Have you ever been confused by conflicting advice from your stakeholders & colleagues? Do you fall for the siren song of seductive mockups? Learn how to navigate these challenges and spot the signs of a team that's headed for product/market fit.

1. Game Thinking
Game Thinking
THREE POWERFUL IDEAS
to help investors make smart decisions
gamethinking.io

2. received
contradictory
advice?
Have you ever

3. been swayed
by polished
visuals?
Have you ever

4. struggled to
figure out what
MVP to build?
Have you ever

5. Game Thinking
I HAVE

6. Game Thinking
Amy Jo Kim, Ph.D.
Game Designer
Startup Coach
Author

7. I help startups, game studios & global brands
build deep engagement from the ground up

8. Back in 2007, a startup was born

9. innovative, award-winning design

10. 1000 true fans

11. Growth Time!

12. Build a platform
for brain games
Turn your game into a
hidden-object engine
Develop the engine &
build related games
for verticals
Double-down on
Facebook & go viral
Dump my co-founder & take a
high-paid job at a gaming startup

13. Sell to a competitor

14. X

15. Learn from success

16. Run tiny, low-fidelity experiments
to find the fun & develop a beachhead

17. Learn from Failure

18. Solve a real problem
for a small, high-need group

19. THREE POWERFUL LESSONS

20. Find & leverage
your Superfans
THREE POWERFUL LESSONS
1

21. Game Thinking Quotes
“Build something just a
few people want - even
if most people don’t get
it right away”
Paul Buchheit
Partner, Y-Combinator

22. When the game was further along, we DID test our ideas with these casual
gamers. But in the early days, it was our super-fans who helped us bring the
game to life. In a very real sense, those hard-core music gamers were our
co-creators -- our collaborators — able to see what our crude mockups and
simple artwork could become, and — crucially — give us actionable
feedback on how to make it better.
rhythm game nerds
comfortable with Alpha

23. simulation enthusiasts
who love to make things

24. stay-at-home parents who’ve
recently left the workforce

25. Game development team working
from different locations

26. Don’t fall
for the
TAM myth

27. Game Thinking Quotes
CHASMSTART NOT
To cross the chasm…

28. Game Thinking Quotes
To go after a large market,
FIRST win the hearts of
early high-need customers
HOT TIP

29. Find & leverage
your Superfans
Test & iterate early
in rough form
THREE POWERFUL LESSONS
1 2

30. Game Thinking Quotes
“You can use an eraser
on the drafting table or
a sledgehammer on the
construction site.”
Frank Lloyd Wright
Architect

31. Beware the
siren song
of
seductive
mockups

32. Discover what’s
wrong as quickly
as possible

33. Look for signs of iterative development

34. Find an existing habit to piggyback on

35. Test your high-risk assumptions

36. Game Thinking Quotes
Run experiments to find out
what’s WRONG with your idea –
as well as what’s RIGHT with it
HOT TIP

37. Build engagement
from the inside out
Test & iterate early
in rough form
Find & leverage
your Superfans
THREE POWERFUL LESSONS
1 2 3

38. Game Thinking Quotes
Upgrade your user, not
your product… make
people better at something
they want to get better at.
Kathy Sierra
Author, Headfirst Series

39. Engage your customer on a path to mastery

40. skill-building
feedback
repeatable,
pleasurable
activity
progress &
investment
cues &
triggers
cues &
triggers
internal
situational
external
engaged
MASTERY
HABIT-BUILDING
ONBOARDING
DISCOVERY
Repeatable
pleasurable
activity
Skill-building
feedback
Progress &
investment
Cues &
Triggers
Build & test your Day 21 Habit FIRST

41. Game Thinking Quotes
Slack started with a simple, stripped-down
Learning Loop
skill-building
feedback
repeatable,
pleasurable
activity
progress &
investment
cues &
triggers
cues &
triggers
internal
situational
external
engaged
MASTERY
HABIT-BUILDING
ONBOARDING
DISCOVERY
skill-building
feedback
repeatable,
pleasurable
activity
progress &
investment
cues &
triggers
cues &
triggers
Learning
Loop

42. So did
Rock Band

43. So did
The Sims

44. So did
Covet Fashion

45. The best
MVP is a
Learning
Loop AKA
Day 21 habit

46. Game Thinking Quotes
Wanna build a habit? Bring your idea
to life with a low-fidelity Learning Loop
HOT TIP

47. Build engagement
from the inside out
Test & iterate early
in rough form
Find & leverage
your Superfans
THREE POWERFUL LESSONS
to help investors make smart decisions

48. Want more?
gamethinking.io/quiz
GET YOUR CUSTOM INNOVATION CHEATSHEET

49. Game Thinking
Thank You
gamethinking.io
amyjokim@gamethinking.io