The foundation of this master thesis is curiosity towards a newly coined term: Gamification. Gamification emerged in 2010 and quickly became centre of a massive hype, especially in the fields who sought inspiration from the successful gaming industry. Various businesses soon employed gamification in their work; websites, apps or other digital platforms. But in order to properly implement gamification and benefit from it, an understanding of the term is needed. My problem formulation therefore is as follows:

How can the term gamification, with basis in game design, be defined, so that its meaning and ability to stand alone as a term is strengthened?

I seek an understanding of game design, as this is a beneficial tool in order to understand the nature of gamification. Also, it can be considered the foundation upon which gamification is build. In addition to this, I analyze an existing definition of gamification, as this will emphasize the current understanding of the term and help illustrate the connection between games and gamification. Through the analysis, arguments in favour of a new, perhaps better, definition surface.

I conclude that gamification is fundamentally different from games in certain ways; Gamification is not a game, but more like a ludic activity. Therefore, the magic circle of gamification is different from that of games, as the activity is not as intense.

Gamification can be considered a marketing tool with which businesses can attempt to engage the users in a meaningful way. Marketing and games have deeply different agendas, which affects gamification as these two premises clash. Equally, gamification cannot be considered an autotelic act. This challenges the relation between gamification and the user and could suggest difficulties in the interaction. The master thesis proposes this definition of gamification:

Gamification is a marketing strategy that, with basis in game design elements, seeks to engage the user of a given activity in a meaningful manner.