Image: psychologyofgames.com
An innovative educational platform provider, Adapted Mind Math is focused on creating fun ways for children to learn mathematical and reading skills. Placing the emphasis on adaptive learning, the Adapted Mind Math platform makes use of incentives, such as virtual badges and trophies, to reward users for their progress.
Such incentives have become common in gaming and are used by designers to encourage players to explore their games in more depth. Badges and trophies not only give players something to work toward, but also set higher expectations than players may have placed on themselves.
Some, including Jamie Madigan in an article posted on The Psychology of Games, a website devoted to examining how video games and psychology intersect, argue that the use of such virtual achievements offers a point of reference that players fixate on until they achieve the goals required to unlock the associated badge or trophy.
Further, achieving goals leads to a sense of satisfaction that encourages players to push toward the next achievement so they can experience the same feelings again. This desire to pursue similar goals increases player engagement with the game and leads to them spending more time with it, resulting in increased familiarity and mastery of the topics around which the game is built.
Adapted Mind Math 