Successful innovations may end up reaching a mainstream audience—but they never start off that way. That’s the paradox of innovation, most entrepreneurs fail to the typical people in your market are not the same ones you need to woo when bringing your idea to life. Instead find the “superfans” hidden in your Those willing to take risk and put up with a messy or incomplete solution in order to start solving the problem your product will eliminate in the future. Show your idea to these people. See what they make of it. What do they love about it? Where does it seem to go in the wrong direction? Allowing these early fans to “play” with your idea gives you fast and accurate answers to your most pressing questions long before your product is designed and built. That’s where Game Thinking comes in. In this groundbreaking book, Amy Jo Kim lays out a step-by-step system for accelerating innovation, and crafting products that people love...and keep loving. The secret? Develop “impossible to put down” products by using techniques that the fast-moving games industry employs when making games that glue millions of players to their screens. During her time working on genre-defining games like The Sims, Rock Band, and Ultima Online, Amy Jo learned that customers stick with products that help them get better at something they care about, like playing an instrument or leading a team. Amy Jo then used her insights from the game world to help hundreds of companies like Netflix, Disney, The New York Times, Ubisoft and Happify innovate faster and smarter. Building on the principles of lean/agile design and design thinking, Game Thinking covers four powerful strategies you can use to create your next hit