Month: April 2022

“Simply putting games over something doesn’t work. At most, it’ll be a little nicer.”

Jan Reichert, CEO at kr3m. To be read on sueddeutsche.de “Spielend Kunden gewinnen – Gamifizierung ist Alltag”, 23.2.22, https://www.sueddeutsche.de

Gamification is no longer new and we experience it in many different forms in our everyday lives. The wide range of offers also influences the quality standards and we think that good gamification is an intensive process.

Gamification is the transfer of game-typical elements and processes to non-game contexts. In simple terms, games and fun are used to convey content more quickly and pleasantly. The term ‘gamification’ was created in the early 2000s, primarily by the gaming industry, and is now mainly used in connection with digital applications such as apps or online games. In terms of its basic principle, gamification is of course much older and there are many examples for analog applications.

Gamification as a marketing campaign: What about Moorhuhn?

No question: Gamification can successfully support marketing strategies! Customers could be more actively addressed and retained by the playful elements. If the challenge of the game is not unreachable high, entertainment is offered and a reward is given at the end, customers can be kept busy over a longer period of time and also be encouraged to return. This creates many opportunities to get the desired advertising content across. However, the fact that this requires more than just a good game can be illustrated by the example of “Moorhuhn”. Although countless people were reached through successful gamification, it did not work as a marketing campaign. Or did you know that the shooter game was originally an advertising campaign for a Scottish whisky brand?

How can gamification be successful?

Here, the “right mix of information and game” is required, according to our CEO Jan Reichert in an interview with dpa. (To be read on sueddeutsche.de “Spielend Kunden gewinnen – Gamifizierung ist Alltag”, 23.2.22, https://www.sueddeutsche.de) It can also be noticed that the reward – an essential component of gamification – has to come faster and faster nowadays. In the mobile game “Candy Crush,” for example, it happens every second. “To keep up in the market, companies would have to adapt,” our CEO further advises. With didactic applications, there is often the problem that the game aspect comes up short. We were able to clarify this most recently during our research into the new CO₂ app “Klima Buddy – hilft CO₂ sparen” (Climate Buddy – Helps Save CO₂), which we are developing on behalf of the state of Baden-Württemberg. Existing CO₂ calculators are all made cool, convincing in design and quality, but generate only a few downloads. We are talking here about 10,000 to 50,000 downloads. In comparison, “Candy Crush” has billions! The reason why previous CO₂ calculators have not been successful is obvious: The topic, which is already difficult and involves making sacrifices, is not combined with the right game principle.

Gamification von kr3m

At kr3m, we have been integrating playful elements into digital applications and developing successful HTML5 applications based on open source for all digital platforms and app stores for over 20 years.

We are proud and grateful to successfully serve customers like Daimler, PAYBACK, Abbott and large publishing houses like Der Spiegel, BILD, Focus and many more with games and apps. After PAYBACK started with the kr3m game eXchange in its customer app, the game was relaunched several times in 2021 as “Diamantenrausch” due to the enormous response from users. In addition, the seasonal games Snowball and Surfracer were used for PAYBACK.

The diabetes game we implemented for the pharmaceutical company Abbott is less about collecting bonus points and more about making diabetes patients aware of their insulin levels through play. This custom-developed game is also designed to increase retention time on the site, promote brand identification, and present Abbott’s offerings to users.

All these projects have shown that gamification can only be successful if it is based on proven game principles. We also approached the development of the new and soon to be available CO₂ app with the same principle in mind and provided the CO₂ calculator with a Tamagotchi. The virtual pet in the form of a cute owl has to be fed and bathed, and it can be dressed up with fun accessories. By interacting with the owl, the user is literally fed information on CO₂ reduction and compensation, and by passing missions, further features can be unlocked for the pet. Seeing how the forest around the owl can be reforested and how its endangered habitat can be improved, at least virtually, is very rewarding!

With this concept, we were able to win the pitch for the project tender from the Ministry of the Interior, for Digitization and Communities Baden-Württemberg against 30 competitors and are looking forward to the upcoming release.

The new Playground for Blick.ch: kr3m develops French/German online games site

Online games are in high demand and not only in Germany. With the release of the new HTML5 games site for the Swiss news portal Blick, kr3m’s next international Playground (https://spiele.blick.ch/) goes live today.

Now also Blick: International media houses rely on multilingual casual games platform

Online games such as Sudoku, Solitaire or Mahjong are highly popular and also in Switzerland thousands search for the game Sudoku via Google every month. The kr3m white-label Playground already tried and tested in DACH for 15 years by many partners, including DER SPIEGEL, FOCUS Online, BILDspielt, 20Minuten, kurier and news.at – is now entering Switzerland again. We have now also developed a Playground in German and French for Blick. This allows Blick to reach users in German-speaking Switzerland, French-speaking cantons and neighboring France. For clients with a bilingual target group, this is logical and highly recommended, because games are a relevant traffic channel and bilingual addressing allows even more search requests to be served and allows even more users to be picked up.

The advantages of HTML5 games: Longer retention time and more advertising revenue

Why do so many news portals rely on HTML5 games and which games are most popular? We hear these questions frequently and they are quickly answered: HTML5 games, like kr3m’s casual games, promise free gaming fun with no barriers to entry or delays. The user calls up the page and can start playing immediately. HTML5 games therefore offer the perfect user experience and have an attractive effect on Internet users – traffic increases. This is great for news portals, and it gets even better: casual games are ideal for extending the time users spend on the site. While reading journalistic articles only takes a few minutes, users spend an average of 15 minutes playing our games. This is valuable time that Blick can now use for profitable ad plays. Added to this is the positive, psychological link between the user and the provider. By playing games, the user receives information of an emotionally positive nature, which the brain stores better than others. This can lead to the provider of such games being positively associated by the user. The desire to stay increases and other offers – further games, newsletters or other sub-pages – become interesting for the user.

The most popular online games include Sudoku, Solitaire, mahjong and bubble shooter. Therefore, these game principles also form the basis of kr3m’s successful Playground. We follow the motto: quality before quantity. An overcrowded range of games is of no help to anyone. This is because it is not possible to guarantee constant quality, a consistent user experience and, ultimately, optimized ad playout.

Additional target group extension through exciting browser games

By connecting cool browser games, more users can be attracted and that pays off!
In addition to the great classics of MMO games (Massively Multiplayer Online Game) that kr3m Playground already has in its selection, exciting browser game novelties are added to the new online game oage from Blick.

In the building strategy games Elvenar and Arkheim: Realms of War magical fantasy worlds open up to the player, in which many adventures await. The Rail Nation gamewill make the hearts of all railroad enthusiasts beat faster. Here, the user becomes a railroad tycoon and experiences railroad nostalgia from all eras. The highlight of the look, however, is Game of Thrones. The thrilling browser game of the popular TV series has been long awaited by fans and together with well-known characters of the GoT universe, the player is supported in the battles of the kingdoms of Westeros. If the technical requirements for integration are met and the usability fits – as is the case here – then a further target group can be attracted with the help of browser games. The positive side effect is that browser games usually also earn money through optional in-game sales, thus providing a new source of revenue with higher sales per user.

We are pleased to have developed an optimally positioned and bilingual games site for Blick, which offers users the best possible gaming experience with their favorite games. Programmed in HTML5 and with different layouts for different devices, the games can be browsed from all popular devices – mobile, tablet and desktop.

Swiss gamers looking for the perfect gaming experience can now find their favorite game at https://spiele.blick.ch/. To turn every search into a result, the focus of the new game page is on one game per game principle and we serve the most relevant SEO keyword with high-quality editorial content – because here too, SEO content is king!