Get’em Grocery – Mobile Game Design/Prototype

So this one came about because we were working on some mobile projects and wanted to try out our skills on some things.  The team also needed a break from what we were doing and wanted to do something from scratch.  We carved out a part each week and dedicated it to the “new” project starting with a mobile game design brainstorm.  Take a look at the slideshare to check out the concept and the model behind it.  We actually built the app, so we have a functional version of most of what you see.

I’m not going to go too deep into our design process but in general we thought about the interaction possibilities, the locations, the motivations, the objectives, the outcomes etc.  This is not exactly how it went as there were whiteboards and long lists of options laid out but here is the final idea logic

1.  Lets do a location-based game – where can we do it?   Where are there ready objects for being able to scan or use as inputs?  Barcodes at a grocery store!

2.  What is a common location based game mechanic?  Scavenger hunts!

3.  Why would you want to do a scavenger hunt in a grocery store?  To find ingredients!

4.  Why would you have to find ingredients?  To get ingredients!

5.  Why wouldn’t you know what the ingredients are?  It’s a mystery recipe!

6.  How would you figure out what the ingredients are?  Clues!  Mini-Games!

7.  What would motivate you to want to engage in the game?  To get the recipe!  (good – but may not be enough) To entertain the kids! (also good (important for thinking about audience) but what if I don’t have kids?)  To earn a discount! (good – people like coupons)  To give to a foodbank! (very ImpactGames of you – rough idea being a more complicated version of Free Rice).

8.  Who would want to fund this?  The Grocery Store!  (good answer – they would benefit from people buying more items by walking around more and impulse buying or just buying the recipe)  Advertiser!  (good – people would be actively trying to buy certain product so seems like a logical time to promote a certain brand)

9.  Where do we get our content from?  Jamie Oliver! (would be awesome – could be another motivating factor for why to play and at the same time promote healthy eating)  Cook Book Companies!  (They would definitely have a reason to promote their recipes)

10.  Who has the infrastructure to do all of the above?  Grocery Store Chains and Food Networks!  (Good answer –  we have approached one but not all so maybe this is where it will eventually find a home)

In the end we realized that this wasn’t a product, with all of the diverse biz dev involved to sign up advertiser, grocery stores, cookbooks, that we were able to dedicate huge resources to at this time to grow organically.  We would love a partner in making that happen.  Is that you?  Are you an interactive ad firm that could make all those different parts come together?  Are you a food network looking for something innovative with the ad sales team ready to roll?  Are you a grocery store chain that has the right demographic and a desire to market in a new way?  As we said, the game does function so let us know and we would be happy to show it to you.