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What are applied games?
Applied games are referred to with a number of different names. You may have heard about serious games, exergames, edutainment, gamification, etc. These terms all refer to the use of game principles in a strategic way in order to make a process more accessible and fun. This can be done in a lot of different gradations and for different goals. Examples of applications in healthcare include rehab and wellness, therapy, training and coaching, patient empowerment and medication adherence. The one element connecting all types of applied games is that they are more efficient, more cost-effective and more fun than conventional solutions.
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Why are applied games so effective?
Put simply, gamification is the application of game design to things that aren’t necessarily games, usually to achieve some form of behavioral change. When executed properly, gamification turns an aspect of someone’s life into a game. One they like playing, obviously. By presenting people with challenges and rewarding them for their successes, you can for instance:
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Maintain or increase loyalty
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Improve user engagement
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Optimize organizational productivity
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Induce learning
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Boost employee recruitment and evaluation
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Stimulate physical exercise
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Increase compliance or medicine/therapy adherence
These examples highlight just a selection of what applied games are capable of. We’ve seen many companies achieve great things in the commercial as well as the public domain. Among them are airlines, hospitals, educational facilities and large advertising agencies.
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Why we like playing?
Playing games increases dopamine release in the brain
In the brain, dopamine functions as a neurotransmitter—a chemical released by nerve cells to send signals to other nerve cells. The brain includes several distinct dopamine systems, one of which plays a major role in reward-motivated behavior. Most types of reward increase the level of dopamine in the brain.
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