Return
Personal best
Effort: Low
What to notice
The result appears next to the previous score and the improvement.
How to build it
- Store each user’s previous and best results.
- Show the change from last time on the result screen.
- Show leaderboards only to people who opt in.
Measure
- Main metric
- Retry rate
- Guardrail
- Churn after a worse score
When it backfires
Blaming language after a worse score drives people away.
Theory behind it
Self-Determination Theory
People keep going on their own when they feel autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
Well supported
Social comparison and leaderboards
People judge their abilities against others. Leaderboards can draw out effort and can also deflate motivation.
Contested
Goal-setting theory
Specific, challenging goals lead to better performance than "do your best."
Well supported
Playable demos
Try the same mechanism in a playable demo.