Female-led mobile gaming startup Robin Games raised funds around the idea of creating a new niche in the “lifestyle gaming” market. The idea, the company explained at the time of its public debut in 2020, was to create a fantasy gaming experience that is more sophisticated and stylish — something more in line with the kind of content you’d normally find in a lifestyle magazine or Instagram Influencer Profile. Today, the startup is releasing its first title to address this concept with the launch of a mobile game, PLAYHOUSE, that combines both gameplay and shopping in one experience.
Available on iOS and Android, PLAYHOUSE is a DIY design game that allows players to drag and drop furniture and decorations in rooms to create original looks for rooms with elements such as wall art, sofas, chairs, tables, plants and more. This alone doesn’t make the app unique – the interior design genre is a popular subgenre within the Simulation Games category in today’s app stores, where competitors such as Playtika’s Redecor, SayGames’ Decor Life – Home Design Game and Crowdstar’s Design Home: Dream Makeover are can be found in the Top Charts.
Instead, PLAYHOUSE sets itself apart from others in both its technology and its partnerships.
The company allows users to drag and drop pieces in space, as well as move, rotate, resize and even layer items, as they style the space in a much freer way than some others. allow games. In addition, the company works with real furniture brands to make the items in its game shoppable in real life.
At launch, PLAYHOUSE will provide shopping experiences connecting players with brands such as Arhaus, Article, 1stDibs, Chairish, One Kings Lane, ABC Carpet & Home, Jenni Kayne, Society6, Bloomscape, Room & Board, and Lulu & Georgia, among others. In other words, the aim of the game is not only to provide a creative outlet for fans of art and interior design, but also to encourage the discovery of new furniture and decor.
Image Credits: Robin Games
Robin Games says there will be more than 6,000 real furniture and decorations from over 100 home design brands available in the app at launch. Players can choose to purchase the actual items that they use to create their designs by visiting the retailer’s website.
This concept is a bit like Pinterest’s new collage app Shuffles, which allows players to create custom art experiences using their own photos and Pinterest Pins. While the Shuffles app is primarily used as a creative tool before being published on TikTok or Instagram, the items in the collages link to their pin page on Pinterest — where they’re also connected to the retailer’s website and can be purchased, similarly. with PLAYHOUSE.
“One of the main reasons we wanted to make PLAYHOUSE, and ‘Lifestyle Games’ in general, is because we see a gap in the market for truly expressive, creative games,” said Robin Games co-founder and CEO Jill Wilson. , to ukbusinessupdates.com. “It’s unusual to see a game focused on interior design as a fantasy game, but we do – it’s a different kind of fantasy than what is typically explored in games. Designing spaces with beautiful pieces as if you were an interior designer is a real fantasy for many people, and our company is committed to giving players that experience,” she added.
In addition, PLAYHOUSE users can submit their design that is expected to be reviewed by other players, earning them tickets, coins, and gems, as well as other set pieces that help them level up. The company also partnered with content creators, including design enthusiasts, artists, Airbnb hosts, and others to create temporary “hosted projects” intended to inspire players’ own designs.
And it’s partnering with editorial publishers Condé Nast, Hearst (House Beautiful), Leaf Group (Hunker), and Design Milk, who will be active hosts creating design challenges and other inspiring content, the company says. For example, House Beautiful hosts a series of design challenges based on the articles it publishes on its website.
Image Credits: Robin Games
During the soft launch period, the team refined the game mechanics, game controls, onboarding experience and the in-game economy, which is free to play with in-app purchases. While you can continue without playing, players can choose to pay to unlock additional pieces with gems they purchase rather than waiting to earn them in-game through achievements. Limited-time bundles around a certain theme are also sometimes available for purchase, such as a bundle with special plants and plant-themed items that are only available in the bundle.
To date, more than 1 million design challenges have been submitted with the most committed players participating in each project that is released daily and lasts for the long haul, Wilson says.
After its $7 million start, Robin Games closed a $14 million Series A in 2020 and continued to develop PLAYHOUSE in the months that followed. Although they are a women-led startup, they have an advantage in a game marketed primarily to women, but Wilson believes it is the diversity of the team that will drive the team forward.
Image Credits: Robin Games
“I enjoy making games that I would like to play myself and I believe that if I surround myself with a diverse group of talented people who also want to play the game we make, we have the best chance of success,” Wilson explains. from. “At Robin Games, we have over 50% women on our board, management team and team in general – and the majority of all our team members have a passion for design. Putting creative decision-making in the hands of potential players is the key to our authenticity and why we believe true design aficionados will enjoy what we’ve created. While we expect our audience to be mostly women, we’ve tried to make it as inclusive as possible and we hope everyone who loves design will enjoy it,” says they.
PLAYHOUSE is live today on both iOS and Android as a free download.
