Snowball Showdown

It was far more than a simple Christmas card; it became an interactive and engaging platform for DDFH&B to connect with its clients, employees, and suppliers. Through a blend of playful visuals, entertaining gameplay, and a competitive spirit, the game fostered meaningful connections and holiday cheer.

Snowball Showdown Christmas Game

Objectives

In the advent season of 2015, DDFH&B sought to continue their tradition of quirky and engaging Christmas greetings by creating a digital game that would serve as their holiday card to clients, suppliers, and even staff itself. Instead of a conventional card, the idea was to develop a browser-based game that would bring humor and fun into the holiday season while showcasing some of the delightful faces behind the agency.

DDFH&B, in collaboration with Laposa, conceptualized and delivered a creative digital stunt called Snowball Showdown. A client’s task was to hurl virtual snowballs at pictures of the agency’s employees – all done in a lighthearted fashion to score points. The game was designed specifically to capture attention, draw engagement, and bring laughter at a time when the corporate hustle tends to slow down in anticipation of the holiday season.

The primary goal of Snowball Showdown was to amuse DDFH&B’s clients, suppliers, and employees with a lighthearted, interactive experience that revolved around their familiar faces. As part of their annual Christmas campaign, DDFH&B wanted to create something memorable and visually engaging while highlighting the agency’s creativity and playfulness ahead of the holiday break.

Christmas Tree

Challenges

Game on a phone
  1. Short Development Window: The advent season was already underway, so we had a limited timeframe to ideate, design, and develop the game into a fully functional and seamless experience.
  2. Multi-Platform Responsiveness: The game needed to function seamlessly across both desktop browsers and touch-screen mobile devices, as players would be accessing it from a range of devices such as smartphones, tablets, and computers.
  3. Amusing Gameplay with Social Engagement: The experience had to be easy to pick up, fun to play, and highly shareable on social media platforms, all while maintaining high-quality visuals and sound design—all in the spirit of holiday cheer.

Technological Implementation

For game development, we selected CreateJS, a suite of modular JavaScript libraries that enabled the building of rich, interactive content using open web technologies (HTML5). The specific libraries used from the CreateJS framework were:

  • EaselJS: This HTML5 canvas-based library was pivotal in generating the graphical interface and rendering the visuals.
  • TweenJS: This module allowed us to produce smooth transitions between the sprightly holiday-themed elements, such as snowballs’ movement and special bonuses disappearing on a time-restricted basis.
  • SoundJS: To increase engagement, SoundJS easily managed the integration of sound effects and the game’s cheery soundtrack.
  • PreloadJS: This module ensured that everything loaded efficiently without interrupting the gameplay experience.

    • Bundling & Backend:

    • The game’s code was bundled and optimized using Google’s Closure Compiler to minimize load times by creating a small, compact final package.
    • SQLite was used as the database to store player information and leaderboard stats. A simple PHP script facilitated the interactions between the game and the SQLite database, allowing players’ scores to be tracked and displayed on the leaderboard.

    Assets & Creative Collaboration:

    DDFH&B provided all visual and sound assets, including:

    • Photos of the staff.
    • UI and UX design elements.
    • Soundtrack and sound effects.
    • Game element designs, such as the floating bonuses (gingerbread men and Christmas tree bulbs).

    Laposa handled all coding, integrating the assets with functionality, both client-side and server-side. The seamless collaboration resulted in a smooth user experience, balancing high-stakes creativity with user-friendly ease.

Key Features of the Game

  • Simple & Fun Gameplay: Players would aim, flick, or click to throw snowballs at various DDFH&B employees in an amusing depiction. The photos of the staff were used creatively as ‘targets’ and appeared in a random, game-like fashion.
  • Bonuses & Special Effects: During the gameplay, special holiday-themed bonuses like gingerbread men and Christmas tree bulbs would pop up for a short duration. Players had to react quickly and hit these bonuses before they disappeared to gain extra points.
  • Soundtrack & Sound Effects: To enhance the immersive holiday spirit, the game was equipped with a fun, joyful soundtrack typical of Christmas-themed media. Sounds of snowballs hurling through the air and hitting targets, along with festive chimes when bonuses were hit, made the experience lively and memorable.
  • Smooth Animations & Transitions: Despite a tight deadline, the game boasted smooth animations, from the flicking of the snowballs to the visual effects when characters were hit.
  • Leaderboard & Score Sharing: To encourage friendly competition, the game featured a leaderboard where the highest scores were recorded. This drove player engagement as users sought to beat other players' scores. Additionally, social media sharing enabled users to share their success and invite others to join in on the fun.
  • Multi-Device Compatibility: One of the key technical requirements for the project was responsive design, ensuring that the game was fully functional across desktops and touch devices. The gameplay experience was adjusted for both mouse clicks (for computers) and swipe gestures (for smartphones or tablets).
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Results

The launch of Snowball Showdown generated high levels of engagement and positive feedback, successfully meeting its objectives of bringing festive fun and strengthening client relationships.

Game on a tablet

Employee Engagement

The game became an instant hit within the agency, with staff members enthusiastically playing and competing against each other to top the leaderboard. It served as a fun and interactive team-building activity and an internal celebration leading up to the holidays.

01.

Client & Supplier Reception

The clients, many of whom already had a close personal relationship with DDFH&B, appreciated the humor and creativity of the game. They actively participated, and social media sharing helped extend the reach of the game beyond immediate stakeholders.

02.

Shareable Fun

The game, thanks to its inclusion of a social sharing option, quickly spread across social platforms. Clients and employees were able to share their scores and challenge others, which naturally promoted the agency and their unique holiday spirit.

03.

Meeting Tight Deadlines

Despite the short development timeframe, the project was successfully completed, rolled out on time, and exceeded all expectations in terms of functionality, user enjoyment, and branding impact.

04.

Conclusion

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Snowball Showdown was much more than just an amusing Christmas card; it became an interactive, engaging way for DDFH&B to connect with its clients, employees, and suppliers.

By merging playful visuals, fun gameplay, and a competitive edge, DDFH&B reiterated its strengths in creative communication, all delivered with a dash of holiday spirit.

The use of CreateJS and the agile methodology of development ensured a smooth implementation, even under time constraints. The success of this game underlined the potential for interactive browser-based experiences in client communications, and the positive feedback further solidified DDFH&B's reputation for innovation and creativity, just two years before their merger with JWT Folk.

Next Step

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