The Gamification of Everything

Video games are the biggest entertainment industry in the world—and they have a lot to teach us. How can we recreate the satisfaction we feel playing games in day-to-day life? And how can we harness that feeling to make better products? For over 40 years, Bing Gordon has been affectionately known as the godfather of the video game world, and his influence and canonized “Gamification Checklist” have shaped the companies we engage with every day: Amazon Prime, Zynga, Spotify, Audible, Twitch, Duolingo, Cameo, to name a few. Gamification, as explained by Bing, is motivation with rules and scoring mechanisms. It’s a framework to amplify productivity and build social capital, improving relationships, self-satisfaction, and professional achievement. The Gamification of Everything draws on Bing’s Gamification Checklist to tell a sweeping, and at times deeply personal, story about how video game thinking should be an integral part of our lives—even for those who don’t readily identify as gamers. Each chapter delves into one of the eight concepts on the Checklist, including Wow Moments; Invest and Express; Retention Hacking; Core Loops; and Quantify Everything. With candid, first-person narration and Bing’s signature wit, The Gamification of Everything teaches readers how to adopt gamification principles into their work and their lives. Games have power—and it’s time to harness their lessons to take us all to the next level.