Courses

There are numerous universities, research organizations, companies, and individual scholars and practitioners that offer courses in gamification, ranging from introductory-level overviews of the field to specialized training in particular aspects of gamification. Some notable examples are highlighted below.

Longer online courses (5+ hours of learning time)

“Leading Change: Go Beyond Gamification with Gameful Learning” is a course offered by the University of Michigan and Microsoft and taught by Barry Fishman and Rachel Niemer (via edX) that involves 16-24 hours of effort. The course helps participants “learn to design gameful learning environments and apply a systematic framework that leads to enhanced intrinsic motivation and engagement for students.”
“Gamification – Creating Addictive User Experiences” is a course offered by the Interaction Design Foundation and developed by Janaki Kumar that involves roughly 18 hours of learning time. The course was developed to give students “the confidence and skills to undertake gamification design projects. It contains all you need to know about player-centered design and the skills that enable it.”
“Gamification” is a course offered by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and taught by Kevin Werbach (via Coursera) that requires approximately 17 hours to complete. The course teaches students “mechanisms of gamification, why it has such tremendous potential, and how to use it effectively.”
“Serious Gaming” is a course offered by Erasmus University Rotterdam and taught by Jeroen Jansz and Mijke Slot (via Coursera) that requires approximately 9 hours to complete. The course teaches students “how playing games can help us to train people, deal with societal challenges or raise awareness of contemporary social issues.”
“Designing Gamification Level 1 (Basic) + Certification” is a course taught by Gabe Zichermann (via Udemy) that involves 7 hours of video presentations, 5 articles, and 9 downloadable resources and which allows students to apply for a certification from the Engagement Alliance upon successful completion of the course. The course helps students “learn the basics of gamification and game design for customer and employee engagement & loyalty.”
“Designing Gamification Level 2 (Intermediate) + Certification” is a course taught by Gabe Zichermann (via Udemy) that involves 5 hours of video presentations, 9 articles, and 19 downloadable resources and which allows students to apply for a certification from the Engagement Alliance upon successful completion of the course. The course helps students “learn how to use game concepts to engage employees and generate consumer loyalty.”
“Accessible Gamification” is a course that has been offered by Georgia Tech (via edX) that involves 10-15 hours of effort. The course helps students “learn how accessibility plays into gamification fundamentals, creating efficiency in business for everyone.”

Shorter online courses

“Gamification: Motivation Psychology & The Art of Engagement” is a course taught by Rob Sutcliffe (via Udemy) that includes 3 hours of video presentations. It helps students “learn how to motivate and engage anyone by learning the psychology that underpins human behaviour.”
“Gamification & Behavioral Design: The Octalysis Framework” is a course taught by Yu-kai Chou (via Udemy) that involves 3 hours of video presentations and 2 downloadable resources. The course helps students “learn the 8 Core Drives that motivate us all (beyond Points, Badges, and Leaderboards).”
“Gamification – Engage Customers in Your Business!” is a course offered by Infolia Business Academy (via Udemy) that involves 2.5 hours of video presentations and 1 downloadable resource. It teaches students how gamification can be used to engage customers and win new audiences, with reference to notable gamification successes (and failures) from major companies.
“Practical Industrial Process Gamification” is a course offered by Total Automation Concepts (via Udemy) that involves 2.5 hours of video presentations and 13 downloadable resources. It presents an in-depth example of a serious game from the petroleum industry (i.e., a specialized computer simulation) as a means of gamifying professional training.
“How to Save the World with Gamification, Behavior & Data Viz” is a course taught by Katie Patrick (via Udemy) that involves 2 hours of video presentations, 1 article, and 19 downloadable resources. It teaches students “how to apply gamification, behavior psychology, and data visualization to social and environmental change.”
“Gamification” is a course taught by Giorgio Ferrari (via Udemy) that involves 1.5 hours of video presentations. It focuses on “how to implement gamification into your business meetings to simplify innovation.”
“Gamification: How to Level Up Your Life and Business” is a course taught by Doru Catana (via Udemy) that involves 1.5 hours of video presentations. It seeks to offer a “comprehensive gamification course covering everything from principles to mechanics and the psychology behind game design.”
“Gamification for Learning, Performance & Change” is a course taught by Jesse Harris (via Udemy) that involves 1.5 hours of video presentations and 12 articles. It seeks to help students “create irresistibly engaging activities that improve retention and boost performance.”
“Harness the Power of Play: The 5 steps of Game Design” is a course taught by Gabriel McIntyre (via Udemy) that involves 1.5 hours of video presentations, 1 article, and 5 downloadable resources. It helps students “learn how Game Design and Gamification methods are used to change human behavior.”
“Gamification in Business for Marketing and B2C and B2B Sales” is a course offered by the Digital Life Academy and taught by Gustavo Escobar Henríquez and Neftalí Claros Carretero (via Udemy) that involves 1 hour of video presentations, 3 articles, and 3 downloadable resources. It teaches students “how to use gamification for business to increase your sales and customer and employee loyalty.”

Certificates and certifications

Most of the courses listed above provide the opportunity for students to earn formal certificates upon successfully completing the assignments, projects, and learning exercises associated with a course.

The Engagement Alliance also offers the opportunity to earn gamification design certifications for which persons can apply upon successful completion of the Level 1 or Level 2 online courses endorsed by the Alliance.