When it comes to designing one’s home, people spend plenty of time considering what items will look best in their particular space. Robin Games is taking this experience and making it pocket-sized. The Venice-based studio on Tuesday announced the release of its first mobile game, PLAYHOUSE.
PLAYHOUSE is a lifestyle game that allows players to complete design challenges using 3D models of real-world furniture and décor. Each day, players are offered up to ten challenges where they can design arrangements for various spaces, such as the living room of a Malibu beach house or an art deco-style kitchen in Miami. Once they submit a design to the game’s online community, they’re awarded points and prizes based on their design’s popularity.
The premise of PLAYHOUSE is to offer players a way to develop their own style and live out their home design dreams. Jill Wilson, founder and CEO of Robin Games, wanted to create a game that targeted an underserved segment of the mobile gaming world.
“There are hundreds of shooter games and hundreds of match-three games out there but not a lot on these lifestyle topics,” Wilson told Built In. “Not just design, but fashion, events [and] all of these different categories you’d find on Pinterest. … And so we thought, there are so many people in this world who love creativity and love design and love these lifestyle categories that there should be more games for those types of fantasies instead of just the typical fantasies that already exist in games today.”
While PLAYHOUSE players live out their interior design fantasies, a key aspect of the game can bridge those dreams with reality. In partnership with more than 100 interior design brands, the game allows players to purchase real-life counterparts of the furniture they use in the game. By clicking on any playable item, users are transported to that product’s website. Whereas players get to interact with familiar brand items or discover new brands, participating brands benefit from this additional marketing channel.
Additional partnerships include hosts — people such as artists or interior designers that Robin Games deems to have interesting aesthetics. These individuals can introduce challenges according to their aesthetics for players in the game. In the same vein, publishers like Hearst, the media company behind House Beautiful magazine, can also contribute player challenges based on magazine articles. Other publishing partners include Hunker.
The free-to-play game’s revenue model hinges on in-game currencies called gems and coins. While users gradually accumulate these while playing the game, PLAYHOUSE also offers the option of purchasing them outright, allowing players to collect in-game furniture items faster. The game also features opt-in advertisements.
“In the long term, I’m excited to create a whole bundle of these types of games that continue to push the boundaries of how creative somebody can be, and continue to make this crossover between commerce, entertainment, social and gaming,” Wilson said. “One thing I really believe is that games and apps are starting to blend, and these are the perfect types of products to be able to do that.”
PLAYHOUSE is now available for download on iOS and Android devices.
As the fully-remote studio strives to create more unique games, Robin Games’ 13-person team is currently looking for a senior project manager to help it achieve this goal.
