I think it was Scott Kelby who used to jokingly refer to Photoshop as “a video game for grown-ups.” Truth can be stranger than fiction, though, and now you can “play” Photoshop to improve your skills, learn new features, and actually win prizes.

LevelUp for Photoshop encourages people to explore the app, using features they may not know in order to complete various missions.  The first mission starts with removing redeye, and they get progressively more elaborate from there.  By accumulating points you get entered into drawings to win Creative Cloud membership and Amazon.com gift certificates. You also earn points by sharing your progress on Facebook and Twitter, passing quizzes, and more.  The game runs until July 15th.

My colleague Bruce reports that his 13-year-old son Noel is addicted to the game & now passes challenges with a Team America-style cry of “Photoshop, [Heck] Yeah!” So, we’ve got that going for us. 🙂