Gamification in eLearning has evolved significantly over the past few years. Today, it’s less about creating “games” and more about designing interactive learning experiences that encourage decision-making, progression, and engagement. While tools like Articulate Rise 360 now make simple gamification easier than ever, Articulate Storyline 360 still provides the flexibility to create more advanced, immersive learning experiences.
In this article, we explore how gamification can be developed in Articulate Storyline using techniques such as branching, scoring, variables, timers and interactive feedback.
Let’s take a look at a course we built for Toyota where we revamped a simple quiz into a Race Track, click here to have a look at it live.
The Brief
The goal was to create a product training experience for vehicle dealers that felt engaging, competitive, and quick to complete. The course needed to:
- reinforce key vehicle features and selling points
- keep learners actively engaged
- feel fast-paced and rewarding
- tap into the competitive mindset common within dealership environments
Rather than asking learners to click through product information, the focus was on designing an experience that encouraged progression, interaction and achievement.
The Solution
Instead of presenting vehicle information as traditional product training, we designed the course as an interactive racing challenge. The learner progresses around a race track by correctly answering questions about the vehicle model and its features. The faster they progress, the more achievements they unlock.
This approach transformed the learning experience from reading product information into actively competing, progressing, and achieving outcomes,
To personalise the experience, learners selected from four different avatars and vehicles at the start of the course. Their chosen character then appeared throughout the experience, creating a stronger sense of ownership and engagement.
A timed element was also introduced to increase pace and reinforce the fast-moving dealership environment.
Feature #1 The Race Track
The race track became the central progression mechanic for the course. As learners answered questions correctly, their vehicle moved around the track, creating a strong sense of momentum and achievement.
Behind the scenes, this was built using True/False variables in Articulate Storyline 360. Each question updated a variable from False to True once answered correctly. These variables then triggered:
- movement of the car around the track
- unlocking of the next challenge
- updates to learner achievements
The car itself used multiple visual states to represent different positions around the track, helping reinforce progression visually throughout the experience.
Feature #2 Achievements and Progression
To reinforce learner progress, achievement stars were introduced throughout the experience. As learners completed each challenge successfully, stars changed from grey to yellow, visually rewarding progress and encouraging learners to continue.
This was achieved using the same True/False variables that controlled progression around the race track.
Simple visual indicators like this can significantly increase engagement by making progress visible and rewarding.
Feature #3 Personalised Avatars
Learners were able to select from four different avatars and vehicles at the start of the course.
While simple, this added an important layer of personalisation and ownership to the experience.
Here is an example of the trigger:
Once selected, the learner’s chosen avatar appeared throughout the course, creating consistency and reinforcing immersion.
Technically, this was built using Number variables and object states in Articulate Storyline 360, allowing the selected character to dynamically appear across multiple screens.
Feature #4 Visual Design
The visual design followed the agreed racing theme while still aligning with the client’s branding requirements.
Once the concept was established, inspiration was gathered from:
- motorsport graphics
- advertising design
- game-style interfaces
- eLearning community examples
A racetrack illustration was created with AI to align with the illustrated Articulate Storyline character style used throughout the course.
This combination helped create a learning experience that felt energetic, fast-paced, and visually cohesive.
Learn how to use Gamification in Articulate Storyline
To learn how to build something like this consider our Certified Articulate Storyline Training workshop. It covers all the basic development building blocks: Slides, States, Layers, and Triggers as well as more advanced functions such as the variables we used in this course to track the progress and to change the visual appearance of things such as the car and the character. Check out our upcoming dates here.
