What keeps players playing? It’s a question that’s taken up much time – and expense – for many gaming companies. They constantly try to identify tactics and strategies that will keep a player’s attention – and the money they might spend with it.

Because there are many many different options for players. They can easily switch to another platform, pick another game or move onto something new entirely. Players can afford to get easily bored, because there are so many other opportunities for them to try.

So how can gaming companies stop players getting bored? How can they hold their attention, boost engagement, and keep players playing?

1. Make sure you have a great UX across the board

First impressions count. If your gaming experience isn’t up to scratch from the moment a player first logs in, then they’re unlikely to stick around.

A superb, on-going, playing experience counts too. It’s no use having the initial interface looking and feeling amazing if future levels or additional gameplay all pale in comparison.

Players expect an outstanding user experience from start to finish. Anything short of that and they’ll look for other options. To keep playing, players need that seamless UX. Even something as simple as logging in and logging out needs to be a quick, simple and smooth process.

Any hurdles, any glitches, and your players are gone.

2. Set milestones and in-game achievements

One of the main psychological strategies deployed to keep players playing takes advantage of the goal gradient effect. This behavioural heuristic states that the closer we are to reaching our goal, the more motivated we are to achieve it.

It’s why you see progress bars when you check out online, and why games often have level overviews to show players how far they are away from the next stage, the next island or the next big boss.

If you set regular milestones – like playing 10,000 hands or spinning 5,000 times – and show players how close they are, they’re more likely to keep playing.

If you give players an indication of the achievements they can expect if they reach a set milestone, they’ll want to work towards it.

Just make sure those prizes they get are worthwhile. Gift & Go can help.

3. Introduce daily rewards

In-game achievements rely on players working at it, so it’s also worth considering rewards that can be earned regardless of skill.

Daily quests, free-spins, free ‘treasure chests’ or any other rewards that can be claimed simply by logging in every 24 hours are a surefire way to encourage players to come back each and every day.

If they can ‘win’ some credits to add to their account, or unlock the chance of bigger rewards, simply by opening the app or logging onto your platform, they’re going to make it a part of their daily routine.

4. Use push notifications

For those players who haven’t logged in for a few days, don’t be afraid to remind them. Push notifications keep your brand front of mind, and make sure your players don’t forget about you.

A regular notification will help nudge your players into coming back, to keep playing. You could remind them where they left off, prompt them to return with an offer, or let them know there’s a reward waiting for them the next time they log in.

5. Give out random prizes

Sometimes it’s the excitement of the unknown, the anticipation and uncertainty that keeps players playing. That might be with mystery levels to find, special game-plays to unlock or spot prizes that can be won.

Giving away random prizes is a great way to keep your players engaged because everyone wants to win. Our brains are conditioned to believe that the more we play, the more likely we are to succeed, so if there is the chance of a free prize, we’ll keep playing believing that it could be just around the corner.

Gift & Go can help you run free prize campaigns by giving all your players the ‘chance’ to win, with unique win/loss scenarios such as raffles, scratchcards and sweepstakes.

You set how many prizes you want to give away, and we create codes for all of your players, with only a small number redeemable against real rewards. The rest encourage your players to try again next time, prompting them to keep playing.

6. Promote community interaction

If your players are playing in isolation, then it’s easy for them to get bored and move onto other options, to other competitors.

But if they’re playing alongside others – and can communicate with other players about their progress, then they’ll be more invested. They’ll want to keep playing.

Consider focusing development efforts on a community hub, or a way for players to chat.

Don’t underestimate the value of social proof either – if you can have some of your players showing others the rewards they’ve won or the prizes they’ve redeemed, that will instantly encourage others to follow in their footsteps, to keep playing to achieve a similar level of reward.

7. Create a loyalty program

Finally, one of the most effective, proven strategies to keep your players playing – that draws on some of the tactics mentioned above – is to create a loyalty program.

If your players know they get rewarded for staying loyal, for continuing to play and engage with your brand, then they’ll be happy to stick around.

If they know that they can earn prizes and rewards just by doing what they’re doing, they’re unlikely to go and play elsewhere.

Loyalty schemes and programs work in every industry because they tie customers to one brand. Spend your time or your money elsewhere, and you won’t make the progress to that reward you wanted if you’d stuck around.

They also breed goodwill and enhance your brand reputation, especially if your loyalty rewards are worth shouting about.

That’s where Gift & Go’s loyalty points store can help.

When you want to showcase a wide range of the very best rewards as part of your loyalty program, or you want to offer top prizes for random winners each day, Gift & Go is the better way to thank you.

With an unrivalled choice of gifts and incentives, Gift & Go lets you give players the rewards they actually want. They can pick their favourites, and identify ones they want to redeem in the future.

Just one more way to keep your players playing.

See how it works yourself.

Book a demo of Gift & Go.

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