The PLAYSTRUCK Standard.
Not everything worth creating fits into an existing box.
Some of the most meaningful innovations cross disciplines, purposes, and categories. They don't fit the definitions we've inherited.
So we built our own. The PLAYSTRUCK Standard™ is grounded in Multiminded Design™, our cognitive design practice, built from 40+ years of combined experience across science, art, design, research, learning, and human experience.
We hold our own work to it. Now we're developing a way to recognize qualifying third-party products, spaces, and experiences designed in service of cognitive well-being.
Play Was Never Just Play.
Play didn't become valuable when we found serious applications for it. It's been valuable since it's inception.
Across history, cultures, and generations, play has helped humans explore, learn, adapt, create, and connect. It's both an act and a state of being, a lever for developing core cognitive skills and creating meaningful change.
That understanding is foundational to how we design. We don't add play to make things more playful. We recognize its power in how we design for a better world.
One Practice. Different Applications.
A different design practice deserves a different standard.
The PLAYSTRUCK Standard™ considers how something is conceived, designed, and experienced, not simply what category it belongs to or what it claims to accomplish.
CERTIFIED PLAYTOOL™
PRODUCTS
For products designed to meet our Playtool™ criteria, including the development of core cognitive skills through purposeful play.
A Playtool™ may serve other purposes too. What defines it is the standard it meets, not whether it resembles a traditional toy, game, or educational product.
CERTIFIED PLAYSPACE™
SPACES & PLACES
For spaces and environments designed with cognitive well-being in mind, meeting applicable Multiminded Design™ principles for human experience, participation, and connection.
A PlaySpace doesn't need to resemble a playground. The standard considers how the environment is designed and experienced.
WELL-PLAYED EXPERIENCE™
EXPERIENCES & EVENTS
For programs, events, activations, and physical, digital, or hybrid experiences that meet applicable Multiminded Design™ standards.
The experience may be educational, cultural, recreational, professional, or something that crosses categories entirely.
Different forms. One underlying practice. A shared purpose.
Two Ways to Pursue Certification
01 — Build With PLAYSTRUCK
Creating something new, or reimagining what already exists? Work with us through Research & Evaluation, Strategy & Ecosystems, or Invention & Design, with the applicable standards considered throughout development.
When the work is ready, you can opt into a separate certification review.
02 — Submit Existing Work
Already built something? Submit an existing product, space, or experience for eligibility review, even if you haven't worked with us before. We'll identify the applicable category and explain the evaluation process.
Certification is earned, not automatic. Working with PLAYSTRUCK does not guarantee approval.
Why Certification Matters
A mark should mean something.
A PLAYSTRUCK certification is independent recognition that a product, space, or experience has met the applicable criteria of our design standard. It's recognition of how something has been designed, and what that design is intended to make possible.
Creators & Organizations
For creators and organizations, it demonstrates that cognitive well-being was considered as part of the design, not added as a claim afterward.
Those In Your Care
For customers, partners, and institutions, it offers a clearer basis for recognizing work developed with that commitment.
Third Party Applicants
For approved applicants, it includes authorization to use the applicable certification mark, subject to usage guidelines, and inclusion in our public Certified Roster, where certified work can be discovered and verified.
Could Your Work Meet the Standard?
Good ideas don't always fit neatly into old categories. We understand that. Our own work crosses those boundaries, too.
Whether you're building something new or seeking certification for something that already exists, we'd love to explore the possibilities.