10,000 Hours of Play: Unlock Your Real-Life Legendary Success

10,000 Hours of Play: Unlock Your Real-Life Legendary Success

What if you could approach life as the ultimate video game — complete with quests to conquer, allies to recruit, and strategies to level up your skills? 10,000 Hours of Play transforms the principles of gaming into a revolutionary guide for achieving real-world success.

Written by Yu-kai Chou, an internationally acclaimed pioneer in Gamification and Gameful Coaching - and the creator of the Octalysis Framework used by global giants like Google, LEGO, and Uber — this real-life strategy guide introduces six key steps to align your passions, skills, and goals into a winning formula:

1. Choose Your Game — discover your life’s mission.
2. Know Your Attributes — master your unique strengths and talents.
3. Select Your Role — define your identity and ideal role in your journey.
4. Enhance Your Skills — develop the expertise needed to achieve your goals.
5. Build Your Alliances — surround yourself with the right people.
6. Achieve Your Quests — design actions that lead to ultimate success.

Throughout history, legendary figures like Gandhi, da Vinci, Marie Curie, Walt Disney — and even modern visionaries like Elon Musk — have unknowingly followed these same steps to accomplish their extraordinary feats. Now, it’s your turn. With 10,000 Hours of Play, you’ll harness the power of gaming to craft your own epic life journey, overcome challenges, and unlock legendary achievements you once thought impossible. Your life is your game. Start your 10K HP journey today and play to win!


"In a world where technology is transforming every aspect of our lives and children spend more time on video games, Yu-kai Chou’s 10,000 Hours of Play offers an essential perspective. By blending deep insights into human behavior, he connects the dots in a way that will resonate for those spending their most valuable time gaming. By doing so, this book provides a guide to turning life into a game worth playing."
Jeff Booth, Best-Selling Author of The Price of Tomorrow: Why Deflation is the key to an Abundant Future.

"Yu-kai Chou's 10,000 Hours of Play is a revolutionary guide that transforms everyday challenges into opportunities of joy and fulfillment. At Zoom, my mission has always been to deliver happiness to my employees as well as our customers. Similarly, this book offers a playful yet powerful roadmap for anyone looking to bring happiness into their personal and professional lives. An essential read for leaders and individuals alike who strive to infuse more play and purpose into their work and beyond."
Eric S Yuan, Founder & CEO of Zoom

“A hugely optimistic book, packed with inspiring examples that use the metaphor of a role-playing game to illustrate the principles that will help you succeed in the greatest game of all: life.”
Richard Bartle, Legendary Game Designer. Creator of MUD (the first virtual world) and Bartle’s 4 Player Types

"Yu-kai Chou's "10,000 Hours of Play" is a fascinating look into how the principles of gamification can be applied not just to products, but to our very lives. This book offers a compelling roadmap for anyone looking to harness the power of applying gameful mindsets to enhance personal and professional growth. Chou's engaging narrative and practical insights equip readers to turn everyday challenges into a game worth playing. 10,000 Hours of Play is an essential guide for transforming play into progress and aspirations into achievements."
Nir Eyal, Best-Selling Author of Hooked and Indistractable