Gamification Patterns for Gamification Applications

Recently, gamification has gained popularity in the development of enterprise information systems. Gamification is usually implemented using game elements combined with game mechanics that encourage competition between game players trying to reach some objectives or quantifiable outcome. Most games contain certain common aspects that are frequently created or reinvented for each new game. Solutions to these aspects may vary system to system but they have many commonalities. The concept of design patterns, which so far have proven successful in object-oriented design and software engineering, seeks to communicate these solutions in an easy to understand manner. We extract gamification patterns from known gamified systems and describe them using the Machinations modelling tool and the pattern description scheme. A case study shows how patterns can be used in practice.