Nikolas Sargeant
Gamification tactics are quickly becoming essential to the crypto industry, helping to engage and motivate community members in a multitude of different projects. One of the key elements of gamification is the use of ranking systems, or leaderboards, which allow users to track their progress and measure their performance against their peers.
Ranking systems are perhaps the most important feature of any gamification system and an integral part of crypto games and NFT projects ranging from metaverses like Upland to educational games like Banksters and even mobile browsers, such as Fulldive. They help motivate users to increase their participation and level of interaction with the community at large.
Successful ranking systems make use of points, badges and levels to display the performance of individuals in real-time. Players can earn points by winning games, accomplishing specific tasks, interacting with others and more. The rankings provide a visual representation of each user’s progress and help to foster healthy competition among community members.
Play-to-Earn Gaming
Ranking systems first made their mark in the growing “play-to-earn” gaming industry, encouraging players to perform at their very best in order to climb the leadership ladder and enhance their reputations.
One of the best examples of ranking systems can be found in the vibrant Valorant community. Valorant has risen to become one of the most popular first-person shooter games in the world, with more than 26 million monthly active players in October 2023, according to Bloomberg.
Valorant has attracted such a large fanbase due to its incredible gameplay, which offers an adrenaline-fueled experience that keeps players coming back for more and more. Together with its thrilling, fast-paced action, it is home to a competitive community that’s constantly striving to improve its position on the overall Valorant leaderboard.
The competitive mode in Valorant is by far the most popular, as it enables players to compete for points and experience as well as crypto prizes. As they play the game and win battles, players can earn points and progress through its rankings to increase their overall status and prestige. The rankings have a big impact on Valorant’s matchmaking system, pairing players with those of equal ability to ensure highly competitive matchups.
Competitiveness & Camaraderie
There are a number of reasons why ranking systems are essential to gamification. First and foremost, leaderboards create a sense of competition between players, increasing motivation and encouraging them to become more engaged. They also help to highlight the progress each player has made and the successes they have achieved. When rank-based rewards and bonuses are added into the mix, it pushes players to increase their performance and develop new tactics and skills.
By seeing their current rank and achievements, players can track how well they are performing and compare themselves to others in the community. It helps to motivate users to achieve better results. Moreover, rankings boards help to promote social interactions that build stronger communities that can support each other and encourage camaraderie.
Many users are motivated by a desire to climb the rankings within a game and reach the top, while those who have made it there will be determined to maintain their position. Equally important is the desire to achieve specific goals and unlock new levels, weapons, characters and challenges, which can only be accessed when players achieve a certain rank.
With leaderboards, players can easily see how they are performing versus their peers and set themselves new goals to accomplish. They also help to encourage rivalries with different players and factions, and reward the most accomplished players with privileged status.
Promoting Real-World Skills
Ranking systems have become a prevalent feature in many of the most popular blockchain games. Besides Valorant, first-person shooters such as Shadow War and Deadrop also have competitive leaderboards. Perhaps the best known play-to-earn game of all, Axie Infinity, uses a leaderboard to rank its NFT-based characters, while Splinterlands also uses rankings to distinguish its top players.
It’s not only games that can employ rankings, though. Just about any crypto project can do the same. For instance, the EduTech simulator Banksters employs a ranking system to help gamify the crypto trading experience and teach people how to navigate the crypto markets and earn a profit in the real world. Banksters is an NFT crypto trading simulator that challenges people to buy and sell crypto profitably, teaching them essential trading skills and know-how in easily-digestible chunks as they progress and level up. The game is based on real-world crypto market data and uses NFTs as playable characters with unique attributes and skills. Players are taught how to react to the unique volatility of the crypto markets, competing against other humans in one-on-one challenges to earn crypto rewards and climb the Bankster’s leaderboard.
In this way, Banksters uses its leaderboard as the cornerstone of its gamification strategy, demonstrating how this method can motivate players to learn valuable real-world skills.
The Final Word
To be clear, ranking systems are an essential part of any gamification strategy, pushing players to constantly improve their performance and earn prestige in the community. By fostering a sense of competition, and by highlighting each player’s progress and achievements, ranking systems are a sure-fire way to enhance the overall experience, drive engagement and encourage people to acquire new skills.
