McGonigal begins with a forecast of the future, a future where technologists have become "happiness hackers", creating alternate realities in an environment where quality of life is the primary metric for evaluating everyday technologies. In order to succeed in this environment, a product or service must increase real happiness, which has become the new capital.

This future may not be so far off. Serious scientific research is underway to identify what constitutes happiness, and the new genre of ubiquitous games taps into areas already identified by this new science of happiness. Rising out of the ubiquitous computing movement, ubiquitous games integrate computing and real life in a way that provides the player with persistent pleasure, engagement in real life, purpose, and meaning.

To illustrate the concept, McGonigal provides some entertaining examples of ubiquitous games that she has developed, and she demonstrates how they can improve the quality of life and contribute to happiness. These include Ministry of Reshelving, Cruel 2 B Kind, I Love Bees, Tombstone Hold 'Em, and her newest game Werewolf.

Finally, McGonigal challenges her listeners to evaluate their own work in terms of its ability to provide happiness: to invest time and energy in understanding and innovating happiness, to make their technology not only feel good but do good, and to build a culture around the quality of life.