Why the “Guess the Emoji” Game is Brilliant

The game “Guess the Emoji” is all the craze, which is why it is placed as the #1 free app download on iTunes.  Now, I’m not usually into the latest phone games (I think the last game I was highly addicted to was “Draw Something”), but this caught my eye. “Guess the Emoji” was set up in a brilliant way.  Here’s how:

Surprisingly, the simplicity of the game makes it easy to play and highly addictive, targeting any and all audiences.  It follows a similar theme to Pictionary, where two emoji icons appear on the screen, and you have to guess what words/phrase it spells out. 

It’s pretty simple, and nothing special that’s for sure.  But what struck me was the engagement level on Facebook.  If you are stuck on a puzzle, you can “Ask Facebook”, which then posts the picture to Facebook and you are able to reach out to your friends for help.  I saw these images pop up several times on my newsfeed, making me curious about this game everyone was playing, so I downloaded it and joined the crowd. 

Usually games are separate from social media, but this game actually encourages you to use social media.  And if you are stuck on a puzzle, you’ll definitely use the “Ask Facebook” feature, receiving the answer within minutes from your friends. This does one of two things:

 

Encourages Viral Ability.  Once one Facebook friend sees a “Guess the Emoji” game post, they unconsciously “play” the game by commenting on what the answer might be.  Then the curiosity for more encourages them to download, share with their friends on Facebook, and the cycle continues.  Social sharing fuels the popularity of the game, which encourages downloads.  It’s an easy recipe for a viral game.
Encourages Engagement.  Doesn’t everyone nowadays want people talking (positively) about their brand on social media? That’s exactly what “Guess the Emoji” accomplished.  By sharing to Facebook, you are inviting your friends to play along with you by commenting on the puzzle photo. This not only ramps up interaction numbers, but also offers an opportunity for ROR (Return on Relationship).

This now opens a door for more games to offer a Facebook or social media engagement option in general. If games keep following this structure, we will see more and more games merge with the social media world.

Should your brand incorporate gaming into your social media strategy?  Talk with us: https://www.facebook.com/MediaConnectPartners 

 

This post was written by Sarah Boyd. Sarah is a Social Media Specialist  with Media Connect Partners.