Guide to Gamification-Related Research

Guide to Gamification-Related Research

Research (icon)The last decade has seen a boom in gamification-related scholarship undertaken by researchers at universities, think-tanks, consulting firms, and other organizations. According to Google Scholar, in the year 2010 there were roughly 90 scholarly articles published that referenced “gamification” in one form or another; in the year 2020, about 19,000 such articles were published. While many of these texts mention gamification only tangentially, the number of studies focusing directly on gamification is also immense: for example, between 2010 and 2020, there were over 1,200 scholarly articles that mentioned “gamification” directly in their titles.

Given these realities, it would be a monumental challenge to attempt to locate and study all pieces of insightful research on gamification, and it isn’t feasible to offer a comprehensive account of gamification scholarship. A more practicable (if incomplete) introduction to gamification research can be gained by focusing on review articles and meta-analyses that aggregate and distill insights from the results of many other studies and research publications. Below we highlight some noteworthy review articles and meta-analyses, organized by topic and ordered chronologically from most recent to oldest.


Gamification theory, design, and practice

General reviews of gamification research

Gamification and psychological theories of motivation

The effectiveness of gamification

Gamification frameworks

Gamified elements and mechanics

Gamified solutions and software

Gamification and AI


Applications in different spheres

Gamification in education and learning

Gamification of cognitive assessment

Gamification for wellbeing, fitness, health, and healthcare

Gamification and the elderly

Gamification, the environment, and sustainability

Gamification and civic engagement

Gamification, culture, and cultural institutions

Gamification in management and marketing