Integrated marketing agency Mabox were searching for a digital agency that could work closely alongside them to create an online Flash game for their client, HMS Belfast. With a client list including companies such as Barnardos, SANYO, and ITN, they wanted a high-quality, impressive online game which could be turned around in just 5 days.
Solution
MCM Net created a seriously addictive Flash game called ‘Flagpole Flip’, which involves the player clicking on their mouse to make the character run and jump onto the ship’s flagpole and flip off it backwards, in order to travel the furthest distance possible. This flip launches the character through the air before he lands on the ground again and the user is then given the distance they travelled, for example “350.82m”. The user then has the choice to play again or to submit their score for a chance to be featured on the high score leader board.
The client wanted a backdrop of London and for the ship that the character flips over to be in a similar style to HMS Belfast. Using images supplied by the client, MCM Net’s designers were able to replicate the style of the ship as accurately as possible for the game.
Result
The turnaround time for the game was just 5 days as planned, and the HMS Belfast website received 768 hits on the day of the game’s release as opposed to just 25 hits the day before. On the day of the game’s release, ‘Flagpole Flip’ was played over 15,000 times. We also included a counter in the game which informed the user how many flips had been recorded since its release, and this was displayed at the top of the screen. To date, this counter has recorded over 20,500 game plays within the space of 2 weeks since the game’s launch.
So that HMS Belfast could capture sufficient email data from the players, MCM Net integrated a ‘submit high score’ facility so users could enter their email address and high score into the high score leader board. Having the top 10 high scores displayed on a board helps motivate players to play the game again for a chance to ‘better’ their score and win a place on the leader board.
To date this counter has racked up an impressive 37,000 plays in total, with over 20,500 plays counted within the first two weeks of the game’s launch. That’s a lot of traffic!
Working closely with Mabox and establishing a good relationship with the agency ensured the game was completed on time, on budget and exceeded the requirements of the client, and MCM Net endeavour to prolong the agency relationship with Mabox for future innovative online and viral game projects.