When their Kickstarter momentum slowed, the team ignored monetary goals. Instead, they created "achievements"—absurd, collaborative tasks for the community. This transformed the campaign into a game, re-engaging the audience and driving growth by prioritizing community over cash.
The company's core philosophy is not to create entertaining games, but to create "games that make the people you're playing with entertaining." This principle guides their design to focus on facilitating interaction and connection, treating the game as a catalyst for a social experience rather than the experience itself.
The game's original name was the generic "Bomb Squad." Co-creator Matt Inman argued that being scared of a bomb is obvious, but being scared of "cute, adorable, fuzzy little kittens" is absurd and memorable. This simple, clever rebranding was a critical ingredient for the game's massive success.
The guiding principle for the game was that every card must create an interaction between players. This intentional design choice ensures people play against each other, not just against the game's rules. It fosters a social, dynamic, and often confrontational experience that keeps players engaged.
To market Halo 2, Elon Lee’s agency created an alternate reality game where thousands of payphones worldwide rang simultaneously. Answering them revealed audio snippets of the game's backstory, turning a marketing campaign into a global, interactive theatrical event that generated massive cultural buzz.
The company's second and third games failed commercially, forcing a tough analysis. They realized Exploding Kittens worked because it was simple, fast, and intensely social. The flops were too complex or lacked interaction. This painful experience helped them codify the formula for their next hit, "Throw Throw Burrito."
At conventions, they competed against huge budgets by building a giant, furry vending machine costume. Staff sat inside manually dispensing random items like burritos and watermelons for $1. This absurd, interactive spectacle generated an hour-long line, creating more buzz than multi-million-dollar booths.
Despite creating world-changing marketing campaigns, Elon Lee felt trapped in his agency. The service model meant he only earned money while actively working. This realization drove him to seek a scalable, product-based business, highlighting the inherent limitations of trading time for money.
Instead of standard assignments, a teacher challenged a failing Elon Lee to find and fix errors in a new physics textbook. This reframing of education as a real-world research project ignited his passion, proving that unconventional, problem-solving-based tasks can engage students who struggle with traditional learning.
At the end of every design retreat, game designers must pitch their creations to the marketing team. If marketers can't envision a clear path to sell the product, they have the power to kill it immediately. This process ensures that every game developed is inherently marketable and commercially viable from day one.
Lee defines luck not as random chance, but as the outcome of persistence. He observed someone storm off a bus with a broken fare machine while he got a free ride simply by asking what to do. He concludes that good luck often comes from actively seeking solutions when confronted with a problem instead of accepting defeat.
Hired as a program manager at Microsoft, Elon Lee was failing. His boss recognized his design aptitude and moved him to a new role, stating, "You're one of the worst program managers I've ever seen, but I think you might be a good designer." This highlights the value of seeing potential beyond a current job description to retain talent.
Frustrated by boring preschool games, Elon Lee and his four-year-old daughter designed their own using craft supplies. This collaborative process led to 12 prototypes, four of which became successful retail products. It highlights the power of co-creating directly with the target audience, even young children, to build something they'll love.