IKEA: The Game (of assembly)

I unpacked and assembled several pieces of furniture this weekend -- and I as I tackled the "Mydal" bunk bed for my daughter, my first thought was "damn."

(please forgive my bad joke)

But upon completing this project, I had an epiphany: those folks at Ikea are geniuses.  And not just for their incredibly cheap goods, their artful and oh-so effortlessly curated showrooms that make it seem so deceptively easy and fun to decorate one's  home, or their awesome naming conventions.

No.  The good people at Ikea are geniuses (who love games, methinks) have woven the key experiential requirements of any good game into their Product's assembly process. 

Assembling my Mydal bed revealed that inside every flat pack box comes an adult sized puzzle that offers:

• An easy to understand tutorial (the all visual manual filled with diagrams)
• Building blocks of core compulsion loops that are infinitely repeatable and satisfying (locking screw and bolts -- yes! Wood pegs into pre-drilled holes -- creating order from chaos!)
• Medium length goals that provide a sense of progression (Look!  The frame is standing - I can see what it looks like!)
• A reasonable session length (~3 hours from start to finish)
• Macro goal and ultimate achievement (Look -- I made this!  With my own hands!)  

Fundamentally, in a post-industrial society increasingly devoid of handiwork and personal crafting experiences, I think IKEA products fill a vital role.  They provide the illusion of control (another necessary gaming element) to simulate the satisifaction that one feels upon making something.  

It may be pre-cut and pre-scripted down the very last detail (like many single player game experiences) but assembling an Ikea product still delivers that rush of any good boss battle victory.