Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World is a non-fiction book published in 2011 by Jane McGonigal. It argues that reality is broken compared with games. Games often fulfill human needs that the real world cannot, and can provide easy-to-understand ways of implementing real change. To begin, McGonigal describes people engaging in a "mass exodus" from the real world into games, because of the need to feel fulfilled, purposeful, and engaged. Her main goal is to outline how we can apply game design principles to “fix” this current reality. The book speaks about fourteen fixes on how games are better than reality, and these fourteen points summarize her argument for implementing gamification into the world.
Out of the fourteen fixes expanded upon by McGonigal, six stand out as the most impactful.

Fix 1 - Unnecessary Obstacles: Reality is too easy. Where most people aren’t challenged every day, or need to seek out challenges like going to the gym or joining a social club, games offer challenge that is fun, engaging, and easy to get lost in. Games challenge us with voluntary hard work, where we choose to overcome obstacles and accept that there is a risk of failure. Leveraging how games make us challenge ourselves can help with everyday activities, such as folding laundry or taking out the trash.

Fix 2 - Emotional Activation: Reality is depressing. Games told our attentions for prolonged periods of time. They generate intense emotions like flow and fiero (triumph over adversity), which combat depression. These states are easy to reach through gameplay and when used for good, can help people enjoy their lives more.

Fix 5 - Stronger Social Connectivity: Reality is disconnected. Games build strong social bonds and fight isolation by making social activity easier to maintain. Games can act as a long-distance activity for friends and often allow for short interactions with strangers.

Fix 10 - Happiness Hacks: Reality is hard to swallow. Positive-psychology practices like gratitude or contemplating mortality can be turned into game mechanics. This can help them be easier to adopt and removes barriers that may dissuade people, like embarrassment.

Fix 11 - A Sustainable Engagement Economy: Reality is unsustainable. Game design provides intrinsic rewards that keep an audience captivated for a longer period of time, allowing change to actually occur. An example of this is Wikipedia, a completely crowdsourced project with thousands of pages that constantly updates.

Fix 14 - Massively Multiplayer Foresight: Reality is stuck in the present. Game can harness brainpower from ordinary people to strategize and plan long-term solutions for the future.
Ultimately, McGonigal argues, while reality is flawed, it is our destiny. She wants us to stop viewing games as pure escapism and think of them as a platform to alter the future. Her book aims to give examples for future designers on what designing for the ideal world can be. In the end, Reality is Broken is an optimistic view of the game industry and urges creators to implement gamification and psychology to promote positive behaviors.