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In many games there are rewards such as gold coins, points, etc. When these rewards can be used to purchase in-game items, it motivates the player to keep playing.

Let's say we have an online game, poker, Yatzy etc. What type of reward would keep the players playing if there are few in-game items available to buy, or none at all?

What I am looking for is a reward system that entices the players to play more in a game environment where there isn't that much to purchase. For example, there isn't much to buy in a poker or Yatzy game with the gold you win.

I guess having some titles that are added to the userid is one way, or maybe purchasing a logo for the id... A leaderboard is another.

Any thoughts on this?

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How about the players will be "triggered" to play more because the gameplay is fun and well-executed? :) –  Nathan Reed Oct 29 '12 at 17:39
-1 Question seems to be looking for a discussion. I don't see how there's a correct answer to this. It's just polling for ideas. –  Byte56 Oct 29 '12 at 18:07
@Byte56, Yes you are right, I agree with you. –  Mahbubur R Aaman Oct 29 '12 at 18:13
@Byte56 is polling for ideas bad per se? –  Markus von Broady Oct 29 '12 at 20:29
With all respect i may have asked the question wrongly as i am not native english, sorry for that. I am not looking for a discussion i am looking for a real solution to a problem i have with a game i am working on. I have a card game and want to use coins but given my inexperience of this i would like to know how game designers do with this! ...this is a place full of people with the experience of doing these things so... –  PeterK Oct 29 '12 at 22:02
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3 Answers

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There was a poker game, where you were making money to buy out whole Texas (I may exaggerate here), that was a funny idea, because it was giving you an objective.

Another thing that poker reminds me is strip poker! That's a great way to motivate players - not only in poker, stripping girls are welcomed everywhere (well, maybe not on a minigame made for a site about feminism). Just remember to comment this answer with link to your game when it's finished, so I don't miss it.

Some people simply implement score. It's especially nice if you can share it with others, and you will rather want to share "Yeaster Master" in a beer promotion game than "1539205", so coming up with funny rank names may pay off.

Similarly to above, a lot of games nowadays spend time on creating achievements, especially if you can share them on your blog, Facebook, forum signature etc.

Also a great reward for a player is new content unblocked - usually it's just a step forward in story of a RPG game, though it works also with lesser rewards in low budget games, like unblocking Hold'em variant in a poker game.

If you have other products, you can put some secret code for another game. Hackers won't take it from decompiled code, because they won't know it exists.

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Essentially, if you are not acquiring in game merchandise using the credits you earn, the only motivation for earning them is status. The game should create an environment in which the player wishes to be the wealthiest. Try to set up leaderboards, or in some way allow the players to convey their achievement, that way they want to have more than everyone else.

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Achievements (wiki). Now they are everywhere: in MMOs, Online games, even Visual Studio has extensions with achievements system. Even StackOverflow has it! =) [Kill 1000 rabits], [Win 20 poker games in a in a row], [Come online every day for 1 year], [Write over 9000 stupid answers]... They are just a pop up shiny boxes or a table in a player profile, but players just play achievements. Not sure why. You can add ranking table on a main page. Also you can make achievement points as base for another awards: titles, special avatars, badges as said Markus von Broady.

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