An AI and gamification agency that starts with the behaviour, not the badges
We have designed engagement for recruitment, marketing, learning and productivity since 2012, from London and Stockholm, for clients across the UK, Europe and further out. Most of what gets sold as gamification is a points system bolted onto a process nobody wanted to do in the first place. That is why so much of it stops working in month three. Most of what now gets sold as AI is the same mistake with a better demo.
Yes, we build custom. No, that is usually not where we start.
The honest version, so you know what you are getting before you spend an hour on a call.
Most people who search for a gamification agency are expecting to write a brief and receive a quote for a custom build. We do build custom, and we have for fourteen years. But we have stopped leading with it, because the projects that worked were never the ones that started with a build.
They started with a clear behaviour somebody wanted to change, an honest look at why the current process was being avoided, and a design that made the right action the obvious one. The build came afterwards, and was usually smaller than the brief assumed.
So we put the thinking first and sell it on its own. If the answer turns out to need a custom build, we will tell you, and we will quote for it. If it does not, you have saved a five figure sum and six months.
What we use AI for, and what we do not
Where AI earns its place
AI is very good at the parts of engagement design that used to make personalisation unaffordable. Reading where somebody is in a journey and adapting what they see next. Generating variation so a hundred people get a hundred relevant versions rather than one generic one. Running the assessment and feedback loop at a scale no human designer could.
Where it does not
AI is not a motivation strategy. It does not know why your team is avoiding the compliance module, and it cannot decide which behaviour is worth changing. Those are design questions, and answering them badly with a faster tool gets you to the wrong place sooner.
We build AI agents and AI-driven engagement for clients, and we run two products of our own on this thinking: Playerence for quiz-led marketing engagement, and Aipreso for small business marketing. Both exist because we wanted to prove the approach on our own money first.
The full service list and pricing
Every engagement we offer, what it includes and what it costs.
What you would actually be buying
Four ways in, cheapest first. Most clients start at the top and stop when the question is answered.
Playbooks
The frameworks, written down, for you to run yourself.
Start here if
- You have a capable team
- You want the design thinking, not the delivery
Game plans
The frameworks applied to your situation. We diagnose and design, you run it.
Start here if
- You know the problem but not the mechanic
- You want a design you can execute in house
Pathways and workshops
Us with your team, working the actual problem rather than a case study.
Start here if
- The team needs to own the answer
- There is disagreement about what to fix
Custom design and build
When the answer genuinely needs software or an AI agent. Scoped after the thinking, not before.
Start here if
- You have already done the design work
- The behaviour cannot be changed without a product
London and Stockholm
Gamification Nation Ltd
Registered in the UK, working with clients across Britain and globally. This is the entity behind most of our public sector, defence and professional services work.
Gamification Nation Europe AB
Based in Stockholm, serving EU clients with contracting, invoicing and data handling inside the EU. Our quiz platform Playerence has Nordic roots going back to 2008 and Nordic enterprise clients today.
We work in four areas: attracting and engaging customers, product engagement, employee engagement, and learning. The sectors we return to most often are public sector, defence and security, professional services, education, and consumer brands with a loyalty problem.
Work that changed behaviour
Fourteen years of this, written up with the numbers where our clients allowed us to publish them.
Case studies
Recruitment, learning, marketing and public sector, with what actually happened.
Three things we will not do
Design something that only works unnoticed
If a mechanic stops working the moment the player understands it, that is not engagement design. It is a trick with a short shelf life, and it costs you the trust you will need next year.
Sell you a leaderboard as a strategy
Competition works for a particular kind of person in a particular context. Designing for that person by default excludes most of your audience. We have been writing about that since 2014.
Quote for a build before we understand the behaviour
If an agency quotes you for a platform in the first meeting, they are selling you their capacity rather than your outcome.
What people ask us first
What does a gamification agency actually do?
We work out which behaviour needs to change, why the current process is being avoided, and what design would make the right action the obvious one. Sometimes that produces software. More often it produces a redesigned process, a better feedback loop and a reason for people to care.
Where does AI fit into gamification?
AI handles the personalisation and feedback work that used to be too expensive to do properly. It does not decide which behaviour matters or why people are avoiding it. Used well it makes good design reach further. Used as a substitute for design it just fails faster.
How much does it cost?
Playbooks start at £97, game plans at £497, workshops at £997, and custom build work is scoped from £10,000. Full pricing is on the services page.
How long before we know whether it worked?
For a designed intervention with a clear behavioural measure, six to twelve weeks is usually enough to see direction. Anyone promising a result in two weeks is measuring novelty, which always looks good and never lasts.
Do we need custom software?
Usually not. Most engagement problems are process and feedback problems wearing a technology costume. We will tell you if yours genuinely needs a build.
Can you contract through an EU entity?
Yes. Gamification Nation Europe AB is a Swedish company, so EU clients can contract, be invoiced and have their data handled inside the EU.
Start with the cheapest thing that answers the question
The fastest way to find out whether we are useful to you is a playbook. If your problem turns out to be bigger than that, it comes off the price of what comes next.