Growing a forest
The Swiss bank Neon will plant real trees when users spend money. This is then visualised to the user inside their app.
Design Examples
Gamification Examples in Real Apps
See how companies like Duolingo, Superhuman and Sainsbury's use gamification, featuring our teardowns of streaks, XP boosts, scratch-card rewards and contributor badges.
Real world examples:
Updated: 26/10/2026, view all 1,503 examples
Examples on Built for Mars include
Duolingo streaks make skipping a day costly
Superhuman makes inbox zero competitive
Sweepy lets users switch off gamification
Duolingo lesson streaks
Duolingo effectively gamifies the process of completing lessons, by keeping 'daily streaks'. The more you invest in the streak, the less likely you'll want to skip a day.
You're a champion
Answering your emails is an inherently single-player experience, but Superhuman have gamified the process of hitting 'inbox zero', by comparing your performance to their userbase.
Winning Nectar points
After making a purchase, the Sainsbury's app shows a 'rub to reveal' mini game to unlock nectar points.
Double XP boosts
To encourage you to connect with friends, Duolingo will offer a time-limited XP boost.
XP happy hour
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Rewarding household chores
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FAQs
How do you gamify a product people use alone?
Ranking a user against the wider userbase creates competition without needing friends on the platform. For example, Superhuman awards an 'Inbox Zero Champion' badge that says 'I'm in the top 1%', which doubles as a shareable card.
What makes a gamified referral reward work better than cash?
An immediate, non-financial reward tied to a behaviour that improves the product keeps people engaged rather than just paid. As an example, Duolingo gives 15 minutes of Double XP for adding a friend, and having friends on the app makes lessons more engaging in their own right.
How do streaks avoid discouraging users who break them?
Focusing only on the current streak, rather than dwelling on the one that was lost, uses the Fresh Start Effect to get people going again. This is what Duolingo does, celebrating the active streak and a weekly tracker toward a 'perfect week'.
Why do scratch-card style rewards build habits?
Not knowing what's underneath makes the reveal exciting, and that variable reward becomes a cue to come back. For instance, Sainsbury's shows a 'rub to reveal' card after purchases to win Nectar points, with a 'Play without rubbing' option for anyone who wants to skip the interaction.
How do you stop a badge system from feeling like a grind?
A clear list of steps to the next level, with a mix of different actions, keeps the challenge varied. Google's New Contributor badge, for example, combines posting photos with writing reviews and answering questions about local places.
Can progress visuals show real-world impact instead of points?
Yes, and framing progress as a tangible outcome makes an abstract benefit easier to value. As an example, Neon plants real trees when users spend, showing a bamboo plot that grows denser as the count moves from 12/100 to 52/100 trees.