Listen on: Youtube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify
Podcast10x sponsors this episode
Podcast10x is my podcasting agency that helps VCs start & run a podcast end-to-end. We only require a 30-minute/week time commitment from our clients while we handle everything from production to publishing.
About the guest:
Phylicia Koh is an early-stage investor at Play Ventures, a VC firm with deep roots in gaming that also invests across consumer and gaming-adjacent technology. She’s known for her “playable apps” thesis—bringing the engagement and monetization lessons from free-to-play gaming (like economies, LiveOps, and user acquisition) into the next generation of consumer products.
What you’ll learn
How Play Ventures defines “playable apps” and why gaming learnings extend beyond surface-level gamification.
A simple 4-part filter Phylicia uses to judge whether a consumer product can benefit from gaming mechanics.
Why “just adding streaks/badges” rarely works—and what to think about instead (core loop, meta, LiveOps, monetization).
The “playable apps” framework
Phylicia’s core idea: gaming is the “OS” for engagement and monetization, so founders can port learnings like user acquisition, in-app economies, ad monetization, and LiveOps into new consumer categories.
Play Ventures looks for four characteristics in a playable app:
Controllable outcomes: effort should map to progress (with some variability to keep it interesting).
Complementary motivation: entertainment plus something intrinsically motivating (sleep, fitness, learning, etc.).
Inherently social: cooperative/competitive dynamics can drive retention (like clans, quests, shared goals).
Willingness to pay: the cleanest validation is whether users pay (directly or via an economy that supports monetization).
Examples discussed (and why they work)
Alinea (Gen Z investing): onboarding via level-like learning progression to reduce fear and build a consistent investing habit.
Bible Chat: AI-enabled Q&A plus “live prayers” and social mechanics inspired by LiveOps to drive recurring engagement.
Aria (couples/relationship wellness): an example of gaming-adtech talent moving into new consumer markets, applying UA and engagement know-how to “what happens after dating.”
Investing notes from Phylicia
Play Ventures is a $142M third flagship fund, and it still leans heavily toward mobile free-to-play due to faster validation cycles vs. longer PC/console timelines.
Phylicia argues subscriptions are easier to run, but can cap LTV—while designing an economy takes longer yet can unlock different monetization upside.
She notes that consumer in-app purchase spending was about half of gaming in 2022, and she cites 2025 as the first year reported where consumer IAP exceeded gaming IAP.
Rapid fire: Play invests globally (with a mix across Europe, North America, and rest-of-world), focuses on pre-seed/seed, and can lead or co-lead rounds (with checks starting around $1M at pre-seed and going higher through Series A).
Recent uploads on VC10X
Is the silver rally over? (4 min)
LP Roundtable 2025/26 (58 min)
BigTech Energy War (4 min)