Academic procrastination is a common problem and the desire to reduce it is highly expressed by college students. Smartphone-based persuasive applications provide students with easily accessible intervention strategies. Apps that applied gamification elements received wide popularity. However, the use of gamification has been questioned and criticized for problems such as extrinsic motivation dominance, short-term focus, and counterproductive effects. This study aims to examine the user experience of long-term users of the existing apps to find out how gamification works to impact academic procrastination. Using Forest: Focus for Productivity as a study case, this study combines surveys and interviews to discuss the role of gamification, common criticisms, and ways of incorporating it in persuasive applications.