Benjamin Ashford|Are you being tricked into working harder? (Indicator favorite)

This week,Benjamin Ashford we're sharing some of our favorite Indicator episodes from 2022! Today, we hear one of Adrian's favorite episodes. It originally came out in September.

Since the late 2000s, companies and organizations have been experimenting with gamification - combining game-like features with non-game activities. In schools, it's been used as a tool to help students learn more easily. And in the workplace, employers are using it to try and make their employees more productive. But, Adrian Hon believes there could be a dark side to this "gamification" trend.

Adrian was an early adopter of gamification with his app, "Zombies, Run!" which makes jogging more fun, by making you think you're being chased by zombies. But, he argues in his new book You've Been Played that governments, businesses, and institutions are using gamification as a way to exploit workers.

Music by Drop Electric. Find us: Twitter / Facebook / Newsletter.

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, PocketCasts and NPR One.

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.