The Olympics are always exciting. As a Canadian, I love the winter Olympics. Hockey, snowboarding and even ice dancing are showcased throughout our nation and I feel there is always patriotism in the air. While I don’t want to jinx anything, I think it’s fair to say that Canada dominates when the winter Olympics rolls around.
This year, Russia is hosting the Olympics, and despite the LGBT controversy beyond the arctic circle, the country is implementing some pretty interesting innovations.
When you think of Russia, the first thing you think of probably isn’t ‘fun and games’ (Sorry Russia), but they have found a way to use gamification as a means of promoting the Olympic games themselves. To build the hype for the games, as well as to keep its people healthy, Moscow subway stations have introduced a game in where participants win a free metro token as a reward for doing thirty squats. If you’re like me, you’d just pay the dollar. But, it does seem like a very fun and cool way to promote the Games happening in Sochi this year.
This video depicts the launch of the machines and the amount of engagement the ticket distribution machine received from several metro users.
Other gamification methods are being used to help promote sport and activity throughout the country as we draw closer to the opening ceremony. For a full list of ‘everyday’ games they have planned, you can click here.