Surprizle

The Surprizle concept is built around the idea of gamified gifting.  A process that has been around for a long time, but has, to date, not been available online.

For those of you who have not had the pleasure of opening a gift hidden inside a puzzle, the concept of gamified gift giving may be new to you.  At its most basic level, a gamified gift incorporates a puzzle, a challenge or other task which must be completed in order to take possession of a gift or prize.

These gamified gifts add an extra layer of fun to the gift giving process.  Designing puzzles or challenges can be a fun process for the gift giver.  And likewise, the process of solving a well designed puzzle, challenge or game adds fun to the gift receiving process as well.

Why It Works (and when it doesn’t)

The simple act of opening a gift creates two distinct experiences for the recipient.  The first is the new ownership of a particular item or object.  The second, and more subtle experience, is the anticipation that builds during the receipt and unwrapping of the gift itself.  The best gifts incorporate the positive aspects of both of these experiences: The gift itself is both wanted and appreciated.   And the opening (unboxing) of the gift adds enjoyment to the discovery process. 

But when there is mismatch of either of these two components, the gift-receiving process is diminished.  

A beautifully wrapped gift box which surrounds an unwanted or poorly chosen gift is less enjoyable.

Or…a gift may very much be wanted. But if the process of unpackaging an item passes a certain level of difficulty, then it is no longer enjoyable.  (Blister packaging, I’m looking at you.) Likewise if a gift is simply handed to the recipient without the benefit of even a minor attempt at gift-wrapping, the gift giver runs the risk of appearing lazy or insincere.  (“Here’s a gift card I bought for you on the way over here….”)

Funboxing

Unboxing videos are popular for a reason.  Actually – quite a few reasons.   

When you open gifts in front of friends or family (or online viewers), you are inviting them to share in the small story of discovery as you unpackage the item you’ve received.  This process understandably entertains others who get to view both the work of unboxing an item – but also the reaction of the gift recipient as they work their way through the packaging.

Similarly, the act of unboxing a gift builds anticipation for all parties as the item is gradually revealed.  This anticipation, as mentioned above, is an important part of the unwrapping process and is the reason why many of the best unboxing video hosts take their time in working their way through the packaging surrounding an item.

And then there’s the psychology and the physiology:  the unwrapping of gifts triggers the reward centers of our brains.  This is the same reward-response which gives us that burst of pleasure we receive when we complete a task, leaving us with a sense of accomplishment at the end.  In our unboxing example: the minor barrier created by wrapping a gift makes the eventual reveal of the gift that much more enjoyable because we add a sense of ‘earning it’ to the pleasure of discovering what the gift is.

Enter Gamification

At its most basic level, traditional unboxing experiences require the opening or unwrapping some thing which surrounds a gifted object.      

Gamification can be added to the gift giving process in lieu of the unwrapping component – where, for example, a friend may need to solve a puzzle to receive a gift.

Or…gamification may be incorporated into the traditional gift giving dynamic by boxing the game or challenge inside the gift packaging.  This essentially creates a multi-step unboxing event where an individual must unwrap an item, then solve a puzzle, game, or riddle to receive the gift.

One warning:  Know your audience.  Some people are just not into games.  For them, puzzles are a source of frustration and the concept of ‘working for’ a gift is not enjoyable.  And this is OK.  So keep this in mind as you consider adding gamification to your gift giving process.  This isn’t for everyone!

Types of Gamification

Gamification of physical gifts falls roughly in three broad categories:  The box, The puzzle and The Quest.

The Box

These gamified gifts revolve around the box containing the gift and are the most frequently associated with online unboxing activities.  While online videos focus on the often elegant – and clever – methods used by the unboxing industry to brand and nest materials into an attractive package, it is very much possible to design fun, interactive packaging at home as well.  Whether it is the box-inna-box “Nesting Doll” challenge of opening a half dozen packages to get to a gift – or the creative construction of a box that resembles an object that is not the actual gift, like a cat-shaped box filled with dog toys…it is possible to come up with clever and fun packages at home.  

The Puzzle

These gamified gifts are typically a multistep process.  A puzzle is solved that reveals the gift – or perhaps the location of the gift – to the person completing the puzzle.  An easy example: purchase a children’s puzzle, assemble it, flip it over, and write a secret message / treasure map on the back side.  Disassemble the puzzle, repackage and wrap it up.  You now have a jigsawed puzzle that even a child could solve.

The Quest

This activity requires movement.  Around the apartment; around the house.  Or maybe the neighborhood, possibly your community.  Hiding a clue which leads to another clue and then another clue and, ultimately, to the location of the gift.  So many variations here: a walking tour of a neighborhood, a GPS hike through a state forest.  Or if movement absolutely can’t be done…an online hunt through chained clues in Google maps.

We Live A Digital World 

While some of us may have started life in a purely physical world, we now live, at least partially, in a digital world.  And more and more gifts are being exchanged in at least some sort of digital capacity.  And, in some cases, the gifts themselves are entirely digital.

Gift Cards, invitations, event tickets…the number of purchased items that are now delivered digitally is increasing each year.   These digital items are ideal for gamification.  

Sending a birthday e-gift card to a family member who lives on the opposite side of the country?   Have a digital invitation to a bachelorette party? Just bought some concert tickets for an anniversary?  All of these items could (and have been) built into gamified gifts.  Which adds fun to the gift exchange process.

The sheer volume of digital content that is sharable to friends and family makes this media ideal for gamification.  Photos, videos, documents…think of the content we share on any given day.  Any of these items can serve as the final gift or prize in a digital game.  

Gamified Digital Gifting

Is it possible to recreate the fun and excitement of unboxing a physical gift in an entirely digital gift exchange?  Maybe.

But as online gift exchanges exist today, the entire process is substantially less fun – and more transactional – than receiving a physical gift.  

For example: receiving an online gift card is great.  But the process of opening it is as interesting and fun as opening an email (or text) message.  The overwhelming ordinariness of the process adds no value to the gifting process.

But building games, puzzles or other activities into the digital gift exchange may bring that missing element of fun back into the gifting process.  

At least, that’s what we at Surprizle wanted to find out.

So we built a small gaming app that allows customers to design a game or puzzle which must be solved in order to open or unlock a gift.  The digital gift can be an item supplied by the customer.  Or, for convenience, customers can purchase an e-gift card on our website, choosing from 100+ cards in our catalog.  

And, like gamification of physical gifts, there are endless variations for gamification of digital gifts.  But we’re starting small, with just a few familiar puzzles, to test the waters.  

And we invite you to play along.  Join us at Surprizle.com, today!