Gamification is not Ludification
Gamification and ludification are very often two words that are confused, especially in the marketing world. We mix the two terms without understanding their etymology and the very important difference between them.
First of all, if you don’t know exactly what gamification is, I invite you to read this short article on it : Gamification : What does it mean ?
Gamification and Ludification are very often two words that are confused, especially in the marketing world. We mix the two terms without understanding their etymology and the very important difference between them.
Gamification by definition is: the use of video game mechanics in an unrelated area, in order to trigger specific behavior on the part of a user.
Ludification on the other hand is: a system where you will only try to add fun to something that is not, for a purpose, for example, of learning.
Etymology of terms
If we really want to understand why gamification is not ludification, we have to go back to the etymology of the two terms.
In “Des jeux et des hommes”, Roger Caillois, a French writer and sociologist, separates the named environment game (game) from the entertainment game (play). This distinction, illustrated through the Anglo-Saxon terms game and play, introduces a nuance that makes it possible to understand a misinterpretation in the use of the term. Within the current language game and play are found under the guise of a single word: the game. Thus, a hasty and yet generalized translation would be to qualify in gamification (resulting from the game) by the term ludification which refers to it : to the notion of play.
However, there is a real difference between these two terms. First of all, the notion of Game refers to a game system with specific objectives and rules. We can take the board game as an example. The rules as well as the objectives are set for all participants. Otherwise, the game cannot start.
The Game is also an activity, it refers to the notion of Ludus, a term coined by Caillois to define the notion of Game: “Taste for free difficulty, tendency to draw up rules and impose conventions in order to reduce the uncertainty of the game. effect of an activity and direct it towards a specific goal. Component of fun, it is opposed to paidia, and it is found in activities such as sports competitions, board games, mountaineering and aerobatics. ”
The Game is therefore a regulated and supervised activity, linked to competition and to surpassing oneself.
The notion of Play, of playfulness (or Paidia) is defined as: “Primary power of improvisation and joy, fantasy without rules. Component of fun, opposed to ludus, found in activities such as kites, dice, heads or tails, nursery rhymes, childish imitations … ”
These are therefore activities where pleasure dominates, the notion of play is at its strongest and the rules do not exist, there is not necessarily a victory or a specific objective within the game. The notion of Paidia, or Play, refers to the notions of fun, chance, imitation.
Gameplay
The concepts of Game and Play are therefore different, but not necessarily mutually exclusive. During a game nothing prevents having fun. So there can be play within a game. For example, during a Times’up game, you can have fun doing imitations or mimes while playing by the rules. Plaidia and Ludus are therefore not exclusive. Another interesting example is football. It is not uncommon to see players on the field having fun dribbling or gesturing a little bit sensational, or just dancing to celebrate a goal. These are not elements provided for and defined in the rules. So here we find play, fun, within a game, a named game, surrounded by rules that do not specify this part of the fun.
We can even go so far as to say that they are compatible to the point that another English term around the game was born, that of : Gameplay. In the context of a video game for example, Gameplay represents the way in which we play (rules, objectives) but also the pleasure that the game should arouse. According to Marc Goetzmann and Thibaud Zuppinger (2016): “gameplay is articulation between the game, the structures and rules of the game, and the play, the way in which the player appropriates the possibilities of the game by developing his own strategies, to meet the constraints that the rules “constitutive of the game” impose ”.
Gameplay is often used to evoke the experience within the game. So it is the set of mechanics used to improve user enjoyment and satisfaction.
The adjustment of the gameplay is also linked to the difficulty of the game, the rules, the rewards … so many elements which, well thought out, increase the user experience and therefore improve player engagement, image, commitment to the brand, and better profitability.
The gameplay therefore perfectly combines these two elements, game and play, and shows us the link between the two. This difference and this complementarity between game and play is the first step that must be understood in order to be able to study the concept of gamification, resulting from the game.
Gamification and Ludification
We better understand the difference and the link between Game : a standardized environment, with rules and objectives, and Play : primary power, fantasy without rules, part of the fun.
Gamification is therefore a term from the game, while Ludification is from play.
We find in the term gamification, the regulated, framed, and defined aspect, which can then be inserted into a system. While for a gamified system, we find more mainly, fun, entertainment as the central element to deploy this system. An application like Kapten (formerly private driver, one of Uber’s competitors in France), which gives reward points to each user according to the price of their trip, their distance, and the time left in the car is a perfect example of gamification. These points obtained can then be exchanged for reductions, or even small free races. This is indeed a use of points but with a reward, an objective for the user to obtain free races. It is in the same vein as the United Airlines loyalty card seen above. There is a defined business objective of loyalty. There are both points, rewards and a business objective for the company, it is a gamified system.
Conversely, Drops perfectly represent a ludified system. That is, a system where you will only try to add fun to something that is not, for a purpose, for example, of learning. This application aims to help build vocabulary in English. For this, it offers a very large library of words in English. They are divided into several themes : City, food, animals, travel .. In each category we find all the related words, examples of use in sentences and several mini games. In each mini game, the application will randomly output words in the chosen theme and the user will have to find the correct word, which corresponds to the action of the mini game.
In the example above, the mini game is simply to connect the group of words with the corresponding image. There is of course a timing system as well as point objectives to be achieved to encourage the user to give their maximum.
Drops is a great example of ludification because it allows you to have fun while doing something that can sometimes be long and demanding: learn a new language or, enrich your vocabulary in a language. So we apply here, elements of the game in order to entertain, amuse the user to help and facilitate a task that can be difficult.
Serious Game and Toy
To schematize this differentiation more clearly, this diagram can be used.
We find there the strong difference between gamification and ludification symbolized by the gap between the notions of “game” and “play”. But also by adding a notion of “space”, that is to say whether the “game” or the “play” are applied to part or all of the product or service.
Gamification is therefore in the “game” part as well as in the “applied to some elements of the object” part. Here we find the definition seen earlier : Gamification is the use of video game mechanics in an unrelated field, with the aim of triggering specific behavior on the part of a user.
Conversely, we can clearly see that ludification is, on the contrary, “play”, amusement applied to part of the object. The objective is therefore to use game mechanics to make a task that is difficult at first glance enjoyable.
The serious game and the toy (jouet) are two similar but different elements. The toy, like the ludification, aims to distract, to amuse, without precise rules, without defined objectives, without conditions of victory. It can be found in children’s games, for example, which serve to awaken and entertain children but which do not have a specific rule or business objective.
Finally, the serious game is closer to gamification. So it is a game, because it is applied to the whole object while gamification only to a part, which has objectives, rules, conditions for success. This category represents all educational games. Games, very often video, which have a real aim of learning, of discovery, and which are entirely designed for this purpose.
We can take the example of the famous French game : The good, the bad and the accountant. In this game, created by the Journalism ++ agency, we are the director of a city hall office in a big city and we have to make choices, sometimes vague between ethics, politics and corruption to keep our jobs. The whole game aims to make us aware of the corruption that can reign between certain policies and the difficulty of the choices that have to be made.
It is therefore a game in its own right, thought out and designed with a specific purpose.
The serious game is the perfect opposite of ludification, its aim is not to be “fun” but to bring something to the user. It is not applied to any part of the object or the system, it is a game in its own right.
Gamification is therefore the use of video game mechanics in an unrelated field, in order to trigger specific behavior on the part of a user. We find there the “regulated” side seen rather in the differentiation between Game and Play.
For ludification the goal is to use game mechanics to make a task that is painful at first glance enjoyable. Only for a “fun” purpose and with no specific business objective behind it.
Gamification is not Ludification. These two terms are close, not necessarily mutually exclusive, but are not, however, similar.
