Why Games Matter
Frenzi — Become A Shopping Hero is a gamified shopping app that incorporates the principles, reactions and emotions of the gaming context, while giving users a simple and easy opportunity to be rewarded.
I was born in 1989. So, I grew up with a GameBoy constantly in my hands. Or at least when I could get my brother to lend it to me. Anyway. A GameBoy. That’s what I was holding at family lunches and dinners, so I wouldn’t bother the grown-ups. Then, I witnessed an entire generation of gamers lock themselves away in their rooms for what felt like an eternity, as they became enthused and intertwined with their PlayStation games. Next, came the ever-encompassing virtual reality of Call of Duty and its descendants, which led to numerous think-pieces and raised a whole community of geeks.
Cut to the iPhone era, where games like Candy Crush, Clash of Clans and Angry Birds — Remember Flappy Bird, though? That was a weird week. — have swept our minds and concentrations. And then, there’s the always available Windows games, the Pacman machines, everyone has a Monopoly somewhere at home, cards, hide and seek is always an option, and so on and so forth.
The moral of this small rundown through time is that games matter. Games have a substantial significance in establishing and representing a certain period of memories in someone’s life. They can shape and shift a memory’s emotional intensity. The idea that games project emotions of inclusiveness, euphoria and entertainment is a universally acceptable fact that transcends time and doubt.
Games provide a sense of principle. Can you imagine a time when you were playing Super Mario Bros and thought to yourself, ‘you know, I’ll just skip this line of coins, why bother’? Of course not. You want those coins. You have to get those coins. There’s this unspoken code with playing any kind of game that you want and should want to achieve your very best. It can be an equally soothing and frustrating feeling, but by the end of it there’s a real sense of achievement and gratification that comes with it.
Games are, unquestionably so, memorable. Everyone can remember the moment they finally broke a record or beat an extra hard level. It’s exhilarating. It’s not science-fiction, or award-worthy, but it’s still a super-rewarding experience. A memorable one. You can pinpoint that moment in time and remember that tingling feeling you had, all because of a game.
They provide a mental stimulation unlike anything else. Your heart races, your palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy…sorry, got carried away with some Eminem there. Anyway. Games, whether interactive or personal, require a certain amount of concentration and commitment. There’s always a next level, or a bigger opponent, some sort of goal or limit that we ache to surpass and when that happens, — and it always does happen; nothing is meant to be unbeatable, but what’s fun without some frustration? — it is instantly a notable moment in time.
That was equally our aim with Frenzi. Play a game, be enthused, feel engaged, reach your goal and revel in gratification from winning. The key to its appeal is in its simplicity.
Everything is like a puzzle. Little by little, the pieces will fit together to form the larger picture. A memory. And games are exactly that.
