rewards for achieving learning goals, learners begin to associate the learning with positive emotions, prompting them to try to repeat it (ie, seek out more learning). One of the key components of a compelling game is a good story. People tend to remember stories better than lists of unconnected facts. This isn’t just a matter of preference; it’s a physiological imperative. When we are engaged in a strong narrative, the brain releases oxytocin – a chemical that generates feelings of trust and empathy. As a result, when the brain receives information presented as a story, it recognizes it as being more valid. Serotonin release is also triggered by remembering past successes. In most game-based systems, users earn badges for completing tasks and these are usually housed in a prominent badge cabinet or an achievements area. On a gamified learning platform, learners get a serotonin rush on demand whenever they look at rewards they have earned. Endorphins are the body’s natural painkiller but they can also lower stress and anxiety levels, and even create a sense of euphoria. Combined with other neurotransmitters, this helps create an ideal environment for focused learning. In a study conducted by BBC’s Horizon, a test group of older subjects played a popular racing game for 15 hours over 5 weeks. When they were evaluated after that period, their memory and attention span scores had improved by around 30%. Cortisol is known as the stress hormone and it controls the body’s reaction to stressful situations. When it comes to learning, high levels of cortisol force the brain into survival mode, distracting from the learning in order to deal with the stress. By adding game-like elements to the journey, this effect can be mitigated. Results of a Texas A&M International University study showed that “games reduce depression and hostile feelings in players through mood management.” EXAMPLES This is how companies already use game-based learning for their benefit. HEALTHCARE Pulse!! Pulse!! is a virtual trainer that helps medical students and residents practice treatment of the emergency patients. Pulse!! allows a player to run tests, monitor vitals, and give orders to nurses - everything to save the patient. The injured person himself, by the way, can respond to treatment (or lack thereof) to provide real-time feedback. The player wins if they diagnose and treat the patient in time. This serious game can be used to train both civilian and military medical personnel, as the possible scenarios include combat wounds or terrorist attacks. V-DIT The Virtual Dental Implant Trainer is, as the name suggests, a VR simulator that trains students to conduct a dental implantation procedure. Each scenario includes an interview with the patient to determine whether they even need an implant and which kind. The characters (both the patients and the player) are fully voiced to improve immersion. Once it is done, the player can practice an actual procedure in a safe environment. Sales Vision Vision is a training simulator for eye care specialists. It includes a detailed discussion with a fully voiced customer character and a branching dialogue tree that would do any RPG proud. After the player talks to the customer, recommends the appropriate eyeglasses, and (hopefully) makes a sale, they are evaluated based on their skills in discovering the customer needs, sales, and product knowledge. In addition, they can receive badges as rewards for excelling in certain areas. Vision is used by Essilor, a company that sells eyeglass lenses. Mercer City Mercer City is a sales training game used by Mercer - a major consulting firm. It is intended to be a part of a blended learning environment alongside a human coach. The game allows players to practice communicating with the customers, allocating resources, discussing the consulting process, and other issues. The users are then judged based on their performance. Mercer City includes many realistic situations to ensure that the knowledge the users gain will be helpful in practice. Crew Challenge This game was developed for McDonald’s to help the new hires get acquainted with the POS device quickly and learn the sales process used in the franchise. Crew Challenge simulates working at the till with customers lining up and behaving like real people. The player must keep them happy and get their orders correctly. Moreover, this is all done in real-time to achieve better immersion and make training more efficient. Unlike many other examples, this game released the data about its effectiveness. The average time for till service decreased by 7.9 seconds and the average sale has grown by 15 pence. Seems small, but it adds up to 18.000 pounds per restaurant. Other vBank This game is aimed at the auditors and helps them fight fraud. The vBank gameplay includes both interviewing people and studying documents. As the auditor follows the money trails they are able to locate unlawful activities (if there are any). This game is being used by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). How to Introduce Game-Based Learning 1. Set Goals You don’t know whether you have been successful or not if you haven’t defined success. The best way to do so is to set the right goals. Take a look at the SMART framework: Specific. For example, “Increase the speed at which the new workers operate the “Coffeemaster-2000” machine”. Measurable. “Increase the speed at which the new workers operate the “Coffeemaster-2000” machine by 50%”. Achievable/Attainable. “Increase the speed at which the new workers operate the “Coffeemaster-2000” machine by 20%” because it is impossible for a human to move that much faster. Realistic/Relevant. “Increase the speed at which the new workers operate the “Coffeemaster-2000” machine by 20%” seems relevant for a coffee shop chain. Timeframe. “Increase the speed at which the new workers operate the “Coffeemaster-2000” machine by 20% in two months.” Once your goal is set you will both have a point B to go to and a reliable benchmark to measure your efficiency. 2. Select the Game Depending on the skills and/or knowledge you want to impart on your learners, different games will have different levels of efficiency. For example, a race where the player increases their car’s speed by answering the questions correctly might help employees remember the ingredients better, but a VR simulator will be better at teaching people how to operate a machine. This is also a time to evaluate your own competencies. Serious games are a serious business and take time and effort to design and develop. If this is not your forte, consider hiring a contractor or at least bringing a consultant on board. 3. Design and Develop Now that you know what you want to achieve and how, it is time to bring your idea to life. Whether you are going to do it yourself or through a contractor is entirely up to you. At the design stage, make sure the game rewards the behavior you want to encourage. Otherwise, it could be fun but counterproductive. 4. Test Before you launch the game, make sure to test it. Gather a group of potential learners and have them play just as they would in real life. After that measure their skills and knowledge and gather their feedback. This phase is called “User Acceptance Testing” and can give you a treasure trove of information regarding the effectiveness of your game and the users’ attitude. 5. Release Now you can be sure that you are getting closer to your goals, so it’s time to launch the game and enjoy the results.

GET A FREE QUOTE How Belitsoft Can Help Learning game development. If you have an idea of a game-based learning program, we can assist you with all the technical matters from game design to coding and post-launch support. We can do it for PCs, web, and mobile platforms. Quality assurance. We can independently test your game and ensure it is stable and works as it should. Game art. We can create stunning visuals to impress both you and your players. Consulting. We can share our experience with you so your game reaches its academic and business goals. Support. After the game has been launched we can handle all your maintenance and expansion needs. 1. Extraas Extraas is not a single game, but a whole game-based platform, designed to efficiently teach Dutch and mathematics to the school students. This platform is designed to be fun and engaging and thus improve the knowledge retention rate. Each game motivates the user to answer correctly and quickly. For example, in the “Powers of 10” making the right choice means the player’s car goes faster than the competitors’ vehicles and finishes first, giving the user that endorphin rush. In addition to being fun and effective, Extraas helps users prepare for a number of exams that the Dutch students need to pass. Extraas is web-based and makes money through subscriptions. There are four plans: 1 month - 12.95 EUR 3 months - 35.95 EUR 6 months - 69.95 EUR 12 months - 99.95 EUR This platform has launched only recently but has already got over a thousand customers who praise it and rate it a 9.6/10. For more information on Extraas see the showcase in our portfolio. 2. Ticken Ticken is a top-notch touch-typing course that uses several games to reinforce what the user has learned during lectures and exercises. The egg-catcher game. Ticken utilizes a proprietary teaching method that allows learners to increase their typing speed to 140 characters per minute after only 15 hours of training. This is done by introducing effective exercises and having users type actual words almost immediately, instead of dwelling on the nonsensical letter combinations. After a few lessons, the learners can play games to unwind and reinforce what they’ve studied at the same time. The shark game. Ticken is a SaaS platform and earns money by selling access to the course. There are four packages: The basic course costs 79.95 EUR The basic course + a Skinny Typehelp keyboard cover cost 89.95 EUR The basic course + a typing test that grants the learner a certificate costs 99.95 EUR The basic course + test and Skinny Typehelp cost 106.35 EUR Ticken has become a huge success with over 111,000 satisfied customers. Its average rating is 8,7/10. See our portfolio showcase for details on TET development. 3. TET TET (Theorie Examen Trainer) is a web-based driving theory course. It includes training specific to the cars, motorcycles, and scooters The core of the training program consists of mock tests that have questions similar to the real thing. If the user answers wrongly they get an explanation of the correct answer and the reason for it. Then the question gets shuffled among the others and reappears later so the learner can try again and get it right. Besides, the intersection negotiation rules are taught through a mini-game. TET is a SaaS platform that sells subscriptions. There are four packages: Access for 1 month costs 19.95 EUR Access for 2 months costs 29.95 EUR Access for 4 months costs 39.90 EUR Access for 6 months costs 59.85 EUR The driving course has proven to be 8 times more effective than classroom-based training or similar DVD-based courses. As a result, more than 22,000 people have already purchased and completed TET. The average rating for it is 8.2 out of 10. See the showcase in our portfolio for details on how we helped our customer bring TET to life. 4. Dragonbox Elements Dragonbox Elements is a learning game that, in the words of its developers, “secretly teaches kids geometry”. “Elements” sends the player on a quest to defeat the evil dragon Osgard and save the island, but this is a well-thought-out motivation system. The game is based on Euclid’s “Elements” and uses a narrative and several puzzles to teache players the basic theorems and axioms of geometry. Dragonbox Elements is intended mostly for children age 8 and up but is played by everyone including people over 40. This game is sold via application markets. It costs USD 4.99 on AppStore and 4.39 on PlayMarket. Dragonbox Elements has over 10k downloads on PlayMarket. Although the exact install figures aren’t available, the success of the game can be extrapolated from the number of reviews: 77 on AppStore and 391 on PlayMarket. The ratings are also good: 4.4 and 4.6 respectively. 5. Pacific Pacific is a learning game designed to improve leadership skills. Unlike many other game-based eLearning products, Pacific is intended for corporate training. It targets both managers and common employees and allows them to practice teamwork, motivation, conflict resolution, and other similar skills. It is available in 11 languages: Spanish, English, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Russian, Arabic, and Turkish. The game uses a narrative approach. The plot revolves around a group of people (players) surviving in a plane crash on an uninhabited island and having to build a hot air balloon to escape. There are 6 modules, each focusing on a different part of the plot and aspect of leadership. The game proved to be popular among its target audience. Companies who bought it include high-profile corporations like Fujitsu, MAN, Bombardier, and LG. 6. My Herc Don’t Work This game helps train Canadian airforce technicians to repair aircraft engines. It is focused on the Lockheed C-130 Hercules (“Herc”). My Herc Don’t Work is designed to simulate real-life interactions with both the airplane and other people who might help in determining the problem (e.g. pilots). So it includes interviews as well as technical tasks. Also, the player has to conduct research using the same resources he’d have available in reality. The game was purchased by the Canadian military and has been featured in the “Military Logistics Forum” magazine. 7. CodeMonkey CodeMonkey is a game-based platform that teaches children programming. The games are mostly puzzles that can be solved by writing code in actual programming languages (e.g. Python and CoffeeScript). There are seven courses that target different age groups, teach different skills, and focus on different languages. Some of them are compatible with Common Core standards, as well as CSTA and UK Computing Programme. CodeMonkey has a free trial option as well as two kinds of subscriptions. Teacher options include the School, District, and After School plans with varying perks. The pricing is custom, you have to reach out to the developers for a quote. Parent options include two plans: Parent and Home School. The first one costs USD 4.95/month and offers 1 child and one parent account as well as progress tracking feature and support. The second one is 9.95/month and allows for 3 child/1 parent accounts, provides solutions to all courses, and gives access to a classroom dashboard and support. CodeMonkey has received over USD 2 million in venture funding. Now it is available in 15 languages and has 3.5 million registered users across the globe. In Israel, it is also a part of the "National Coding Olympics" organized by the country’s Ministry of Education. 8. Ruby Rei Ruby Rei teaches players foreign languages while they follow the titular character and help her complete her quest. The game is fully animated and has many language options, although most of the users play it to learn English. It is available for Windows, iOS, and Android and teaches reading, writing, listening, and speaking through over 600 interactions: puzzles, chats, etc. Although not perfect, it provides a fun environment for studying. The developers have several ways to monetize Ruby Rei. The first two levels are free, but the full game costs USD 3.39. They also have separate pricing plans for teachers. The cheapest one costs USD 17.50 per license per year and includes Ruby Rei for Windows and Chromebooks, as well as interactive exercises, animated stories, teacher’s book, and installation support. The more expensive one costs 18.95 per license per year and includes online community access and tech support. The top-shelf platinum plan needs to be discussed with the devs and gives additional support perks. Ruby Rei had over 10k installs on Android alone, and a 3.6/5 rating on both major application stores. 9. Kerbal Space Program A cult classic among the learning games, KSP puts the user in charge of a space program of an alien race and lets him design and launch spacecraft. The game is designed to teach players about celestial mechanics and rocket science in a fun and engaging way. It has great possibilities out of the box, and its huge modding community continues to expand on the features. So far the player can build and tests aircraft, rockets, satellites, space stations, rovers, and much more. It has received praise from both the players - the reviews on Steam are overwhelmingly positive - and the professionals alike. It was endorsed by NASA and Elon Musk himself for providing a reasonably accurate simulation of spacecraft. KSP is available on PC, Mac, and Linux and requires a one-time purchase. The pricing differs by region, and there are add-ons available for an additional cost. 10. Factorio Factorio is a game that teaches an instinctive understanding of supply chains and production through building automated factories. The game’s graphics might be simple, but 2 million sales over 8 years show that there is definitely something behind the scenes. The player starts by chopping wood and mining ore manually and eventually starts to create production lines that allow for making more and more complex goods - from mechanical arms to defensive turrets to defend against hostile aliens. Though the game is still in early access (expected to release in full by the middle of August 2020), it has already gathered a large fanbase and a vibrant modding community. The reviews on Steam are overwhelmingly positive. Factorio is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

GET A FREE QUOTE How Belitsoft Can Help We have more than a decade of experience in eLearning and can bring our knowledge to assist you in the following ways: Learning game development. If you want to teach something in a fun and engaging way but lack the technical chops to bring your idea to life, we can help. Consulting. If there is a problem you want to solve but are not sure how, let us know - we have addressed enough issues to give you advice worth the money you pay for it. eLearning platform development. Need a place to host your serious game? We can build you one if none of the existing platforms fit your needs. Why Enter the Game-Based Learning Market Serious games are not only effective but also profitable. According to the report by Metaari (a market analytics company), the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the game-based eLearning market is 20.2% and the revenue from such products is expected to reach USD 8.1 billion by 2022, up from the USD 3.2 billion in 2017. Game-based learning market growth by regions Although the consumers are still the top buyers (preferring mobile learning games for small children and “brain trainers” for adults), the corporations and primary schools also purchase such products quite often. However, businesses appreciate this approach more and more, buying serious games more - the growth rate is 35.7% per year. Learning games for children are the biggest moneymaker in the niche (growth rate of 21.6% and the revenues expected to triple by 2022), followed by brain trainers and language learning games. However, the learning games using virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR respectively) show the best CAGR - a whopping 47.9%. Interestingly enough, South Africa experiences the fastest growth of the game-based learning market with CAGR of 51.1%, followed by Bangladesh at 49.2%, Kenya at 48.8%, Myanmar (Burma) at 46.4%, and Nigeria at 44.1%. Countries with the fastest growing game-based learning market. All-in-all, learning games is a serious business that is becoming more popular and more profitable. Success Stories There are a number of examples of successful game-based learning startups. They combine the favorable market conditions with interesting approaches to teaching and profit as a result. Extraas Extraas is a game-based platform focused on teaching mathematics and Dutch to the high school students. The purpose of this system is to prepare students for the exams and improve their overall skills and knowledge in a fun and engaging way. This is done by using a number of serious games and gamification options like points and badges. Extraas has launched in early 2020 but has already gained a serious userbase who praise it for being effective and convenient. The average rating is 9.6 out of 10. See the Extraas case study in our portfolio to learn more about the development process. Ticken Ticken is an award-winning touch-typing course. Typing game in Ticken Ticken allows users to increase their typing speed up to 140 characters per minute over the course of 30 lessons that take 15 hours in total. It makes use of gamification (through points and leaderboards) and game-based learning as well. There are seven typing games that encourage players to test their skills in a fun environment. Ticken typing game Ticken has become hugely successful, gaining over 100,000 users and stellar reviews with the average rating of 8.6 out of 10. Read more about how we helped our customer create this application in our portfolio showcase. TET TET is an online driving theory course that allows students to quickly prepare for the exams and enjoy it. Most of the training is done through mock tests that are similar to the real thing. In addition, negotiating intersections can be learned through a fun mini-game. TET employs gamification techniques as well, including multiple progress bars and live feedback. The driving course has proven to be 8 times more effective than classroom-based training or similar DVD-based courses. As a result, more than 22,000 people have already purchased and completed TET. The average rating for it is 8.2 out of 10. Injini Injini is a collection of learning games for small children suffering from various cognitive, language, and fine motor impairments. Injinni. Source It contains a series of puzzles that each has 9 difficulty levels. All the games are designed in a way that makes them fun yet challenging enough for their target audience. The end goal is the development of motor and logic skills like matching, sequencing, patterns, and tracking moving objects. The game suite is popular, having a 4.3 out of 5 rating on AppStore. The reviewers praise its efficiency while noting its steep price. Kamibot Kamibot is a toy that teaches kids programming in a fun way. The system has hardware and software elements. The first one is a small robot that has a sensor array and a Bluetooth connector. The second is an Arduino-like environment that allows users to program the robot. Kamibot can be remotely controlled via a smartphone or a tablet. And to make it more fun, the exterior can be changed at will through various papercraft models available on the developers’ website. Kamibot was successfully funded on Kickstarter and has since expanded to include Korean and Japanese language versions. Dragonbox Elements Dragonbox Elements is a mobile game for children that “secretly teaches geometry”. The player of age 9 and up needs to build an army of geometrical shapes and save Euclid’s island from the evil dragon Osgard. All of this is done through solving puzzles and recreating proofs of Euclid’s theorems. The game supports multiple saves to allow several users to play on the same device. Dragonbox Elements turned out to be quite successful, with an average rating of 4.4 on AppStore and 4.6 on PlayMarket. Pacific Pacific is an online serious game that aims to improve the leadership capabilities of the players. The game is built around a narrative: a group of people on the way to complete a humanitarian mission find themselves on an uninhabited island and have to build a hot air balloon to fly away. It contains 6 modules that cover everything from understanding your own strength and weaknesses to effectively delegating and motivating others. Pacific targets corporate customers and counts Fujitsu, MAN, Bombardier, and LG among its customers. Time Machine VR Time Machine VR is basically an underwater “Jurassic Park” in virtual reality. As part of the game’s plot, the player is sent back in time to discover the origin of the deadly virus ravaging the Earth. To do that, the user must find and scan various underwater creatures like mosasaurs and megalodons, learning about them in the process. Time Machine VR is designed to educate about the sea creatures of the Jurassic period which are less known than their land-dwelling counterparts. The reviewers of this game praise its graphics and attention to detail as well as a relaxed learning experience it provides. However, some people feel sick while playing it and others feel that it is too boring to be worth the price. How to Launch a Game-Based Learning Startup So you’ve decided to bring your idea to life. This is how we’d advise you to go about it based on the recommendations from the founder of Startups.com. Research everything. Any successful startup provides an efficient solution to an existing problem. So should yours. Extraas founder, for example, saw that the costs for private tutors were too high and delivered an application to address this. Your idea might change as you work on it, which is fine - Instagram used to be based on the check-in feature, after all. The idea is to focus on the problem you are trying to solve and find the best way to do it. So the exact problem and the available solutions to it are the first things you need to research. Other topics include: Demand Specific target audience Expert opinions Other ways to solve the same problem 2. Develop a concept. The concept is what you would tell a person asking “what does your app do?”. Netflix, for example, could be summed up in the following sentence: “Imagine you could open your Web browser and instantly access thousands of movies and TV shows whenever you wanted them, on any device.” You can further define your concept in a presentation or an expanded description that would include all the cool features that your users will experience. The main thing is to set the users’ expectations and give them something to look forward to. 3. Build an MVP. This is the part where technical expertise comes into play. We have an abundance of it, so we’ll dwell on this step for a bit longer. The concept of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) states that you need to release the first version of your software with only the most important features. Selecting them, though, is not an easy task. Thankfully, we’ve already written an article on the topic, check it out. Other features Now you need to choose the technology to base your educational game on. We will cover three popular options. Phaser.js EXTRAAS Games made with Phaser Phaser is a free open-source framework for creating 2D games that would run in browsers on mobile and desktop devices. It is lightweight, works very well in browsers, and provides good performance. If you need to make multiple games, Phaser can be used to create a custom game engine. This decreases the overall time-to-market and costs. However, this framework is limited to 2D browser games and doesn’t allow you to step out of these rigid boundaries. Overall, Phaser is a good choice if you need something simple and inexpensive that gets the job done. Unity Adam - a short film made in Unity. Unity is a full-fledged engine that is used for all kinds of games including popular titles like Battletech and Wasteland 2. It is extremely popular among both small companies and giants like Microsoft, Sony, and Sega. Unity is free for individuals that make under USD 100k with it over the last 12 months. Business licenses start from USD 399 per year per license. There are many advantages that Unity has. It is flexible enough to create games for any platforms (including Virtual reality and weaker PCs), it is free for smaller companies, and has an asset store full of both free and paid elements that you can use to speed up the development process. Its graphics capabilities as just as good as its competitors’. Unreal Engine A Boy and His Kite - a short film made in Unreal Engine. Unreal Engine is very popular among high-end game developers. It was the foundation for the (of course) Unreal Tournament, Splinter Cell, XCOM, and many other popular titles. It also finds use in architecture, advertising, cinematography, and other areas where interactivity and high-quality visuals are in demand. This engine has a lot of presets and tools that make it easier to achieve top-notch graphics, including material editor and post-processing features. This is in part because Unreal is built mostly for 3D games, although 2D games are definitely possible to make with it. Unreal doesn’t have any licensing fees. However, if you use it to develop a commercial product, you will have to pay a 5% royalty to the developers as long as your game is making money. Another “hidden cost” associated with Unreal is the hourly rate of the developers. Programmers who know C++ (the programming language associated with this engine) command a higher price than, for example, the C# coders who work with Unity. These costs would be passed on to the customer - you. 4. Acquire customers. Once you have an MVP you will be able to attract people to actually play your learning game. At this stage, the most important thing is not to earn money but to test your ideas and get real feedback. This can be used to improve your product and get ahead of the competition. Customer acquisition is a completely different topic that people spend their whole careers learning about. Fortunately, there is an abundance of information on the topic. This article would be a good way to start. 5. Keep providing value. There is a reason customers come to you. What does your product do that makes it attractive? You will surely know the answer by the time this stage comes up. Your goal should be to expand on the value you provide and either give your users more of the same or bring extra features that improve your offering (e.g. the posts feature on YouTube). This can mean improved visuals and performance of your game, more exercises, or more subjects covered. 6. Reevaluate/Reinvent. Once you have your product up and running, monitor the customer feedback and business metrics. Is your game really as effective as you wanted it to be? Do your players like it? Does it pay you enough to keep supporting it? If the honest answer to any of these questions is “no”, you might want to rethink your approach and pivot in a different direction or even start over. For example, Slack (the popular chat for coworkers and distributed teams) grew out from a game called Glitch.

There are essential differences between gamification and game-based learning that you may want to know. It’ll help you make the best choice for your e-learning business, learning and development (L&D) department, school or university program. Dmitry Baraishuk Belitsoft’s CTO on Forbes.com Difference 1. Role A game-based learning project implies that the learner plays a role. A user of a gamified project doesn’t. A role is a powerful tool to get the user more involved with the process. Slaying zombies or saving a princess is much more interesting than solving abstract math problems. In Extraas, for example, the learner is usually playing a certain role (e.g. a driver or a man surviving in the ocean) to increase immersion and lead to better learning outcomes. The same is true for a story - the more exciting it is, the deeper the user immerses themselves in it, and the closer they associate themselves with the character. Choosing the right setting and characters that fit the target audience are of utmost importance. The role we are talking about means “becoming” a specific character in a specific setting, perhaps participating in some sort of a narrative. This is most apparent in RPGs but is also completely valid for strategies (e.g. Sim City), sports titles, racing games, and other genres. Only the exact role differs - a mayor, a team manager, a racer, etc. This role and the task before it (saving the world, expanding an empire, winning a competition, etc.) are at the forefront of any game-based learning project. Gamified products involve no such roles. There are motivating factors that a user can aim for (e.g. points or positions on a leaderboard) but throughout the whole experience, the learner remains who they are. The role itself could be uninteresting (or even somewhat repulsive) to the user, and the game could still be exciting. However, it must be logical in terms of the game’s setting. After all, not many people are willing to try dark magic, yet “Warcraft 3” is a game that an entire generation remembers fondly. Gamified projects don’t have roles like that. In TET, a driving theory course, the user just learns, and the progress bar and points are simply a motivating factor. Difference 2. User Goal In a game-based learning project, the user aims to have fun first. In a gamified project, the user intends to learn. The goal of someone playing a game is directly tied to the game itself: win the race, save the kingdom, escape the island, etc. The thing is, this can only be achieved by adhering to the rules of the game, which are designed to promote learning. E.g. in Pulse! the learner assumes the role of an ER doctor that needs to correctly diagnose the patient and provide a fitting treatment. To do that, the player can use various medical instruments and devices, run tests, have other medical staff help, and more. The end goal is saving the life of a virtual patient, the learning happens in the process. The goal of a user of gamified learning software is to acquire new knowledge or skills. E.g. in Ticken the learner comes to study touch-typing, there is no story or deeper meaning behind it. Points, leaderboards, typing games, etc. are there to better motivate, but they are just a means to an end. Difference 3. Age-Related Motivational Effects Game-based learning is more suited for children who want to play and enjoy themselves, not study. Gamification is more suited for adults who understand the necessity of learning. Children don’t yet understand the benefits of learning. The problems they solve at school are abstract, the knowledge they get can’t be directly used in their lives, at least for now. So they prefer to play, surf the Internet, watch shows, or hang out with their friends. That’s why game-based projects become so successful for this age group: they entice the users with bright visuals, engaging story, and interesting characters to “sneak in” the learning. Even if the subject itself isn’t very interesting, the game itself might be fun enough to teach: take, for example, Minecraft Education, where the (predominantly young) players look for elements and combine them, learning chemistry in the process. Adults, while also preferring to have fun, understand that learning new skills is important. They also know why do they want to study and where to apply their newfound knowledge. This begins at about 9th grade and increases as the age goes up. Moreover, the adults aren’t dependent on anyone and can provide their own entertainment. Gamification is more often used in projects that target grown-ups. One of its main benefits is protection against procrastination. The learning materials themselves might be boring, but points, badges, leaderboards, and other elements can provide the brief dopamine rush and restore the interest. Even when it takes a while to apply the skills and knowledge that the course teaches (e.g. foreign language apps) small rewards still give the users something to look forward to. Gamification works when the learner is already interested in the subject or is otherwise motivated to study it. Difference 4. In-system rewards In game-based learning projects, rewards directly affect the completion of the game. In gamified projects, rewards only affect the users’ motivation. Learning games include rewards that affect the game itself: new levels, tools and apparel for the character, in-app currency, etc. The better you learn - the stronger your character becomes and the closer to the grand finale of the story you get. This is a self-reinforcing cycle: in the beginning of the game, the character could barely fight an oversized rat, and the player wasn’t too good at the subject. But later, as the player learns more, their character’s abilities also grow - this motivates the user to play more. Moreover, game-based projects often have some form of in-app currency (points, coins, etc.) that can be spent on in-game items, levels, characters, etc. Making a player curious to try out all the cool things is a powerful motivator. Gamified projects reward a player with a sense of achievement (badges and points) or social proof (leaderboards), but neither of these factors directly affect the course completion. The points and levels can serve as something to be proud of, but they make no meaningful difference in the learning process. In addition, the points you earn either can’t be spent or have a very limited application (e.g. Duolingo has an option to buy new clothing for the mascot). Difference 5. Content prioritization Game-based projects are games first. Gamified projects are learning courses first. Gamified projects are learning courses that have an extra layer of motivation. Like in Ticken, where the people spend most of their time doing practical typing exercises and the gamification just increases users’ interest. Game-based learning is primarily a game, the learning is tied in as part of the game mechanics.

As one of the experienced elearning software development companies, we specialize in creating comprehensive eLearning solutions tailored to your needs, with the potential to integrate advanced gamification capabilities. These can range from simple elements like badges to complex features such as branching scenarios, immersive interactions, and AR mini-games. Our team is skilled in crafting visually engaging designs that promote interactivity, and we can incorporate real-time performance analysis tools for immediate feedback. We have the expertise to develop AI chatbots for enhanced interaction and can design mobile-friendly solutions for convenient learning on-the-go. Our capabilities include creating custom learning management systems with features like complex workflows and personalized learning paths, along with a sophisticated system for calculating achievement points. We can also enrich the learning experience by integrating a variety of gamification elements, including storytelling, points, leaderboards, and rewards, ensuring a comprehensive, engaging, and effective learning journey. What is Gamification Gamification is defined as the application of game elements in a non-game activity or environment. It is sometimes confused with a different approach called “game-based learning” - using play to achieve specific educational outcomes. For example, giving an app user a badge as a reward for studying 10 days in a row is gamification. Playing a word game to expand foreign language vocabulary is game-based learning. Both concepts have been in use for hundreds of years: ancient and medieval commanders played chess to prepare for war, Boy Scouts received badges to reward mastery of certain skills and even lion cubs develop their hunting skills by playing with each other. Today gamification and game-based learning are used at schools, Fortune 500 businesses, and even the military. Benefits and Risks A research team from the University of Tampere, Finland, analyzed the existing studies on the effect of gamification in learning and found that “the results reported in the reviewed studies are strongly positively oriented,” although not without certain caveats (more on that later).  Benefits 1. Learning effectiveness Gamification leads to improved learning outcomes, as evidenced by a number of examples. As part of an experiment by the University of Alcala, researchers have introduced a gamification system to the “Qualifications for users of ICT” course. This system included a leaderboard, personal stats, 36 challenge achievements, and 7 participation achievements. The students who have got at least 6 of those “got significantly higher final scores” than their counterparts who have used the non-gamified version. In addition, digital learning didn’t stand in the way of the real-world study: “there is no evidence that can confirm that the gamified experience yields worse results in written examinations or somehow prevents students from participating in class activities”. Another study showed that the group participating in a gamification experiment was much more successful in completing exercises without mistakes, although the overall test scores were only marginally above the control group. However, the authors of the paper point out that the grades tell only part of the truth, as they don’t measure knowledge retention or transfer of learned skills.  2. Increased Motivation Studies show that gamification increases people’s desire to learn.  In the experiment by the University of Aalto researchers, 74% of the participants reported increased motivation: “I got a feeling like in a car game. It was funny how much I wanted to unlock them (the badges - author).” This was supported by fact that the students in the gamified group spent more time studying: 13.4 hours compared to 11.4 hours in the control group. An almost 15% increase is nothing to sneeze at. Interestingly enough, the badges which were given for early turn-in of the assignments were somewhat successful in dealing with traditional student procrastination. Another analysis of published studies on gamification also noted that people were more motivated to learn when there were game elements involved. 3. Fun While it is hard to quantify people’s enjoyment, it can and does have demonstrable results. Folding virus proteins is not what most people would consider doing in their spare time. But when turned into a game, it can yield extraordinary effect: using Foldit the enthusiastic gamers were able to solve a problem that has puzzled biochemists for 15 years. It took the players just three weeks. The analysis of studies that we’ve mentioned above, also notes that all of the papers reported increased engagement and enjoyment. Risks Gamification is not a one-size-fits-all approach, which is the root of most of the risks present in its implementation. 1. Requires buy-in by learners In some cases, introducing game elements only made their results worse. Professor Ethan Mollick from Wharton conducted a study on “Slam-Dunk” - a basketball-themed sales game that rewarded players for cold calling, closing deals, getting leads, and other sales activities. The research showed that while it was beneficial for many participants, some were turned off by it and even suffered a hit to their KPIs. The difference was in consent - players who actively embraced the game succeeded, while those who didn’t want to play got negative feelings towards their job and company. “Without consent — people’s sense of willingness and involvement in the game — a company is left trying to create “mandatory fun,” as Mollick put it. 2. Might give wrong motivation This risk is twofold: firstly, what you thought to be encouraging to the learners might actually have the opposite effect. Secondly, the motivation to learn might be replaced by the desire to simply earn more badges or get a higher position on the leaderboard, which will hamper knowledge retention. In the previously mentioned study by the Aalto University researchers, the “early bird” badges caused students to move from turning in assignments right before the deadline to frantically completing them as soon as possible, even before the topics were introduced in class. The badge for completing an assignment without errors on the first try also wasn’t the best motivator for careful study because “once the first mistake is made, the badge is lost and no longer offers an incentive to avoid resubmissions”. In each of these examples, the authors note that a more careful approach to the badge condition is needed to stimulate the desired behavior. Other researchers point out that points and badges can be a shallow attempt at giving learners extrinsic motivation. The focus shifts from the learning outcome towards earning the rewards and knowledge retention suffers as a result. 3. More information is needed Compared to some other fields, there was relatively little research done on gamification. Prof. Jonna Koivisto stated that she analyzed about 800 studies on this topic, but only 300 of them were based on empirical information. As such, “we can’t very confidently say much of anything about what works and what doesn’t”. How Does Gamification Work This approach is based on human psychology and works in three ways. 1. Goal-setting A badge, a level, a position on a leaderboard - these are visible and attainable goals. As a result, the learners set their expectations higher (this gives a stronger motivation to achieve them) and increased performance. Moreover, reaching your goals is satisfying, which pushes people towards new achievements. As a side effect, there is completionism - in the study by the Aalto University researchers, many students worked towards 100% grade, even though 90% was enough. As the authors point out, getting the maximum result could be gamification in itself - each percent is a point. 2. Social interaction and competition Humans inherently want acceptance by others of our kind and recognition of their worth. Social aspects of the gamified environment, like a leaderboard, or an open profile that proudly displays the user’s achievements, directly appeal to both of these motivators which have a proven effect on the effectiveness of learning. Competition is a bit more tricky in this regard. Some people are naturally drawn to it, so they strive to get to the top of the leaderboard. Others are okay with just getting on the least of the best learners. Still others are discouraged by it. As stated previously, this matter greatly depends on the context. 3. Usefulness and Ease of use. When a user finds that a system is enhancing their performance (“perceived usefulness”) and is obstacle-free (“ease of use”), it increases the value of that system. A well-gamified educational program fits both of these criteria and causes learners to spend more time in it. Popular Gamification Methods There are many game-design elements that can be used in an e-learning environment. We will list the five most widespread ones. Note that the users shouldn’t lose their hard-earned rewards - this can be very demotivating. Points When a learner completes an assignment, they receive a certain number of points as a reward. They present an understandable benchmark to gauge a user’s progress. Points in Mondly - a language-learning application. Leaderboard A leaderboard appeals to our need for status and social acceptance. It can also be very motivating for the naturally competitive learners. This feature should only be used for positive reinforcement - “loserboards” are very demotivating. Leaderboard in Duolingo - a language learning app. Source Achievement Badges To reward a specific behavior, like continuous study or careful preparation, a user might be awarded a badge to commemorate their achievement. Badges in NaNoWriMo - a platform for aspiring writers Levels In a role-playing game, a character can gain experience and increase their level. The same approach can be applied to a user in eLearning software. For example, a hundred points are enough to reach level 2. The levels can be used to scale the challenge difficulty to fit the learner, as well as serve as a demonstration of the user’s skills and persistence. Levels in Duolingo - the crowns denote the level of a specific skill. Source Story Adding a narrative increases a user’s motivation. This can be something as simple as launching a rocket to the moon, with each step bringing the learner a bit closer to success, or an elaborate story with conflict, setting and 3-dimensional characters. GamiCAD - gamified tutorial for AutoCAD users. Source Gamification in Practice There are many companies that successfully use gamification to improve the outcomes for internal and external users alike. Ticken Ticken is an innovative touch-typing course developed by Belitsoft for a Dutch serial entrepreneur Martin Beijer. It utilizes a unique training method and a simple, yet effective gamification system to get ahead of the competitors. As a result, a learner needs only 15 hours to raise their typing speed to 140 characters per minute, and 98% of the users pass the final exam on the first try. Since its launch in 2010, more than 100.000 people bought the course and the average user rating is still at 8,6/10. The gamification suite in Ticken includes a progress bar so the users can see their progress in the exercise, a leaderboard, and seven learning games to improve knowledge retention. For more information on Ticken see this case study. Duolingo Duolingo is one of the most popular language-learning apps in the world with over 200 million users and dozens of available languages. Gamification is one of its core advantages and a major factor in its success, as stated by Zan Gilani, its product manager. The relevant features include but not limited to: Points that also double as in-app currency. They can be spent on purchasing cosmetic items for the mascot or special bonus lessons. Achievements that reward learning streaks, social interaction, lesson completion, etc. Leaderboards separated by language, location, friends group, etc. Levels to display the user’s skills in specific areas of their chosen language. Mascot that provides support, motivation, and meme potential. For a more detailed analysis of the Duolingo see this article. Achievements in Duolingo Deloitte Leadership Academy Deloitte, one of the four largest accounting and auditing firms in the world, has found out that leadership can literally make or break companies: good leadership adds 15% to valuation in the eyes of the investment consultants, while bad one reduces this number by 20%. So it is no wonder that Deloitte themselves have an advanced leadership training program. It was a powerhouse already, with courses from institutions like Harvard, Stanford, and Melbourne Business School. But gamification has made it even more attractive: in five years since its inception in 2008 it had over 20.000 users with a 37% increase in returns to the site after the game elements were added. The gamification methods used in Deloitte Leadership Academy include Badges.  Adaptive leaderboards. There is a separate leaderboard for each general “level” of user, so that they can compete in their own weight class. Moreover, the results are reset each week, so everyone has a chance to get to the top and no one would miss out if they have to take a break (a vacation or a sick leave, for example). Personalization. The user’s profile can be modified and connected to their Twitter and LinkedIn profiles to improve engagement. Deloitte Leadership Academy. Source How to Gamify Well Professors Armstrong and Landers, who have hands-on gamification experience, suggest starting with a tried and true ADDIE: Assess the needs Design Develop Implement Evaluate. The first step should be finding the pain points that gamification needs to address. When the problems are identified and the goals are set, you will have a direction that your program needs to take. It may also drive you to other methods of improving your eLearning process. Deloitte experts recommend adapting your strategy to the player types you have in your company. Depending on your corporate culture, you may attract different personalities that have different motivations: some enjoy exploring content, others like competition, still others want to achieve 100% in everything. A Harvard Business Review contributor and an HR company partner Jeanne C. Meister advises to set up a plan for tracking the effectiveness of your gamification. Set up KPIs (engagement level, completion rate, etc.), the benchmarks and the means to analyze whether the program is achieving the desired results.

How Belitsoft Can Help With Gamification Gamification consulting. Insights on how to improve your existing training program or guided creation of a new one with game elements. Gamified eLearning apps. Web, desktop, and mobile applications that help your employees or customers learn better. Course development. Creating a new course with game elements included. Learning games development. Using a game-based learning approach for the benefit of your company. Business gamification. Designing a motivation system for non-learning activities. GET A FREE QUOTE What is Gamification in Corporate Training? Gamification is defined as using game-design elements in a non-game situation. This is different from game-based learning where gaming is used to teach players certain knowledge or skills. The line gets blurred in case of learning games, as many of them are just interactive quizzes in disguise. In corporate environments it is used to increase the learners’ motivation, make training more fun, improve engagement, and, as a result, help the employees train better. While it is not without its risks, gamification has proven its effectiveness and has rightfully been popular in the corporate training centers for the last decade or so. Peculiarities of Gamification in Corporate Training There are several aspects that make gamifying corporate learning a bit different. This is directly tied to the principles of adult training and human psychology. For a gamified training program to be effective, it must: 1. Grant People Autonomy The program shouldn’t force people to study. Rather it should create an atmosphere that gives learners a feeling of being in charge. When this happens, the motivation soars, and the learning outcomes improve as a result. On the other hand, if the program feels like a dictator that makes people log in just to avoid punishment, it can actually decrease the employee effectiveness, including the work-related KPIs. Mandatory fun is detrimental. 2. Provide Value No amount of bells and whistles will make the training program attractive to your employees if this program doesn’t provide something useful. But if the learning can bring meaningful results and bring them fast, people’s trust in it skyrockets.  One of the ways to provide that is having bite-sized learning materials that answer specific work-related questions. Employees can turn to them whenever they need to learn how something is done and use the knowledge they gained right away - both doing their job and improving their skills. 3. Show Competence The better a person is at a chosen activity, the more they want to go back to it. Gamification should reinforce this aspect by providing fun interactive quizzes, rewards for special achievements and possibly some sort of leaderboard to reinforce the competitive spirit. Advantages of Gamification over Other Training Methods Corporate training is the area that the employees are most interested in gamifying. They have a good reason for it. Gamification has many advantages that put it ahead of other approaches to learning. 1. Increased Motivation and Engagement A gamified learning environment needs acceptance from the learners themselves to be effective. Fortunately, when there is consent, badges, points, and other similar elements make people spend more time studying voluntarily, whether it is because of perfectionism, competitive spirit or simple fun.  As they are more willing to learn, knowledge retention improves accordingly. 2. Better Learning Habits With the right design of game elements, you can foster behaviors that make learning more effective. For example, giving badges for revisiting tests can improve knowledge retention by 15-20%. This requires precise planning, but the results are more than worth it. 3. Timely Feedback This benefit is twofold. On the one hand, this helps learners understand their strengths and weaknesses, as well as how far along the learning path they have gone. Knowing that they are good at time management (via the “Early bird” achievement”) but not so good at precision (having won no badges for perfectly done tests) will show a user what they need to pay attention to, in order to become better. On the other hand, gamification features show the employer the problematic areas in their employees’ skills. Moreover, it can function as a supplement or even a replacement for traditional performance reviews, helping promote the best and address issues with the workers who need improvement. 4. Better Engagement Another advantage of gamification is the feeling of doing meaningful work that learners experience. There is hardly a need to repeat the fact that happy employees are productive employees and the ones who would stay with the company instead of seeking other job opportunities. Risks Note that gamification is a tool, and just like with any other tool it can be misused to a detrimental effect. Just slapping a bunch of badges and a leaderboard onto your learning app can actually make things worse. One example is the Disneyland Resort Hotels debacle. The company has implemented an electronic leaderboard which showed the performance results for laundry staff. It showed green light for workers who were meeting their production quotas, yellow - for those lagging behind and red for the underperforming. This turned out to be an “electronic whip” forcing people to skip bathroom breaks and punishing pregnant women for not being able to keep up.  Another is the “Slam-Dunk” sales game, which turned out to be only partially successful. “Slam-Dunk” visualized achieving results and making progress (e.g. calling, closing deals, or getting leads) as basketball actions like the eponymous slam-dunk. However, it was only working for the employees who actively consented to its use and endorsed the concept. Those who weren’t on board with the game suffered decreased productivity from “mandatory fun”. Popular Gamification Features There are five gamification methods that are used most often. Points Each lesson, quiz, and other activity is assigned a certain point value. The more of these the learner completes, the higher his overall rating. While the points themselves may be worth nothing in real life but they are an indicator of the user’s commitment and success. Leaderboards People who aren’t very competitive by nature can likely ignore the leaderboards completely. But those who thrive on trying to outdo their fellows, will put in real effort to get to the top. Some ways to make leaderboards more effective is creating separate ones for different departments and wiping them clean every week so the new learners have a chance to get the first place. Note that a leaderboard should only be used for positive reinforcement. “Loserboards” are a great way to bring down morale and make everyone hate their job. Badges Badges are used to reward specific achievements, like continuously studying 7 days in a row, or completing the course ahead of your peers. They might seem straightforward, but need careful approach to be effective. For example giving a badge for passing the test perfectly on the first time is deceptive: if the learner makes one mistake, their chance to get the badge is gone forever and it ceases to be a motivating factor. Levels The points mentioned above can also be used as experience to help the learner gain “levels” just like a character in a role-playing game. The purpose of this is twofold: firstly, the level can be an indication of the work that the learner put in the training; secondly, it could be used to scale the difficulty of training so that it provides adequate challenge to the user.  Narrative A human is sometimes defined as a “storytelling animal”, which is an indication of how we all like stories. Using a narrative can give meaning to the actions that the learner takes over the course of the program (e.g. solving a riddle is saving a princess) and thus makes the experience more enjoyable and effective. Examples of Gamification in Corporate Training There are many specialty learning areas that can be gamified. Here are some examples. Onboarding A good way to make the first impression on your new employees is to give them a fun and engaging way to learn the basics of their new company. One example of it is Xerox’s Stepping Up application. The leaderboard in Stepping Up. Source This is a gamified software that the company uses to train new managers. It allows them to solve “quests” that are based on the real situations they can face in their job. Moreover, some quests can only be solved by a team of people thus improving the users’ teamwork and leadership skills. Stepping Up is also integrated with Yammer, giving the application a bit of extra social effect. Employee Engagement Deloitte Leadership Academy is a resource for training the leadership skills of the executives. The company fully intends to preserve its place among the Big 4 accounting firms, and so has made sure that its management is constantly improving. Besides the learning materials from top educational institutions like Harvard and Stanford, it features a well-designed gamification system. The leaderboards are especially noteworthy: they are separated by skill levels, departments, and locations, so everyone can compete in their “weight class”. Moreover, the leaderboards are refreshed each week, so that the new hires can have a shot at the first place too. Compliance Training Game elements can be used to help people learn about the company code of conduct and official regulations. For example, Bridgestone, a multinational car parts corporation, holds the “Bridgestone Compliance Battle Royale” for its teams across the world. The participants compete in a series of quizzes via the Kahoot! app. The winners get rewarded with a real trophy and employees with the highest scores get individual gift bags as well. PriceWaterhouseCoopers, one of the Big 4 auditing companies, has used gamification to approach cybersecurity training. They have developed a “Game of Threats” - an interactive game that helps both coaches and the executives they train to learn about defending from data breaches in a fun and engaging environment.  Game of Threats. Source The players are divided into teams called “Threat Actor” and “Company”. Each team has a number of cards they can play - such as “DDOS Attack” for the hackers and “Network Scans” for the defenders. The players decide which actions they should take to win, while the trainers give advice and provide feedback. Skill Training SAP, a large business software corporation, uses a game called “Road Warrior” to train its sales reps. SAP Road Warrior. Source This is actually an interactive quiz disguised as a “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”-style game. It simulates a “pre-call” session with a customer and rewards players for making choices that bring them closer to closing a deal. As a salesperson progresses through the game they can level up and gain badges to show off their skills. Advice on Gamifying Corporate Learning According to the Scientific American magazine, there are three main elements in any motivational program, including gamification of corporate eLearning: Autonomy. When people have a feeling of control they tend to be more determined in reaching their goals. Value. If people feel that they are learning something useful, they are more motivated. Competence. The better a person becomes at something, the more enjoyment this activity brings.  Best practices in gamification are based on these elements. Clear Goals While improving the mood of your employees is a noble endeavor, to achieve success you need a specific and measurable business goal. It could be improved knowledge retention rate, increased sales, shorter meeting times, etc. - anything that directly affects employee productivity and the company’s bottom line.  Your learners should have clear goals too. Knowing that they will be rewarded for successful completion of a quiz without mistakes shows them which behavior is beneficial for them and, in turn, to the company.  Carrot, not Stick The example of Disneyland shows that gamification elements are beneficial only if used as positive reinforcement. Otherwise, they would be just as effective in driving people away from the eLearning program and demotivating them.  Appropriate Challenge What is the point of an achievement badge if anyone can get it with little to no effort? Gamification elements should give learners a challenge that fits their skill level. Too much or too little, and it risks becoming either boring or demotivating. This is the reason companies reset their leaderboards, for example: otherwise, some employees will hoard the top spots making it impossible for others to reach and forcing one group to rest on their laurels and another to give up on the competition whatsoever. Varying Incentives Depending on the nature of people’s work, they will be motivated by different things. So it is vital to design your corporate learning gamification program in a way that incentivizes its target audience specifically. For example, engineers developing a device and salespeople promoting it will be driven by different things.

How Belitsoft Can Help We offer:  Recording your Flash-based content as a video file and reuploading it to your eLearning system (e.g. LMS). Remaking the necessary course including elearning games with HTML5. This option is available even if you don’t have Flash source files. Redeveloping the content from the ground up using the latest advancements in UI/UX and compatibility with modern eLearning standards GET A FREE QUOTE Example of Flash to HTML Conversion This is the latest case of our work on converting Flash content to HTML5. Our customer was a serial entrepreneur in the eLearning domain. We have worked on three projects with him, so it is no wonder that he chose us to convert his flash-based content to a new format.  Approach We were tasked with converting a touch-typing course. It was largely Flash-based, as most of it was dedicated to practical exercises and learning games. There was also some video content.  The course was extremely successful, with over 100.000 satisfied customers. It allowed people to learn touch-typing in just 15 hours and utilized modern teaching methods. As such, it didn’t need an in-depth rework, so we decided to convert the course as-is.  Process The conversion process included the following stages: Course audit. Authoring tool selection. Conversion. Testing. Challenges The biggest conversion challenge was remaking the learning games, as we weren’t able to just switch them to HTML5 through authoring tools. However, we had gained a lot of experience in serious games and even developed our own game engine while working on another project. This helped make the transition smooth.  Result  As a result, the course was completely converted to the new technology while keeping all its competitive advantages intact. The online version was replaced seamlessly, without any negative effects on sales or academic effectiveness. Why HTML5? The new de-facto standard in rich eLearning content is now HTML5, which is the technology you should switch to. Besides the inherent drawbacks of Flash, the new option has its own advantages: Works everywhere. HTML5 is supported by all browsers on all modern devices. It is included by default, whereas Flash has to be installed separately. More powerful. The newer technology can provide better graphics and animations. Better security. Flash has always been notorious for having a ton of vulnerabilities. HTML5, on the other hand, won’t allow hackers to take over your computer. New norm. HTML5 is popular with eLearning developers and other similar professionals across the globe. This implies community support and a wide pool of contractors to choose from.  Pros of converting Flash to HTML5 by outsourcing If you are reading this article, this probably means you don’t have an in-house development team capable of making the transition. So you will have to turn to third-party providers. Here is what you gain by working with them: Lower price. For various reasons, outsourcing companies tend to be less expensive than in-house developers. Our development center, for example, has a favorable tax regime that allows us to offer lower prices without compromising the quality. Experience. There are many companies that specialize in eLearning and have already done jobs similar to what you need. They have experience working with relevant authoring tools and can finish the work faster. Manpower. Larger outsourcers can dedicate many people to your project and complete it quicker.  Of course, getting these benefits would depend on the company you choose to work with. Make sure to select the one with experience and a good reputation, as evidenced by client reviews on independent sites (e.g. Clutch) and portfolio cases.  Cost reduction techniques This is what you can do to save money on converting Flash to HTML5. Recording animations. If your existing flash animations are good, you shouldn’t abandon them. Use the recording function in your authoring tool to capture them and transfer them to the new version of the course. Reusing content. Depending on the approach you chose, your visuals might need an update. However, there will definitely be elements that are alright as is. They can be transferred to the HTML5-based course. Reusing rich media. Audio and video recordings used for your course don’t always have to be rebuilt. New authoring tools allow upgrading them, which will save you time and money. Use templates. eLearning templates will save you a ton of time on planning layouts. Just select the fitting ones for each type of slide (video, text, quiz, etc.). Choose the appropriate conversion strategy Once you’ve decided to abandon Flash in favor of something new, there are three ways you can go.  Record as video. If your course doesn’t have any interactive elements, it can be recorded and reuploaded to whatever eLearning system you use. This is the simplest and cheapest option but it is also the most limited. Convert as is. If you are satisfied with everything that the course does but want to transition to a new format, you can use a modern authoring tool to change the content to a modern format. Such tools include Articulate Storyline 360, Adobe Captivate, Lectora Inspire, and more. Redevelop. This option implies either restructuring the course and updating it with new information and teaching approaches (e.g. gamification and microlearning) or rebuilding it from scratch. It is the best one if your course has long been in need of an update. It is also the most expensive of the three but can be made cheaper by reusing content and applying modern templates. Flash-to-HTML5 Conversion Process 1. Course audit In the case of a company having several learning programs, the management needs to take stock of them. This is important for choosing the courses for conversion and selecting the appropriate ways to approach the process.  Some courses would take priority. These could be, for example, compliance training programs (in the case of the internal corporate training) or the biggest moneymakers (in the case of commercial educational programs).  In addition, this is the time to choose content that could be reused in the newer versions. After all, why spend extra money to remake something that already does its job? 2. Choosing the right tools If you just need to turn Flash into video, a screen recorder capable of making high-definition videos would suffice. If your company uses authoring tools to make more eLearning content, perhaps they will be appropriate for the conversion. Check the feature list to see whether they can turn Flash into HTML5-based content.  However, if you need to make large-scale changes in your content and don’t have relevant specialists on staff, you would be better off contracting an eLearning development company. This would be faster and more cost-effective than learning how to work with authoring tools yourself or building a new department from scratch.  3. Conversion Once the preliminary work is complete, it’s time to get to the actual conversion. While the process is relatively straightforward with recording and direct transition from Flash to HTML5, redevelopment requires much more work. It would include instructional design, creating templates, and likely prototyping.  If you hired somebody to do this work for you, you could make the process faster and cheaper by providing the contractor with as much information and data as possible. Flash files (.swf and .flv),  .xml files, media content, storyboards - each piece can speed up the process, and such work is usually priced by the hour.  Another thing you could do to help convert your courses faster is making a communication plan that would determine the availability of the subject matter experts. Your contractor would likely be proficient in eLearning development work but not in the topic of the course itself. Having regular meetings/calls with the subject matter experts would ensure that they get the information they need and use it to give you their best work. 4. Testing Rechecking everything and making sure it works as intended. There are many things that need to be in order: Functionality Visual consistency Visual fidelity Mobile compatibility Content accuracy Etc. Quality assurance is not just a stage in development. It is a way of working and a set of policies. If you contracted an eLearning development company, make sure that they have the right approach to this (evidenced, for example, by ISO 9001 certification or the like). Choose the right rapid eLearning authoring tool If you have decided to handle the conversion yourself, you need to select the correct instrument for it. Adobe has announced the Flash deprecation date three years in advance, so many authoring tool developers have implemented the conversion functionality in their products for their users’ convenience.  These are some of the most popular options: Adobe Captivate. Developed by the same company that maintained Flash, it is a solid choice for conversion. Captivate can be a little complicated to learn. But it allows making good simulations and has a convenient HTML Tracker feature that lists all unsupported objects for each slide, saving you time on locating problems. Articulate Storyline. This authoring tool allows for the easy creation of interactive elements. It also is very straightforward to learn and use. A large library of free extra content (characters, pictures, etc.) would make converting to HTML5 easier. Lectora Inspire. One of the best choices for text-heavy courses, thanks to its innovative approach to displaying information. It is also useful in the cases when you need to translate eLearning content, as it has dedicated options for that. iSpring Suite. This tool can quickly create PowerPoint-based courses, as well as converting Flash to HTML5. It has a wide variety of templates to save time on the conversion without compromising the visuals. Best Practices These are the best practices you can use to ensure your courses are converted on time and within budget. Share everything. All the course information you have - source files, storyboards, video, etc. - should be given to your vendor in advance. It would help them estimate the work more precisely and do it quicker and cheaper. Keep time zones in mind. Your vendor might have a development center far from you, and the time difference should be taken into account. Use this to your advantage by sending requests and the reviewed materials to the time the vendor’s workday begins. Compartmentalize. Break the conversion process down in a way so that each time period ends with specific content delivered. This will help you get some of the courses updated faster and figure out the most optimal working process for your case. Set up the risk management process. Any project carries certain risks. Establish clear procedures that you and your vendor need to go through to address those risks. Use collaboration tools. Applications like Lectora ReviewLink and its counterparts for other authoring tools allow for quick and precise reviews of prepared content. You can leave specific comments and expect them to be addressed ASAP. Testing, as an integral part of any development work, has its own set of best practices. Create a style guide. This will help ensure visual consistency throughout all the courses that need conversion. Create a review team. Put together a group of people - subject matter experts, stakeholders, etc. - and have them review the converted content. Each person should check the elements that they specialize in. Test on mobile devices. Most of the development work is done on desktop/laptop computers. Check it on smartphones and tablets to ensure the converted course looks and runs well there.

What is gamification Gamification implies integrating game mechanics and design techniques into non-game experiences. This process motivates audiences participation and engagement while making mundane tasks more fun and interactive. ‘If you want somebody to do something, go to the next screen, or get them to physically go to a place, use the location services, have them check-in, and give a happy little exploding confetti reward for that on the phone, and you’d be shocked at how effective that is.’ Amanda Havard, Health: ELT CEO For more information on gamification as a whole and the mechanisms behind its effectiveness, see our article. In the context of health IT, gamification is typically employed in medication adherence, medical education-related simulations, fitness and wellness apps. The strategy is to use rewards for users who complete mandated tasks, and typically works in the following ways: By filling a progress bar to measure success. Thus, developers invoke progress-related instinct. ‘An estimated 50% of patients with chronic diseases do not follow the prescribed treatment. Gamified health tracking creates an environment that keeps the patient from straying from the appropriate therapy path.’ Dr. Bertalan Meskó, Director at the Medical Futurist Institute By allowing users to share progress and results with their friends/other players or designing an “honor roll”. Thus, developers create a competitive spirit to stimulating the use of the service. Fitness App. Reword Unlock by Olha Hurenko Source:dribbble.com/shots/4492657-Fitness-App-Award-Unlocked By awarding points, medals, stars, achievement badges or giving virtual currency during each stage of progress. Thus, developers create a sense of accomplishment and increasing motivation levels. Kenko Health Avatar by Yoann Baunach Source: dribbble.com/shots/4288089-Kenko-The-avatar-of-your-health In specialized health apps targeted to older users, individuals with movement or sensory impairments, gamification experiences are created using real-time biofeedback from motion-capture sensors and gesture-control technology. ‘Games don't need to be complex. We tapped into dance as a form of engagement.’ Dr. Doug Elwood, Executive Health and Wellness Leader An often overlooked benefit of gamified healthcare applications is their potential for gathering relevant patient data. Software like this motivates users to give more feedback which, in turn, helps companies find trends, make products that address the needs of the target audience better, and even create new business models. However, due to legal restrictions in countries like Germany and France, gathering data requires the attention of the corporate lawyers, as well as developers. Moreover, it presents an ethical and a cybersecurity challenge.  Gamified healthcare is a big deal: one report predicts the market for it to reach 4.2 billion dollars by 2022. Another one forecasts it to grow to a whopping 13.5 billion dollars by 2025. Look how gamification techniques can be used in e-learning projects. Or get help to implement game elements in your app. Gamifying healthcare: case studies The move to gamification of healthcare, however, seems to be a welcome one. According to PwC’s Top Health Industry Issues of 2017 report, 78% of respondents aged between 25 and 44 said they would use some form of gamification in their treatment. What software healthcare solutions are more relevant? Fitness and nutrition apps Self-management chronic condition and medication apps Healthcare apps for kids Physical therapy and rehabilitation apps Emotional health apps Motivating Wheelchair-bound Patients to Exercise Many people suffering from spinal trauma or dysfunction and having to use a wheelchair are also at risk of cardiovascular diseases. Exercise is difficult for them and the fact that they are sitting for most of the time only exacerbates the situation. Daily activities don’t help maintain the necessary level of activity. Fortunately, there is GameWheel - an interface that allows connecting wheelchair to the computer as a controller in specialized games. According to a study by scientists from several American universities, it proved effective in both motivating the patients to exercise more and in making the periods of exercise more productive. The study participants used GameWheel to play a racing game where pushing their physical push on the wheel translated to the speed of the car on the screen. As a result, the heart rate, oxygen consumption, and ventilation were higher in the players than in their non-playing counterparts. Moreover, some reported that they were so absorbed in the game, that they forgot they were exercising. Helping Cancer Patients The “Re-Mission” game series has proven to be effective in helping children and young adults suffering from various forms of cancer. Re-Mission: Nanobot’s Revenge Not taking their medicines on time is a widespread problem in patients - up to 50% of them either fail to take the drugs regularly or don’t file the prescription at all. In the case of life-threatening diseases, it becomes extra important to solve. That’s why a non-profit HopeLab Foundation has commissioned a serious game to address the issue. “Re-Mission” put the player in control of the “Roxy” nanobot that was to fight cancer with chemoblaster, radiation gun, antibiotic rocket, and other weapons derived from actual medical treatments. It proved to be a huge success, so “Re-Mission 2”, a suite of free-to-play online games was launched. These games improved the treatment adherence rates, and also increased the patients’ self-efficacy - confidence that the disease can be defeated. Fitness and nutrition apps Apple’s 2014 App Store review of 100+ health apps proved a direct correlation between gamification elements embed and high user ratings. MyFitnessPal used the highest number of gamification techniques. We all know Fitbit as one of the early innovators in the wearables game. However, the company is positioning itself as the go-to device for employers. Fitbit has almost 1.500 corporate wellness program customers including BP, IBM, and Bank of America. Most of them give their employees Fitbit devices to track their workout progress and health habits. Source: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fitbit.FitbitMobile Fitbit is an example of how corporate partners are becoming more involved in mHealth apps. Such tactics, therefore, allows employers to reduce employee healthcare costs by improving lifestyles or providing instant access to non-emergency care. However, one of the most striking examples of how companies accepting healthcare gamification is Apple. They award Apple Watch and iPhone users with badges for accomplishing workout tasks like hiking and cycling or surpassing daily totals like calories burden. Source: macworld.co.uk/how-to/apple/apple-watch-activity-achievement-badge-3658788 Awarding badges is part of Apple’s continued push into healthcare. The Health app on iPhone, Workout app on Apple Watch and Activity apps on both have distinct functions but can define user’s health status in details. The strategy helped Apple boost Apple Watch sales and own 2017 wearables market. Source: imore.com/apple-watch-and-activity-tracking-what-you-need-know Unlocking wellness achievements turns into a naturally popular behavior. The wild success of Pokémon Go demonstrated how willingly people play achievement-oriented games simply for the fun of earning points. Importantly, Pokémon Go proved that game playing is not always about passive experience - players are required to walk around and keep moving. ‘A lot of fitness apps come with a lot of "baggage" that end up making you feel like "a failed Olympic athlete" when you're just trying to get fit. Pokémon Go" is designed to get you up and moving by promising you Pokémon as rewards, rather than placing pressure on you.’ John Hanke, Pokémon Go CEO Yet Pokémon Go does get people moving more but the effect doesn’t last. In fact, the market offers more than 9.000 healthcare-related apps. Many of them are downloaded, used once or twice, then forgotten. The exercise-tracking startup Pact pursues a highly-motivating policy among people looking to improve their health. Users make pacts promising to exercise or eat healthier. Source: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gympact.android&hl=en By failing to meet their target, users have to pay a monetary penalty between $5 and $50, while those who succeed get a part of the payment. Smartphone location data and photos taken in gym serve as the evidence. Players can specify how much they would be fined if they failed to meet a pact. This money then goes to a collective pool that allocates payouts among those who do reach their goals. The powerful driving force of this mHealth app is that users can actually lose money when they fall off track. Unfortunately, even when players held up their part of the pact, the company allegedly failed to provide the funds promised. Pact must return about $1M as of September 2017. Self-management chronic condition and medication apps By helping patients understand their chronic conditions better and by simplifying medication management using gamification, patient compliance rates can be increased to achieve better outcomes. Gamification techniques can make the tedious and repetitive tasks of treating a chronic illness rewarding and more engaging. Diabetes is considered the “the disease of the 21st century”. The 2016 study revealed that many experts support the idea of creating an enjoyable experience for patients living with this chronic disease. ‘Naturally people like to be rewarded. Thus, if this [gamification] is applied to the self-management of diabetes, it would be very effective. [...] it will change the view and the experience of self-management of diabetes for the patient.’ from Gamifying Self-Management of Chronic Illness: A Mixed-Methods Study ‘Positive reward is enjoyable in whichever form it comes. This will help patients’ self-esteem.’ from Gamifying Self-Management of Chronic Illness: A Mixed-Methods Study Indeed, having diabetes requires self-management skills vital to prevent the complications associated with the disease and maintaining the healthy life. Gamified apps can help patients self-manage in a more efficient and entertaining manner. They also give them the opportunity to be appreciated for their efforts and to positively compete with one another. Now, what gamification elements are most commonly used? Tracking measures of blood glucose, insulin, food intake, and other related info. Getting feedback based on the entries. Being notified when blood glucose measures fluctuate. Glooko provides a remote patient monitoring platform for diabetes that enables users to connect any glucose meter, insulin pump or CGM. The company also offers a FDA-approved app to help patients manage their care and control outcomes. Source: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.glooko.logbook mySugr is an another example of a gamified solution for diabetes management. The company is remarkable that they developed a separate app for children (mySugr Junior app). Mango Health mobile app reminds patients when it time to take their medicines and records each dose. It also automatically warns users about dangerous interactions between drugs and supplements or with food and drink. By taking medications properly, patients earn points to be redeemable for gift cards or charitable donations. Source: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mangohealth.mango&hl=en Unfortunately, gamification cannot diminish the seriousness of diabetes or any other chronic disease. Patients need help not only to enhance their illness self-management but also to be understood and supported by other victims. Gamified healthcare apps for kids Younger users usually do not understand the importance of long-term therapies or medications, regarding their illnesses as short-run miseries. They do not want to swallow bitter pills or have shots, do not want to be in therapy or stay in the hospital. Gamification can help children forget they undergoing medical treatment, teach them responsibility for their health. Inspired by Minecraft, Pfizer (a pharmaceutical company) launched a video game aimed at educating younger hemophilia patients, aged 8 to 16, about the importance of adhering to their treatment plans. Hemocratf is a simulated environment where players interact with the “village doctor” to learn how their treatments work. Kids are challenged to monitor factor levels and self-infuse to help control bleeding if needed. ‘These new digital innovations can be integrated into everyday routines to help empower people with hemophilia to learn about and track different aspects relevant to their disease so that they can have informed conversations with their healthcare providers.’ Dr. Kevin W. Williams, CMO of Pfizer Rare Disease, said Zamzee (acquired by Welltock) developed an activity tracker and rewards system for children to get them moving and complete quests based on their physical level. In a randomized controlled study, kids using Zamzee were nearly 60% more active. Young players collect points by moving and completing challenges. Earned points can be exchanged for virtual rewards, like equipment for their on-site avatars, or physical rewards, like pink duct tape sent to their address. Physical therapy and rehabilitation apps After a serious injury, it is difficult and time-consuming to reach even an agreeable level of independence regarding movement or other activity. Gamification takes a chance to reimagine the physical therapy experience. Reflexion Health offers a patient-facing telerehabilitation solution known as VERA. This platform controls the movements of patients practicing physical therapy exercises. The system works in patients’ homes allowing them to watch an animated instructor model on TV or PC. Motion tracking technology compares patients’ performance with the sample and gives guidance and correction suggestions if needed. As VERA helps patients recover function over time, it is essential to encourage, measure and report patient engagement and objective performance of their progress. ‘This focus on developing an ongoing relationship with specific patients, along with the framework it requires and the metrics it produces, are major differences from broadly-released, “fire-and-forget” games for health.’ Mark Barrett, Lead Software Engineer at Reflexion Health The GlassOff program is developed to eliminate dependency on reading glasses by enhancing users brain’s image processing function. The recovery process consists of several sessions that are mini visual recognition games. Working through GlassOff exercises takes about 12 minutes. It’s recommended to follow the program 3 times a week for 3 months. The app automatically reminds users when it’s time for the next session. Source: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.glassesoff.android Emotional health apps Happify toolset helps users improve their emotional well-being, overcome stress and anxiety that have a negative impact on daily life. Their app has 30+ tracks to choose from and tracks user progress to see how their skills compare. Each track is based on scientific research from neuroscientists and psychologists at Harvard, Stanford or Penn. ‘After six to eight weeks, 86% of users who use the program for the recommended time and dosage come back and say they feel happier and much better.’ Ofer Leidner, Co-Founder of Happify Source: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.happify.happifyinc&hl=en Looking for an attractive healthcare business model? Find your inspiration in our articles: Top 20 healthcare SaaS companies from New York How to design a healthcare app Top healthcare mobile apps using React Native How can gamification help your business Employers, insurers, and healthcare providers are focusing more energy on keeping people out of the hospital by helping them manage their own health. Thus, the market demands high-quality and complex solutions that make getting healthy more fun. Gamification delivers proven and tangible results. By applying gamification elements into the product, businesses have experienced an increase in engagement across social media and website traffic generated. To bear all the valuable fruits of gamification, businesses have to understand the environment to which it is applied. In other words, specific gamification techniques need to be tailored and adapted by this specific audiences. Already in favor of gamification in your healthcare app? Fill our online “get a quote” form to start.