How to choose a gamification solution

You choose a gamification solution according to the moment your audience plays, not according to the length of its catalogue. For an event, four criteria decide: download-free access, a page that displays quickly on a saturated network, GDPR-compliant collection and an export of participants per event. The rest can be compared afterwards.

What question should you ask before comparing solutions?

Where and when will your audience play? The answer eliminates a good part of the offers before the first demo.

An audience that plays at home, on a brand website, in the evening, does not face the constraints of a spectator standing in the stands during half-time. The first has time and a good connection; the second has the length of a half-time and a mobile network shared with thousands of people. A solution designed for the first case will fail in the second, whatever the quality of its games.

The second question is the expected action: collecting contacts, selling visibility to a partner, building loyalty among season-ticket holders, training employees. The general principles are set out in our guide to gamification ; here, we assume that the action is defined and that it remains to choose the tool.

What types of gamification solutions exist?

Four families, which do not meet the same need.

Family	Designed for	Strength	Limitation to know
Online prize-draw platforms	Marketing campaigns on a website, social networks, email	Library of formats, quick to put online	Designed for a personal screen in a quiet setting, rarely for a saturated network or a big screen
Club or loyalty apps	Season-ticket holders and regular supporters	Long-term relationship, notifications, points	Require a download: the occasional spectator does not play
In-venue activation solutions	Stadiums, arenas, venues, trade shows	QR code access, games synchronised with the match, display on the big screen, partner sales house	Less suited to a purely online campaign
Custom development	Very specific need, significant budget and lead time	Total freedom	Maintenance cost, every season, and dependence on a provider

These families overlap: some online platforms offer an event mode, some venue solutions have an off-event mode. The test remains the same: ask to see the product in your real situation, not in the standard demo.

Which criteria should you compare? The 8-point grid

The grid below is for use during the demo. For each criterion, the question to ask, the answer that should reassure you and the one that should alert you.

Criterion	Question to ask	Expected answer	Warning sign
Access	What does the spectator do between the scan and the first game?	A web page opens, they play	“They download the app” or “they create an account”
Speed	How long does the page take to display on a loaded mobile network?	A measured figure, in seconds	“It depends on the network” with no measurement
Data	Who is the data controller, where is the data hosted, how is the participant list exported?	Written answers, export per event	No export, or global export only
Consent	How is marketing opt-in collected?	A separate, unticked box, readable text	A pre-ticked box, or consent buried in the game rules
Autonomy	Can your teams create an activation without the supplier?	Yes, after training	Every activation goes through a supplier project manager
Display	Can the game be shown on the big screen or the venue’s screens?	Yes, with a dedicated broadcast link	Only on the phone
Partners	Can a sponsor be built into the game and receive reporting on the results?	Advertising, prizes, partner opt-in, report per event	Logo only, with no measurement
Measurement	Which figures are available after the event?	Scans, participants, opt-in, partner views and clicks	Only the number of scans

The “data” criterion deserves particular attention, because the mistake is costly. In 2023 the CNIL sanctioned a publisher of prize-draw websites, Tagadamedia, whose forms highlighted the acceptance button and shrank the information text: consent was neither free nor informed. The €75,000 fine, imposed on 29 December 2023, was reduced to €50,000 by the Conseil d’État on 20 May 2026 (CNIL page). A game form should be designed with the same rigour as a registration form.

A word from Romuald, CTO — On the technical criteria, three tests are worth more than a demo. One: scan the QR code on 4G, in a public place, and time it. At Luckysit, we aim for a page displayed in under three seconds and a first interaction within ten seconds; beyond that, the spectator gives up. Two: ask for a participant export from a real, anonymised event, to see the available fields and the format. Three: ask what happens when 2,000 people scan in the same minute, when the second half resumes. The answer should talk about infrastructure, not promises.

How much does a gamification solution cost?

Public price ranges are rare and hard to compare, because pricing models differ. Three models dominate: a price per event or campaign, an annual or season subscription, and a development fee for custom work.

The right model depends on the calendar. A club that runs activations at every home match, or a venue that hosts a show every week, benefits from a subscription that gives it autonomy. An annual trade show or a one-off operation falls under per-event pricing.

At Luckysit, both cases exist: a One Shot plan for an event or an operation, a Business plan for a season, with self-service access to the software after training and the advertising sales house as an option. Prices are set on request, depending on the venue and the calendar.

What to ask, whichever supplier you choose: what is included (number of events, users, games), what is charged extra (prizes, big screen, support on the day), and what you get back if you leave (your data, your contacts).

Which mistakes to avoid when choosing?

Choosing on the number of games. A catalogue of several dozen formats impresses in a demo; over a season, a club uses a few, always the same ones. The Luckysit catalogue has nine games, each designed for a specific moment of the match or the show: better a few mastered formats than a catalogue that is never opened.

Choosing on the standard demo. The demo takes place in the office, on Wi-Fi, in front of a computer screen. Your audience will play standing, on 4G, in the noise. Do the demo in your venue.

Forgetting who will do the work. If every activation requires the supplier’s intervention, the set-up stops when the support budget runs out. Your teams’ autonomy is a criterion of durability.

Neglecting the exit. Ask from the start how to recover your contacts if you change tool. The data collected belongs to the organiser, not to the provider.

What questions to ask during a demo? The 7 to remember

1. Show me the complete spectator journey, from scan to end of game, on a phone.
2. How long does the page take to display on 4G, with a measurement to back it up?
3. How are marketing opt-in and partner opt-in collected?
4. Who creates an activation: my teams or yours? How long does it take?
5. How is the game displayed on the big screen or the venue’s screens?
6. What report will I receive after the event, and what report can I send to my partners?
7. How do I recover my data if we stop?

On the friction side, see also our article on download-free gamification. If your project concerns an existing app or loyalty programme, the mechanics to favour are detailed in our article on gamifying an app.

Frequently asked questions