Gamification Mechanic Monday: Betting
Betting has a whole industry and games built on the game mechanic, the most well known probably lotto and horse race betting. In a lot of games you are also asked to place a bet or call someone’s bluff like in for example poker. You are asking for a show of the hand of your opponent for a sum of money or whatever your betting currency is.
Most of us at some point have placed a bet or engaged in predicting the outcome of something. As a buzz creating exercise it is often used to guess the amount of items in a bowl in order to win a prize. The key is that there is a stake to win.
In a customer facing setting having a display or items that people place a guess on with the potential to win has been seen in a number of places. From an employee facing perspective bets can be a fun way to engage on a set of numbers from sales targets to costs.
In running I entered a race where you needed to predict your finish time and those who were most accurate won, no watches or timers were allowed, I have to say for someone sporting the back of the pack most of the time, my odds were good that day because I knew more or less how good it was going to be for me. I won a prize, which would otherwise never have happened.
Where have you seen a betting mechanic you enjoyed?
