Looking to boost participation without adding more sessions or giveaways? Attendee gamification turns everyday actions like checking in, visiting booths, and completing surveys into points, badges, and prizes that keep people moving and talking. Below is a clear look at which major event platforms include gamification, how they differ, and what to evaluate so your games actually drive leads and learning.
What “good” gamification looks like
The strongest setups do three things well:
- Connect challenges to business goals.
- Surface real-time progress with leaderboards and nudges.
- Feed engagement data into your marketing and sales systems for fast follow up. Integration, analytics, and data ownership matter just as much as the fun mechanics.
Where Accelevents can benefit enterprises and associations
Accelevents supports In-person, virtual, hybrid programs on one consistent data model across registration, onsite, mobile, and virtual, so game actions like scans, check-ins, and session attendance all live in one place for unified scoring and reporting. That structure creates a smooth experience for event organizers, attendees, exhibitors, and speakers. Accelevents serves 1,847 customers and is known for ease of use and flexibility. The support team that responds in less than 21 seconds, 24/7 is available when your game launches and the exhibit hall doors open.
What’s included:
- Built-in challenges and leaderboards. Award points for session check-ins, booth scans, meeting bookings, surveys, and profile completion, then display standings on mobile and signage. See the platform’s gamification overview for examples.
- Prizes and redemptions your way. Run raffles or let attendees redeem points for swag or experiences, and track fulfillment in real time with in depth analytics
- Ties directly to revenue. Exhibitors can use lead capture plus meeting booking to reward quality interactions, then see which games drove the most scans, demos, and meetings.
- Marketing system handoffs. Native connectors to Salesforce, HubSpot, and Marketo plus public REST APIs and webhooks help you push engagement scores into your CRM and automation tools without extra fees.
- Brand control. Games, badges, and leaderboards can reflect your theme, with white label experiences across web and mobile if needed.
Accelevents also pairs games with ticketing and registration features like conditional logic, bundles, and conversion tracking, which helps you segment challenges by attendee type and reward early actions at the point of signup. Explore ticketing and registration.
Onsite ready: Use event check in with badge printing to start games the moment someone arrives, then let QR scans feed points automatically. Learn more about event check in.
Why this matters: Integration and support are top topics during vendor evaluation, and analytics is a frequent support conversation after go-live, so choosing a system where games, data, and help live together is key.
How the big event platforms approach gamification
When you compare options, place the emphasis on how each platform ties game events to measurable outcomes, how quickly staff can configure rules, and whether engagement data syncs to your systems. Below is a quick landscape of well-known platforms that offer attendee engagement and, in many cases, gamification modules or add-ons. Accelevents is listed first by design to make your mapping easier.
- Accelevents, native games tie directly to check-ins, scans, sessions, and meetings, with unified reporting across onsite and mobile. See the gamification module.
- Cvent, widely used across large portfolios, often paired with its mobile app or marketplace partners for contests, scavenger hunts, and points-based activities. Consider how acquisitions and breadth can make the system feel complex to master, and verify where gamification configuration sits in your admin workflow.
- Bizzabo, commonly showcases engagement through its app and wearables, with points and prizes available. Assess how game data maps to lead and pipeline metrics in your marketing stack.
- Stova, emphasizes on-site execution and experiential elements, with app-driven tasks and leaderboards. Confirm how prizes are redeemed and reported to exhibitors and sponsors.
- Swoogo, known for event build flows and communications, typically supports gamification via app integrations and add-ons, so plan your data handoffs from day one.
- RainFocus, targeted at the world’s largest companies where certification training is common due to system complexity, offers engagement features and integrations, so align your game logic with their data model early in implementation.
- vFairs, offers engagement mechanics such as points and quests across formats, often leaning on the mobile app and virtual hub for execution. Validate how results roll up by sponsor and session.
Registration, analytics, and support considerations
Across the market, buyers often encounter confusion inside registration flows and post-event reporting if gamification is an afterthought or a separate tool. During demos, ask to see a full run-through, from rule setup to leaderboard displays to exporting prize winners, and clarify the support response time your team can expect during show hours. These topics consistently appear in vendor conversations industry-wide.
A practical gamification checklist you can copy
Use this quick list to stress-test any vendor:
- Game mechanics and triggers. Can you award points for scans, check-ins, surveys, session feedback, and meetings without custom code, and can you schedule bonus windows for peak traffic times?
- Audience targeting. Can you present different quests to VIPs, exhibitors, or students using registration data or badge type, and can you cap redemptions by role?
- Real-time visibility. Do you get live leaderboards and alerts in the app and on signage, and are scores updated within seconds after a scan or form submit?
- Data ownership and exports. Who owns the engagement data, how fast can you export it, and does the platform provide journey views or engagement scoring for follow-up?
- Integrations. Can points or engagement scores sync to Salesforce, HubSpot, or Marketo natively, and can you automate post-event emails based on score tiers?
- Onsite operations. Is there a kiosk or fast badge scanning experience so games start at the door, and is on-the-floor help included in your plan?
- Reporting. Can you segment by session, sponsor, or persona, and will dashboards be shareable with exhibitors and stakeholders without logins?
Implementation tips for smooth gameplay
- Start small, measure, then scale. Pilot with 5 to 7 actions that map to your goals, for example session check-ins and one high-value sponsor activity, then expand next event.
- Make it visible. Promote the game in pre-event emails, at event registration, on the mobile home screen, and on signs near entrances.
- Reward quality, not volume. Give higher points for booked meetings or surveys with written feedback so you shape behavior toward outcomes, not just motion.
- Prep your partners. Brief exhibitors on how scans award points and how they can see results, so they actively invite attendees to participate.
- Plan for help. Assign a floor captain and publish a help path, especially during the opening rush. Fast help matters, and buyers consistently cite support responsiveness as a selection driver.
Who benefits most from gamification
Gamification drives measurable lift across enterprises, associations, and others like agencies and mid-market corporations by nudging traffic to sponsors, boosting session attendance, and generating richer feedback. If you want proof beyond the leaderboard, track three simple metrics: percentage of attendees who score points, number of prize-eligible actions per person, and meetings booked from game prompts.
Why many teams choose Accelevents for games plus growth
Accelevents was built to bridge enterprise-grade capability with day-to-day usability, combining engagement, onsite, and analytics in a single flow. You get quick setup, highly customizable rules, and reporting that sales and sponsors can actually use. The platform reinvests in product velocity and pairs that with hands-on customer success so your games are more than a novelty, they are a pipeline driver. If you want to see your game rules, leaderboards, and CRM sync working end to end, request a demo and we will tailor it to your event goals.
FAQs
What kinds of games work best at conferences and trade shows?
Scavenger hunts, session streaks, and sponsor quests tied to scans or short surveys work well because they steer traffic where you want it and are easy to measure.
How do I keep prizes fair without blowing the budget?
Use tiered rewards, a raffle pool for anyone above a points threshold, and caps per attendee. That structure encourages participation across the floor, not just a race by a handful of power users.
Can I run separate games for exhibitors, members, or VIPs?
Yes, if your platform supports segments from registration data and role-based rules. Look for conditional logic tied to badge type and user groups.
How does gamification affect exhibitor ROI reporting?
Exhibitors get clearer attribution, for example scans and meetings tied to game prompts, which can be rolled up by sponsor package to show impact on leads and booked conversations.
Do I need a mobile app to run gamification?
Most programs use the mobile app for ease and visibility, and you can still trigger points via onsite scans and surveys so you include attendees who prefer not to install apps.
