RocketPlay has launched an experimental summer campaign designed to measure something the iGaming industry rarely quantifies directly: how entertainment actually feels to players.
The Cosmic Department of Joy campaign moved beyond standard product metrics to explore the emotional language players use when describing why they play and what makes them return.
iGaming brands routinely track RTP, volatility, bonuses, conversion, retention, deposits, clicks, and churn, all of which reveal how products perform and how players move through them.
However, none of those numbers fully explain why a player says “That was fun,” or why they come back to a particular type of experience time and again.
RocketPlay created the campaign as an experiment inside the RocketPlay Universe, inviting players to become Joy Ambassadors and take on a seasonal identity within the campaign story.
Players completed a short briefing, unlocked their Ambassador position for the season, and received a corresponding reward, making participation feel like a narrative rather than a routine promotion.
At the centre of the campaign sat the Cosmic Joy Index, a public visual indicator that tracked how collective participation and emotional engagement shifted throughout the season.
RocketPlay also took the conversation to social channels, posting joy-related prompts asking players about luck rituals, dream Ambassador days, and the specific moments that make playing feel genuinely enjoyable.
By the end of the campaign, RocketPlay had gathered more than 15,000 player responses, which when grouped together revealed four dominant themes: Reward, Escape, Play, and Thrill.
Reward emerged as the strongest theme at 46.8%, with players citing wins, bonuses, and unexpected surprises as central to their enjoyment, including direct responses such as “the thrill of the win.”
Escape accounted for 18.8% of responses, with many players describing joy as a way to relax or step back from routine, one calling it “a break from reality” and another “relaxing and forgetting about the real world for a moment.”
Play represented 18.3% of answers, covering favourite games, fun features, Free Spins, and the small product details that make a session enjoyable, with players simply describing it as “fun and engaging.”
Thrill came in at 11.5%, connected to anticipation and suspense before a result, with players referencing “the thrill of a feature or chasing a win” and “the excitement of that next big win being right around the corner.”
The remaining 4.6% of responses fell outside the four main themes, touching on social moments, habits, responsible gaming considerations, and other personal associations with playing.
Alex Martin, PR manager at RocketPlay, reflected on the broader significance of the findings for how the brand thinks about player communication going forward.
“The idea was to add another question to the way we think about player experience,” says Alex Martin, PR manager at RocketPlay. “What stood out was that joy was not only about winning. Players talked about anticipation, relaxation, entertainment and the feeling of the game. That gives us a more human layer of insight for future communication.”
RocketPlay has indicated that Escape-related insights could inform Responsible Gaming communication, shaping the tone of session reminders and wellbeing touchpoints to feel more natural within the product experience.
Thrill insights may influence how games and promotions are presented, particularly around building anticipation through mechanics, tournaments, and bonus moments before results are revealed.
Play-related feedback is expected to shape personalisation efforts, including game recommendations, content groupings, and highlighting features that players specifically associate with enjoyment.
The broader lesson for iGaming brands is that performance data shows what players do, while player language helps explain why they enjoy it and what the brand can improve next.
