Hey you, do you like boring? That’s what I thought. Gamification aspires to making tasks that look hard easy to achieve. And apps that use gamification succeed in doing that by making unachievable goals or mundane task more bearable.
Gamification apps have totally changed the way we perceive things and are making a shift in how we live life. Making those mundane tasks or hard activities rewarding give us an additional extrinsic motivation. And being able to share those achievements with friends makes the whole thing even more fun.
A multitude of apps implements gamification mechanisms. You might be using a lot of those without even recognizing the gamification elements in them.
When you’re completing your Linkedin profile, the progress bar pushes you to fill in all the info. Can you resists leaving that unfinished? Because I can’t.
But I’m not writing this post to talk to you about Linkedin and Snapchat.
In this post, I will present to you 6 gamification apps that might solve one of your problems, whether it’s exercising after work, or quitting smoking to save money for that Ferrari you saw.
1. Habitica
Building habits is a lengthy process. You have probably heard that building a habit takes 21 days. That is not true. On average, it takes 66 days on average for your new habit to be an automatic behavior, like going to the gym.
Good for you that Habitica is here to help you keep your habits on track.
Habitica is a productivity app aiming to turn your mundane daily tasks into a fun quest by including RPG mechanics.
You won’t find any difficulties navigating the app’s interface. It is easy to use, and visually appealing.
Using the Habits category, you’ll finally build the habit of drinking more water; or stop that nasty habit of biting your nails. With the Dailies, you won’t accidentally skip a step in your morning routine. And the To-Do will assist you throughout the day with the different things you have to finish before laying on the couch.
Kill monsters by achieving your tasks, and get rewarded. Then you can use your hard-earned reward to upgrade you avatar and level up.
On top of that, Habitica does a great job at leveraging dynamics. With over 4 million users, it offers a social space where you can join guilds and go on the quest of achieving tasks with your friends.
Be careful. If you don’t achieve your tasks, your fellow guild members will suffer damage.
2. Kwit
Kwit, or the king of gamification apps, is your best friend if you’re trying to quit smoking.
The app uses a variety of game mechanics, such as levels and points, to help you visualize your progress.
The different mechanics work in perfect harmony together, and don’t make the user feel overwhelmed or lost in a multitude of options. You can see the number of cigarettes you didn’t smoke, the money you saved, and many other information that are designed to encourage you in your endavor.
Kwit is designed to walk side by side with you since the moment you’re thinking of stopping, until you’re leading a smoking-free life.
Many other elements make the app fun to use and easy to navigate, without taking your eyes off your main goals – quit smoking.
3. Forest
You can’t keep writing that paper due tomorrow for 10 minutes straight, can you?
Forest is an app that helps you focus by planting trees.
By not going on Instagram to look at pictures of your crush, you can grow trees that will turn into a forest. Use your phone, and the tree dies.
No other way to explain it.
Forest recognizes the need for people to overcome their phone addiction and helps them to do that in a fun and rewarding fashion.
On top of that, the developers collaborate with Trees For the Future and commit to planting trees for a greener planet.
Not convinced yet? Even if I tell you that Cillian Murphy uses this app?
4. Timehop
Timehop takes you on a trip deep in your memories; be ready to embrace all the nostalgia.
Timehop is a gamification app that digs in your pictures and makes you go “Oh truuue, I forgot about this!”.
Every day, the app shows you a picture from the past that you may have forgotten about and lets you remember those nice sunny days you spent with your best friend on the beach.
The more you share your pictures, the longer your streak gets – that’s where the gamification part steps is. And it works since it gets people coming back on the app to share their pictures regularly.
So now, you have no excuse to share those moments with your friends. You can even give a new beginning to a friendship that was lost.
5. Fitbit
Everyone who owns a Fitbit will probably tell you the same thing – the best gamification app they have ever tried.
We don’t know if they have tried something else, though.
Fitbit makes exercising a fun thing to do. It shows you the different details about your workout, such as the number of steps you walked each day, your workout streaks, and many more graphs about your progress.
You can also see your friends’ progress and brag about the one who walks the most.
A very smart way of promoting a healthy lifestyle.
I probably should get one myself to get rid of my belly fat.
6. Headspace
You have probably heard of Headspace. No? Not even once?
Headspace is probably the master gamification app for meditation.
Headspace’s mission consists of improving health and happiness in the world, and they’re well on their way to achieving that by providing meditation lessons and exercises for over 30 million users.
By including streaks, and progression graphics, Headspace makes gamification a part of its users’ experience to keep them coming back.
Bonus tip, you can find some of their guides on Netflix, too. Thank me later.
7. Bonus: Freerice
Here’s a last one for the road.
Although it’s not an app, the United Nations World Food Programme leverages the feature of gamification to help those in need.
On Freerice, you can put your knowledge to practice, all the while doing the good deed of the day. And you can do this simply by answering questions in several categories.
Do you like singing to ABBA’s songs under the shower and you’re a huge fan of pop music? Or maybe you’re more into Sartre’s Existentialism school of thought and can name every philosopher who ever lived? You will find what pleases your desires. You can also set the difficulty level if you feel like the questions are too easy for you, genius.
Whenever you gather with friends, make a competition out of it. Have fun, all the while making a positive impact.
Ready to gamify your life?
Gamification apps are a good way to start habits that may seem impossible to do. We, humans, love to play. And gamification apps excel in that domain. If they make life simpler and more fun, then why not give them a try?
Written by:
Majdi Hentati
About the author:
When he’s not writing, Majdi is either thinking about copywriting, reading or sleeping. He helps you to write compelling copies to reinforce your e-reputation. If you want to connect with him, he’ll be delighted to chat with you on his Linkedin.