Congratulations! Gamely Games has sold its 1 millionth game! How does it feel to reach this impressive milestone?
Thank you! It’s absolutely mind-bending to think that more than a million of our games are now in homes around the world, bringing joy and laughter to families and friends. Knowing that games like Six Second Scribbles and Soundiculous are helping all these people connect and share quality time feels amazing.
What problem were you trying to solve with Gamely Games?
I created my first game, Randomise, to lure my 12 year old sister away from her iPad and I think in today’s digital age, it’s easy to feel disconnected from those around us. I wanted to make games that encourage people to put down their screens and engage face-to-face, creating genuine connections and shared laughter.
Thinking back to how it all started, what’s been key to Gamely’s success?
Radical prioritisation! I found out I was pregnant the day after I set up Gamely, and so the time I’ve been able to spend on the business has been limited from the start. This forced me to prioritise my ‘to do’ list quite radically - when you can only do an hour of work a day, you really want to make that hour count! I really embrace the Pareto Principle that says 80% of your results come from 20% of your actions. By continually re-focusing on what really matters, and being intentional about what we don’t do, we have managed to achieve amazing things at Gamely, while keeping our working hours limited and leaving more time to spend with our loved ones.
How have you developed as a founder during this time?
I believe I have a clearer understanding of myself and what I need to do my best work, than ever before. For example, I know that I need to get out of the office and into nature to do my best thinking, I know that if I don’t carve out core time for ‘making’ then I’ll spend all my hours on busy work, and I know that sometimes I need to set myself some artificial deadlines to make non-urgent important work feel urgent. But self-knowledge is a journey, and I hope I’ll look back in another 10 years and realise that today’s me knows very little compared to future me!
To what extent did the Entrepreneurship Institute support help you get to where you are now?
I really enjoyed my year at the Entrepreneurship Institute - spending quality time with the other founders was really inspiring and I learnt a lot from the mentors - especially David Walsh who helped me develop a more robust view of our financials. Winning a scholarship award was brilliant and allowed me to visit two great conferences in the US where I was able to soak up lots of new ideas and diverse inspiration - gold dust for my creativity!
What are your aspirations in terms of impact for the next 10 years?
We’ve always tried to be the kind of company we’d like to see more of in the world - honest and kind! We have given 10% of our profits to charity since day one and have now donated more than £145,000, as well as 20,000 games. We’ve also worked hard to make our games 100% plastic-free and carbon neutral, and we plant 10 trees for every tree we use.
Over the next 10 years we’ve got lots of plans for what we call ‘enjoyable growth’ but at the core of everything is the same mission we’ve always had - to help people spend more quality time with their loved ones. Because in the end, what is more important than that?