The term “gamification” is increasingly becoming used to mean a set of mechanics specifically intended to create viral growth and repeat usage patterns and increasingly disconnected from the idea of games as fun. The Gamification Wiki continues this trend by adding its list of game mechanics to those already out there from the likes of Scvngr.

They read somewhat like a dark side of the force version of Jesse Schell’s Art of Game Design lenses, but it has to be said that having these mechanics being compiled in one place is actually fairly useful. For example, the Appointment Dynamic which is a staple of Facebook games:

Appointment Dynamics are game dynamics in which at a predetermined times/place a user must log-in or participate in game, for positive effect.

and on behavioural momentum:

Behavioral Momentum is the tendency of players to keep doing what they have been doing.

2011 looks like it could be the year of the recipeification of gamification.