What we are seeing is the backlash against the idea that just adding points and badges will create a compelling experience. This is no more accurate than if yo

What we are seeing is the backlash against the idea that just adding points and badges will create a compelling experience. This is no more accurate than if you replaced [your favorite game] with a series of menus and button presses and threw in some random point and badge awards. The experience itself must be rewarding. That said, "gamification" techniques can be a wonderful thing. Points are a useful way to highlight positive interactions with users ("you did X, this is a good thing, these points help you realize that"). Badges are a good way of providing metagame elements, both at the beginning of an experience (to shorten the learning curve) and at the end (to provide extended engagement). This all relies on a compelling core experience, of course. I think that Dennis has been clear that Foursquare is a social layer on top of physical locations, not a game. That people generally see it as a shallow game can be considered both an example of the compelling (and perhaps overriding) aspect of the gameplay elements and an indictment of the core 4Sq experience.