Inside the addictive design behind the hit ‘Monopoly Go’ mobile game

Mobile game maker Scopely took in $2 billion in just 10 months
from ‘Monopoly Go.’ Players, it seems, can’t stop rolling.

Walter Driver would like your attention, please. As the cofounder and co-CEO of Scopely, the mobile games company behind such free-to-play hits as Monopoly Go!, Scrabble Go, Marvel Strike Force, and Star Trek Fleet Command, he knows your time is precious. That’s why his games never demand much more than a minute or two to play—unless, of course, you choose to keep going. Better to lure users in with little notifications that inspire a minute of play here, a few seconds there, slipping into the never-ending rhythm of smartphone pickups a user makes throughout the day.