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Retention is the biggest challenge in mobile apps. Users download, explore and often abandon within days.
The solution? Gamification.
The best gamification apps lean into the psychology of habit formation and rewards to keep users engaged. But simply adding points and badges isn’t enough. You need a strategy!
In this guide, we’ll break down how habit formation drives app engagement, analyze five standout apps using gamification effectively and share proven tactics to create a world-class gamified app.
Let’s dive in.
Table of contents
What’s one habit you do every day without thinking? Scrolling social media? Checking your step count? Once a habit is in place, it’s hard to break. The best gamified apps use this psychology to hook users and keep them engaged long-term.
The key lies in finding the “bliss point”, a concept from behavioral psychology where an experience is optimized to be just rewarding enough to keep users coming back. A top gamification app will strike this balance with small but consistent dopamine hits, turning mundane tasks into addictive routines.
At its core, habit formation follows a cue-routine-reward loop, a model popularized by Charles Duhigg in “The Power of Habit”. A cue triggers behavior, a routine is the action taken, and a reward reinforces the habit.
Apps that master this cycle create compelling feedback loops, making users feel compelled to return.
The best apps use a variety of gamification elements and game mechanics to encourage users to form habits. We’ve picked some of the best examples we’ve seen of apps doing great things in gamification.
Duolingo is the world’s most popular educational app, with over 500 million downloads. Designed for casual learners and polyglots alike, it uses bite-sized lessons to make learning a new language accessible and fun. Its freemium model, paired with aggressive user engagement strategies, has helped it dominate the education app category.
App Store Ranking:
Gamification Tactic: Streaks
Duolingo’s streak system is one of the most well-known examples of gamification mechanics. Every day a user completes a lesson, their streak increases. If they miss a day, their streak resets.
This taps into loss aversion, a psychological principle where people are more motivated to avoid losing progress than they are to gain rewards. Once a user builds a long streak, breaking it feels like losing something valuable, making them more likely to keep coming back.
For example, a Spanish learner who completes just one five-minute lesson per day for a full week will have built a 7-day streak. As that number grows, so does their attachment to it, pushing them to log in daily to avoid losing their progress.
Even on busy days, users are more likely to squeeze in a quick lesson just to keep their streak alive.
What People Are Saying
“Oustanding app. I’ve been learning Italian for just over 30 days, and I’m fairly confident with simple sentences. The app keeps on your case (if you enable it to) to keep your streak going. — Google Play Store review
Why We Like It
There’s something oddly satisfying about seeing a streak number grow. Even when we’re not in the mood to practice a language, the fear of breaking a long streak is enough to push us to complete at least one quick lesson.
It’s a simple but powerful gamification feature that turns the language learning experience from an occasional activity into a daily habit.
Strava is a leading fitness app designed for runners and cyclists who want to track their workouts, analyze performance and connect with a like-minded community. With millions of active users, Strava has become a social network for athletes.
App Store Ranking
Gamification Tactic: Leaderboards
Strava turns solo workouts into competitive challenges by using leaderboards.
Every time a user completes a run or ride, Strava compares their performance to others on the same route, ranking them on a public leaderboard. The top performer earns a King or Queen of the Mountain title, creating strong social motivation.
Leaderboards work because of their ability to tap into social comparison. Even casual athletes feel driven to improve when they see how they rank against others. This fuels repeat engagement as users return to try and beat their own times or someone else’s.
For example, if a runner completes a 5K loop in 25 minutes, they may check the leaderboard and see that someone else did it in 24:30. Next time, they’ll naturally push themselves to shave off those extra seconds to climb higher in the rankings.
Over time, this turns routine workouts into motivated challenges rather than just exercise.
What people are saying
“Strava has just avout every feature and aspect of a great running/biking app. Great social interaction, widespread usage, which makes the segment portion great, and the BEST analytics.” - App Store review
Why We Like It
Strava knows how to make workouts feel like a challenge without ever forcing it. Seeing our name on a leaderboard (even if it’s not at the top!) makes us want to push a little harder on the next run or ride. It’s competition without pressure, and that’s what keeps people coming back for more.
Recommended podcast: How Freeletics is rising above the crowded fitness app industry
Headspace is one of the world’s leading meditation and mindfulness apps, helping users build a daily practice for reducing stress, improving sleep, and increasing focus. Its guided meditation library and structured programs make it approachable for both beginners and experienced users.
App Store Ranking
Gamification Tactic: Guided Progression
Headspace makes meditation feel structured by locking content behind guided progression. Users can’t jump into advanced sessions immediately. They must complete beginner exercises first. As they meditate more frequently, they unlock new courses, creating a natural sense of progress.
This gamification strategy builds engagement by using goal-gradient psychology. The closer people feel to a goal, the more motivated they are to reach it. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by the idea of lifelong meditation, users see a clear, step-by-step journey that keeps them moving forward.
For example, a beginner might start with a 10-day foundational course on mindfulness. After completing these sessions, they unlock a new course on stress management. By structuring the journey in this way, Headspace ensures users keep moving forward rather than aimlessly browsing meditation sessions.
What People Are Saying
“The best mindfulness app. User friendly, the mediation teachers come from all different walks of life & you can tell that they truly LOVE what they do, so passionate helping others and one person at a time are slowly changing the world for the better.” - App Store review
Why We Like It
Meditation can feel intimidating at first, but Headspace’s structured progression removes that uncertainty. Instead of just choosing a random session, we always know the next step. That sense of progress makes meditation feel like a skill we’re improving rather than just another thing we "should" be doing.
Recommended reading: Top health and wellness app monetization examples
Fitbit is a pioneer in wearable fitness technology, known for its smartwatches and activity trackers. The Fitbit app integrates with these devices to track steps, workouts, sleep, and overall wellness, making it a staple in the fitness industry.
App Store Ranking
Gamification Tactics: Progress Bars
Fitbit’s success is rooted in its use of progress bars to visualize activity.
Users set a daily step goal, and throughout the day, they watch their progress bar fill up in real-time. This simple visual cue makes movement feel like a task to complete rather than an abstract health goal.
Progress bars are effective because they provide instant feedback, making users feel accomplished for even small actions. When a Fitbit user sees they’re just 1,000 steps away from their goal, they’re more likely to take an extra walk.
For example, if a user sets a 10,000-step goal, they may glance at their Fitbit in the afternoon and see they’ve hit 8,500 steps. Seeing the nearly full progress bar pushes them to take a short evening walk to hit their target. Without this visual representation, they might not have felt the same motivation to move.
What People Are Saying
“I was able to improve my health with FitBit. With the SLEEP feature, I could check if my sleep was fitful or peaceful. That helped me adjust my habits to go to bed sooner, develop a quiet time, reading/listening to music, and to not have a heavy meal right before bed.” - App Store review
Why We Like It
We’ve all been there. Glancing at the step count late in the day and realizing we’re just a few hundred steps away from our goal. Fitbit’s progress bars make activity feel like a game, and that small push to complete a goal is often enough to get us moving when we otherwise wouldn’t.
Todoist is a popular productivity app, helping users manage tasks, set goals, and organize their work. Designed for both personal and professional use, it has a clean interface and powerful task management features.
App Store Ranking
Gamification Tactics: Karma Points
Todoist keeps users engaged with Karma Points, a system that rewards productivity with a gamified scoring mechanic. Every time users complete tasks, meet deadlines, or maintain daily streaks, they earn Karma Points, which contribute to different levels—from beginner to master.
This taps into intrinsic motivation, making productivity feel rewarding beyond just getting things done. Instead of viewing tasks as obligations, users see them as opportunities to increase their score, reinforcing the habit of daily organization.
For example, mobile app users who complete five tasks per day for a week will see their Karma Points steadily increase, unlocking a higher productivity level.
What People Are Saying
“Excellent little app for managing multiple tasklists in different categories, across several platforms. Easy and enjoyable to use and really helps me keep organised and see everything I need and want to get done.” - Google Play App Store review
Why We Like It
We’re big into our to do lists at Purchasely. But Todoist takes it a step further by making productivity feel like leveling up. Watching Karma Points accumulate turns even small tasks into mini achievements, and before you know it, staying organized becomes part of the daily routine.
The best gamification apps create habit-forming experiences that keep users engaged and coming back. When done well, app gamification increases user retention, user lifetime value and revenue.
Let’s look at how to add gamification to your app using an app experience platform like Purchasely:
Create reward loops. Reinforce user behavior by tying rewards to milestones. Use Purchasely to trigger personalized reward screens offers when users hit engagement goals, like unlocking premium content after completing a daily challenge.
Create reward loops. Reinforce user behavior by tying rewards to milestones. Use Purchasely to trigger personalized reward screens or offers when users hit engagement goals, like unlocking premium content after completing a daily challenge.
Establish loss aversion. Keep users engaged with streak-based incentives. With Purchasely, you can link premium benefits to streak retention, such as exclusive features or bonus content for maintaining daily activity.
Drive dopamine-fueled motivation. Surprise users with dynamic rewards to keep engagement fresh. Purchasely enables personalized paywalls that surface tailored offers based on user actions, keeping motivation high.
Gamification isn’t just about making apps more fun and engaging. It’s about building habits that drive long-term retention. The best gamification strategies tap into psychology, creating experiences users want to return to daily.
New to Purchasely? Purchasely is an app experience platform that helps app marketers and product teams turn engagement into revenue. Build habit-forming experiences with seamless gamification, personalized paywalls, and subscription optimization. Book a product tour today.
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