To Play or Not to Play: Gamification in Online Casinos

As the online gambling industry is developing at an incredible pace, new tendencies emerge every day. However, it seems that gamification in online casinos is going to be a long-term trend. Casino game developers have already started to apply game-design elements to traditional casino games. Today we are going to find out why casinos turn traditional casino games into role-playing video games.

A few words about gamification

Some people might not know about gamification, but everyone definitely came across it. Basically, gamification means adding elements of games into non-game concepts. Gamification aims to engage a viewer and make a certain process more interesting.

Gamification is a popular tool, which helps to boost the popularity of online casinos. Casinos often apply gamification techniques to gameplay, tournaments, and even loyalty programs. This helps to turn the regular online casino experience into the gaming process.

Tournaments

One of the major components of gamification is competition. Playing in online casinos alone and playing against other people are two absolutely different experiences. Therefore, most of the online gambling sites in the US conduct tournaments, where everyone can see leaderboards. Usually, winners receive prizes in form of special bonuses, free spins, or cash. For instance, CyberSpins Casino conducts the VIP Slots Tourneys twice a week. Moreover, the $1,000 prize makes the competition even tougher. Such elements of gamification in online casinos as rewards and competition help to create a more engaging experience.

Quests and missions

This form of gamification is probably the most explicit one. Although quests are still not as popular as tournaments, they have been gaining a lot of attention recently. This gamification technique is based on role-playing video games, where a player needs to complete missions in order to finish a quest. Usually, players receive casino bonuses as a reward.

Quest-based casino games often allow users to pick their own characters. Besides, some casino games have a list of hidden characters that you can unlock by completing certain tasks or upgrading to a certain level.

After a quest is completed or a character is opened, the gameplay usually leads to another quest or mission. As a result, even unrelated casino games turn into a coherent quest.

Loyalty programs

Loyalty programs are probably the oldest gamification techniques in the world of gambling. Basically, players can gain loyalty points by playing a certain number of games. This is also called the primary point system.

Sometimes, online casinos apply gamification principles and turn loyalty points into some kind of currency. In that case, players can use these points for betting and even upgrade their profiles. For example, King Billy Casino has a multi-step loyalty program. Here, each player can upgrade from a citizen to a king or queen by gaining King’s points. Each level has multiple rewards, such as cashback, cash bonuses, and free spins.

Some casinos have great VIP programs, which basically operate like loyalty programs. Players receive additional bonuses and rewards either for a membership fee or for a certain time spent in a casino.

Conclusion: to play or not to play

At the very beginning of online gambling, online casino sites in the US only featured flash games, video slots, and simple table games. However, nobody will play these kinds of games today. Gamification is simply a part of the evolution of the online gambling industry.

Additionally, if a casino manages to use gamification techniques properly, it can both improve user experience and boost the casino’s revenue.

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