What Game Designers Know That Marketers Keep Forgetting
Marketing is addicted to reward. Click, win. Scroll, get surprised. Enter email, unlock discount. Somewhere along the social funnel, we’ve mistaken dopamine for loyalty.
Game designers figured out this lesson decades ago. A good game isn’t one that constantly rewards you—it’s one that makes you work for it. The problem-solving. The setbacks. The learning. The eventual victory. People stick with games not because they’re easy, but because they’re challenging in just the right way. It’s called balanced friction—and it’s something marketers have largely bulldozed in their desperate drive to remove every micro-second of resistance in the customer journey.
I recently fell into a rabbit hole studying onboarding levels in classic Nintendo titles. Why did the opening 5 minutes of Super Mario World feel so carefully tuned, but still fun? Because each interaction was designed to subtly teach you, not pamper you. If a plumber jumping over turtles can master user experience into an art form, why are we still hiding critical info behind ‘10% off your first order’ pop-ups?
Maybe we need fewer CRM triggers, and more Level 1s. Fewer calls to action, more calls to curiosity. If your customer journey was playable, would anyone keep playing after level two? Marketing could stand to learn a thing or two from the people who’ve been designing addictive, joyful experiences for 40 years. Hint: it’s not about rewards. It’s about respect.
Game designers figured out this lesson decades ago. A good game isn’t one that constantly rewards you—it’s one that makes you work for it. The problem-solving. The setbacks. The learning. The eventual victory. People stick with games not because they’re easy, but because they’re challenging in just the right way. It’s called balanced friction—and it’s something marketers have largely bulldozed in their desperate drive to remove every micro-second of resistance in the customer journey.
I recently fell into a rabbit hole studying onboarding levels in classic Nintendo titles. Why did the opening 5 minutes of Super Mario World feel so carefully tuned, but still fun? Because each interaction was designed to subtly teach you, not pamper you. If a plumber jumping over turtles can master user experience into an art form, why are we still hiding critical info behind ‘10% off your first order’ pop-ups?
Maybe we need fewer CRM triggers, and more Level 1s. Fewer calls to action, more calls to curiosity. If your customer journey was playable, would anyone keep playing after level two? Marketing could stand to learn a thing or two from the people who’ve been designing addictive, joyful experiences for 40 years. Hint: it’s not about rewards. It’s about respect.