Article Contributors

Gamification Casinos

Gamification in an online casino context is when videogame elements and mechanics are integrated into the casino sites. This makes online casinos feel more attractive and also offers more immersive gameplay that is both fun and exciting.

This usually comes in the form of missions, quests and challenges tied to promotions and bonuses as you progress further in a storyline. Keep reading to know more about gamification and to find the best casinos to try this out.

Find the Best Gamification Casinos

Missions, contests, points, trophies, bosses, and other game mechanics can be fantastic motivators. We will go through each one of these gamification elements further down, but all of them improve the player’s experience.

The list below covers the latest online casinos that in one way or another offer gamified experiences.

How Do Gamification Casinos Work?

Achieving goals is a standard addition to all gamified casinos since the sense of achievement that gamification creates is what stimulates our brains. There is normally a reward for achieving the goal. For example, the casino might give you a dozen Bonus Spins because you bet over £150 and won over £200 on a blackjack table. You can also be awarded loyalty points, which are collected as you bet on certain casino games or tables, and once you accumulate enough of them, you can use them to purchase free spins, bonus rounds, entry into raffles, other gamification games – wheel of fortune, pick and choose – and the points are arranged into the leaderboards described earlier.

Casumo is a casino that has loyalty point game mechanics. You earn them just by wagering and then they can be used to buy free spins and other casino bonuses. Casumo also awards trophies for your achievements, which do nothing except recognize your efforts. You are immersed in a storyline where you have to beat challenges, complete missions and achieve milestones in order to claim in-game points, cash rewards, bonus spins, and many more depending on the casino. Essentially, you can play at the same casino forever as it is always changing.

All the levels have their own bonuses and promotions. You move up the levels with a virtual game currency, which not only allows you to exchange it for goods but also creates a highly immersive environment. Volt casino, for example, creates a storyline based on a post-fossil fuel world, where you need to develop your own virtual city, develop districts, restore buildings, and upgrade technology using their ‘currency’ Volt Crystals, which are acquired by simply playing certain games.

You start in a complete blackout and little by little your city springs to life as you accumulate the game’s currency and complete quests and missions. And in the process, many other rewards can be claimed.

Tracking Your Progress

A visual representation of progress is a good way to motivate us, right? This is what makes tracking so important to any gamification scheme. By giving players a clear goal to work with and tracking the progress towards that goal, players will likely push themselves a bit more to get closer to their goal. A tracking system most probably won’t show you how much you spent in a day but it will show your winnings and progress over time – only the positive numbers usually.

How the Gamification Trend Started?

It is difficult to pinpoint exactly what brought about this gamification trend. We believe the introduction of mobile devices, and the consistent growth of online casinos has created a hyper-competitive market and casinos turned to video games to find inspiration and answers. This happened around 2012 with Casumo Casino, which was the first casino that felt like a real adventure, rather than just another casino. Since then we have seen one or two great and unique releases a year.

Kaboo Casino, for example, is an out of this world gamification platform released in 2015 and, at the beginning of 2016, Rizk Casino was introduced. Other great gamification sites are Ikibu Casino and most recently Volt. At the beginning of the year 2017, two brand-new gamification sites have entered the market, the cool Larry Casino and the incredible Fantasino Casino. From then on, many other casinos packed with these features have been released.

By giving players goals to reach for, leaderboards to compete in, contests to win, and the ability to interact socially, gamification is triggering all the right pleasure centers in the brain and you could say appealing directly to human nature. You get to work towards goals, race on leaderboards and interact with other players socially. All of this makes for a more compelling casino experience.

Online Casinos that target High Rollers and decorate themselves in a regal theme prefer to offer the regular VIP Loyalty Programs to reward their players in novel ways.

Gamification in Mobile Casinos

Casino gamification elements have been identified as key ingredients to engaging mobile players. Outside of the casino industry, there are all kinds of gamified applications, so casinos didn’t have to think too hard about it.

Social gaming always gets a boost on mobile devices, Casumo Casino, for example, uses the connectivity of your smartphone to connect with social media and prompts you to post/share your trophies and achievements in order to get a few more extra loyalty points. This integration of mobile casino and social media platforms is nothing new, but gamification is being used to create a lot more content for the casino industry and players are loving it.

Trends for Gamification Casinos

Casinos with gamification elements will keep appearing in the future as their popularity grows. We will continue to see online casinos include game mechanics into their sites, and they will get better and better at it. At the moment, there are only a few online casinos that are made to engage players.

We expect a great change in the way bonuses are awarded since casinos will have to adapt to attract more players. Here are our latest predictions for Gamification Casinos:

Casino Virtual Currency: Casino virtual currencies will continue to be a feature in gamification. Most of the new casinos we’ve mentioned use their own currency system. However, virtual currency needs to have more added value and uses; merely exchanging it for real money may not be sufficient in the future.

Virtual Reality: There’s been significant buzz around VR lately. Although the graphics quality and public acceptance are not ideal currently, we believe that as video game developers improve VR technology, more casino players will be encouraged to experience a more immersive and interactive environment.

New Themes and Narratives: All gamification casinos have a story to tell. The narrative follows your progress at the casino, integrating a storyline into your wins and losses. One of the most engaging themes is Kaboo Casino’s space adventure, where you travel to different planets following a story, and at each new planet, you are rewarded with extra spins and bonuses. We expect to see new casinos continue to push the boundaries in this area.

Social Media Integration: We will likely see more gamification elements that encourage sharing, posting, tweeting, or referring friends. By sharing gamification achievements on social media, the casino will offer more rewards. This trend isn’t new but is expected to grow further.

RPG Slots: Expect to see more role-playing casino slots as gaming technology progresses. Evoplay Entertainment has developed the first RPG slot called Dungeon: Immortal Evil, where you follow a hero on a quest for gold and glory. This could be the next step in casino industry immersion and gameplay because it combines the familiar slot machine format with elements of video game storytelling and character progression.