Gamification Roundup – January 9, 2012

Editors note: Today, we’re introducing a new regular feature at Gamification.co: our news roundup.  With the amazingly increased level of gamification-related announcements and insights, it’s getting harder to keep tabs on everything that’s going on. So, to make it easier, we’ll be curating the most interesting items and delivering them to you in digest form. You can get this summary here on the blog every week, or  sign up for our newsletter and we’ll email it directly to you. Also, be sure to follow us or Gabe directly on Twitter to see the latest news about gamification, engagement and new loyalty as it happens.

Let’s Play Celebrity

Moontoast raises $6M in venture capital according to Venturebeat. Will the Nashville-based company’s big name celebrity clients help them make a great leap in gamifying consumer-brand relations? Or are they destined to just be another social media game ?

Will 2012 be a Big Year for Gamification of Health? 

Matt Wise of ePrize talks about the incorporation of gamification into healthcare: AARP’s photomemory challenge offers nutrition counseling as prizes while Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Florida utilizes social media leaderboards to drive NPO donations.  Perhaps 2012 will bring even more gamification into healthcare now that these two organizations have joined Aetna’s Mindbloom amid the growing number of gamified healh resources.

Enforcing Social Etiquette

Don’t you hate it when you share a meal with friends but it just ends up devolving into a group of people staring at their smartphones? Take control of this situation and gamify your life by playing a new DIY behavior change game: the first person to look at their phone has to pay for the full meal. (I sense an App Store success story in the making here)

Get Happy Feet over Higher Math Scores

The Huffington Post reports on a new educational game by MIND Research. The game has students steer a penguin over obstacles by visually solving equations to build bridges. Designed without the need for significant English proficiency, ST Math achieves amazing results: 15-20 point proficiency gains within two years – with just two lessons per week.  ST Math joins a growing chorus of case studies of gamification’s power in education.

The University of Hawaii Achieves Social Good

The University of Hawaii is planning their 2012 Kukui Cup, a dormitory-held competition featuring games, leaderboards, and prizes to motivate and educate students on energy conservation. Students compete through real-time energy feedback monitoring and earn points for reaching their daily conservation goals. Could this idea be extended to apartment buildings, housing complexes and condos for non-students?

Gabe’s Webinar with Design Lounge

Gabe Zichermann gets interviewed by Shikatani Lacroix president Jean-Pierre Lacroix and explains gamification. The interview features guidelines and approaches to utilizing gamification for marketing.

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