Play Thinking
It's not gamification.
Great digital products make it fun, meaningful, and emotionally rewarding.
Get the Playbook (PDF, on ustwo.com)The difference
Points on top, or principles underneath
What we don't do
Gamification
Points, badges and streaks stapled onto an existing product.
What we do
Play Thinking
The underlying principles of game design, used from the first sketch.
What play gives a product
Four things people feel, not four features
Motivation
Give people a reason to come back that is bigger than a notification.
Education
Teach through doing. Good games never make you read the manual.
Advocacy
Make something worth telling a friend about.
Community
Design for people together, not just a person alone with a screen.
Where it comes from
A studio that has actually made a game people love
In 2014 ustwo Games released Monument Valley. It won an Apple Design Award and a BAFTA. What the studio learned about attention, reward and delight did not stay in the games team; it became Play Thinking, and now shapes work for banks, energy companies and health services.
Monument Valley · 2014
Apple Design Award
BAFTA
Fast Company Innovation by Design recognition for the studio's work.