Defining gamification: a systematic literature review for developing a process-oriented definition

Gamification has gained popularity as a technique to enhance engagement, motivation, and learning in non-gaming contexts. However, a clear and practical definition of gamification is essential for its successful application. This paper presents a systematic literature review of various definitions of gamification provided by researchers to derive a process-oriented definition. Here, the systematic literature review encompassed a comprehensive investigation of the available scholarly literature. The initial search yielded 10,100 publications. Subsequently, an exclusion process was employed to refine the dataset, resulting in the analysis of a final set of 22 papers selected for their relevance. The goal of the review is to help educators design gamification-based courses easily and effectively. By examining the various definitions of gamification, this study identifies the essential characteristics of gamification as a process that makes activities more game-like. The resulting process-oriented definition of gamification helps to build relevant theories and models for learning and design/training courses based on gamification. This paper contributes to the growth of gamification as a field by creating a better fit between academic and practitioner perspectives.