Gamification is commonly implemented with the goal of transforming
activities, systems and services to afford similar experiences and
motivational support as games do. In health and exercise contexts, the
motivational support drawn from games is considered to encourage
performing these activities that commonly lack motivation. However, an
empirically rigorous body of literature examining the effects of
gamification has been lacking. This is especially problematic in health
contexts where unfounded claims can have detrimental effects. This
systematic literature review of 16 comparison studies on gamification of
physical activity examines what kinds of gamification have been studied
in the pursuit of which outcomes, and what results the studies have
attained. The results show that gamification of physical activity has
provided positively oriented results; however, with more rigorous study
designs the results are less optimistic. Research is focused on
measuring performed physical activity, but mostly relies on
self-reported data instead of objective measurement.