Advergames

Advergames combine marketing with fun. The best advergames value the consumers, as well as the product being advertised.

"It's an amazing feat of game design, really, when you can make a commercially-supported game that respects its players - offering genuine invitations to play, and yet clearly inviting the player to think about the product or company sponsoring the whole experience." (Bernie DeKoven, First MajorFun Award for Best Advergame)

The appeal of advergames to advertisers is the extended attentive effort people willingly pay to the advertising. That is, they think about the advertised products more, and build a more positive association with the product.

There are also those ads called coupongames, which provide financial incentives to the players, typically in the form of discounts on products or services. For the consumer, it really pays to play. The downside of such incentives is that they are extrinsic rewards which can remove the consumer's attention from the game to the goal; from the product to a focus on the reward, and on winning.

A notable side effect is that such rewards actually make people stop playing. Once they have won, such as getting a $100 discount on new solar roofing, why would someone play again? The upside is that they have the coupon, which hooks them on the product, and makes them more likely to tell others about both the discount and the game.

For those interested, here are a few catalogs of advergames:

• Water Cooler Games
• Adverblog
• Mizbala
  

Found a good advergame or resource? Please let me know!