How to Design Gamification That Actually Retains Users

Gamification in B2C apps often feels like an afterthought—throw in some points, badges, and leaderboards and call it a day. But when done thoughtfully, gamification can become the invisible force that keeps users coming back daily. Amy Cameron, Head of Marketing at Sylvi AI, shared on the Levels Podcast how her team approached gamification strategically, learning from industry leaders while avoiding the trap of turning their app into a game.

Sylvi AI's approach offers valuable lessons for any B2C startup looking to implement gamification that enhances rather than detracts from their core value proposition.

The Psychology Behind Effective Streaks

Sylvi's gamification journey began with a personal frustration that many can relate to. Despite maintaining a lengthy Duolingo streak, Amy found herself unable to have basic conversations in French during a trip to France. This experience shaped their entire approach to gamification:

"The whole app stemmed from this godforsaken Duo streak that I had that had got me nowhere and while it hadn't got me anywhere. I was still doing it and it just shows you the power of a streak."

Rather than dismissing streaks entirely, Amy's team dove deep into the psychology behind why they work:

"We did a lot of research into streaks and how Duo uses them. And again, the psychology behind them, there are so many papers out there that show doing things repetitively and like not just three times a week, but three times consecutively a week will improve your confidence and your dedication to that thing."

This research-backed approach led them to implement streaks as their first gamification element, but with crucial differences from competitors.

Making Streaks Achievable, Not Burdensome

One key insight from Duolingo's playbook was the importance of making daily streak completion accessible:

"Duo have a whole team dedicated to their streak and how it works. But ours is very basic. You go onto the app, you use one part of it, you complete your streak for the day you've done your language learning."

The flexibility in what counts toward a streak is intentional. Users can maintain their streak by:

• Sending one chat message to a pen pal
• Reading one news article
• Reviewing saved words
• Chatting with friends

"Which again, we kind of copied from Duo in the sense that like people want an easy sense of achievement."

This approach recognizes that consistent engagement, even in small doses, builds stronger habits than demanding lengthy daily sessions that users might skip entirely.

The Strategic Use of Streak Freezes

Perhaps the most sophisticated element of Sylvi's streak system is their implementation of streak freezes—the ability to pause your streak without losing progress:

"We also introduced a streak freeze or the opportunity to buy a streak freeze. Again, stolen from Duo, they released a report that said actually being lenient with the streak makes people more motivated because if you lose your 500 day streak, you're kind of arms in the air."

Duolingo's data showed that allowing streak freezes actually increased daily active users:

"Whereas if you give people an opportunity and Duo started with one streak freeze and then added a second and their results skyrocketed in the amount of daily average users that they got."

This counterintuitive finding—that being more lenient increases engagement rather than decreases it—highlights the importance of reducing user anxiety around streaks rather than maximizing pressure.

Building a Meaningful Economy

Beyond streaks, Sylvi implemented a gem-based currency system that ties directly to app functionality:

"We introduce gems, which is like our currency. So as I said, you can buy streak freezes, you can buy more pen pals with your gems."

The key to their gem system is ensuring the currency has real utility within the app experience. Users earn gems through daily challenges and can spend them on:

• Streak freezes for peace of mind
• Additional AI pen pal personalities for variety
• Exclusive content and features

However, Amy acknowledges they're still developing this system:

"People have loads and loads of gems because they use the app every day, which is great. And they've unlocked everything... what else can we bring in that feels exclusive that they can use this currency for."

Contextual Points That Feel Natural

Instead of generic points, Sylvi created language-specific rewards that feel integrated with the learning experience:

"You also earn points. Your points depend on what language you're learning. So I'm learning French, I earn croissants. If you're learning German, you earn beer."

These contextual points serve dual purposes:

1. They feel more authentic and less game-like
2. They reinforce cultural connections to the target language

The points feed into leaderboards that create social competition:

"Those points are reflected in a leaderboard. So again, to just kind of in sight, kind of competition, and it's great among friends and you're probably chatting to friends because you're on social chat, seeing where they are on the leaderboard."

Avoiding the Gamification Trap

One of the most important aspects of Sylvi's approach is their conscious effort to avoid over-gamification:

"I think we want to differentiate ourselves from duo on the gamification side. Like our app is not a game, but we want to introduce these gamified elements that retain people."

This philosophy ensures that gamification enhances the core learning experience rather than replacing it. The goal is subconscious motivation:

"Make it not feel like a game and it's kind of a subconscious that they're like texting more so they can get more points so they can get to the top of the league board."

Leveraging Competitor Transitions

Sylvi's gamification strategy also includes opportunistic elements, like capitalizing on user dissatisfaction with competitors:

"Right now, there's a lot of controversy around Duo and we are using that to our advantage. People are trying to move away from Duo because they've said they're AI first, but they don't want to lose their streaks."

Their solution? Streak transfers:

"We've said, you can just transfer your streak over to us. So we're now doing this whole marketing campaign where people are sending us screenshots of their duo streaks and then we can move them across to Sylvi."

This demonstrates how gamification elements can become powerful acquisition tools, not just retention mechanisms.

Future Gamification Roadmap

Amy's team recognizes that their current gamification is just the beginning:

"No, I think there is so much more that we need to do on the gamification side of things. It's like a whole piece of work that we've basically got mapped out towards the end of this year is to dive into what else can we do."

Areas for expansion include:

• Enhanced competition elements and leaderboards
• More exclusive content unlockable with gems
• Seasonal challenges and limited-time events
• Achievement systems beyond daily streaks

Implementation Framework for B2C Apps

Based on Sylvi's approach, here's a framework for implementing effective gamification:

1. Research the Psychology

• Study existing literature on habit formation and motivation
• Analyze successful implementations in adjacent industries
• Understand your users' intrinsic motivations

2. Start with Streaks

• Make daily achievement requirements minimal and flexible
• Implement streak freezes to reduce user anxiety
• Use contextual language that fits your app's purpose

3. Create Meaningful Currency

• Ensure virtual currency has real utility within your app
• Plan for currency expansion as your feature set grows
• Balance earning and spending opportunities

4. Design Contextual Rewards

• Use points/rewards that relate to your app's theme
• Avoid generic gaming terminology that feels disconnected
• Make progression feel natural, not forced

5. Enable Social Competition

• Implement leaderboards that encourage friendly competition
• Allow users to compete with friends specifically
• Consider team-based challenges for community building

Key Takeaways

Sylvi's gamification strategy offers several crucial insights for B2C startups:

• Research before building - Understand the psychology behind effective gamification

• Start simple - Implement basic streaks before complex systems

• Reduce anxiety - Lenient systems often work better than strict ones

• Maintain authenticity - Gamification should enhance, not replace, core value

• Plan for growth - Build systems that can evolve with your user base

• Learn from leaders - Study and adapt proven approaches from successful apps

The goal isn't to create a game—it's to make your valuable product habit-forming through thoughtful psychological triggers that feel natural and supportive.

Listen to the full conversation to hear more insights from Amy Cameron on building effective retention strategies.