Branded game · 2022
Fear: The Game, a branded mobile game built to grow the audience for a theatrical release
For Deon Taylor’s Fear, AONE Creative built Fear: The Game for On Chain Innovations with Hidden Empire Film Group: a pixel-art runner for web, iOS and Android, starring the film’s characters. Live from March to September 2022, it sent approx. 87,000 players to the film’s site, months before the January 27, 2023 theatrical release.
- Fear: The Game
- Web
- iOS
- Android
- Approx. 87,000 players
- Sent to the film’s site
- 2022
- Fear: The Game
- Web
- iOS
- Android
- Approx. 87,000 players
- Sent to the film’s site
- 2022
- Fear: The Game
- Web
- iOS
- Android
- Approx. 87,000 players
- Sent to the film’s site
- 2022
The brief
A game that builds a film’s audience
Fear: The Game is a pixel-art running game and play-to-earn NFT experience for iOS, Android and the web, inspired by Fear, the psychological horror film directed by Deon Taylor and starring Joseph Sikora, Annie Ilonzeh, T.I., Andrew Bachelor, Terrence J, Ruby Modine, Iddo Goldberg, Tyler Abron and Jessica Allain.
On Chain Innovations set out to use the game to build an active community of passionate fans, and a deeper, longer-lasting connection between Hidden Empire Film Group and its audiences. Cryptocurrency and NFTs were the way to offer rewards money can’t buy.
The game asked one question: can you outrun your biggest fear? Anyone could play for free. From August 26, 2022, members could also play to earn $RUN tokens, NFTs based on the film and the chance to attend events like the Hollywood premiere.
What we did
Game, rewards, community and marketing
- Game
Built on the film
A pixel-art runner for web, iOS and Android, whose runners include the film’s characters Rom, Bianca, Benny, Russ, Serena, Kim, Meg and Michael.
- Trailer
Before every game
Every player watched the film’s trailer before gameplay began, so every session started with the film.
- Rewards
Free to play, play to earn
Free for everyone, with a play-to-earn mode for members from August 26, 2022: $RUN tokens, NFTs based on the film and event access.
- Collectibles
Runners on Ethereum
The in-game characters, the runners, are pixel-art NFTs minted on the Ethereum blockchain, with legendary one-of-one runners drawn from the film.
- Community
Discord and Twitter
Announcements and the community lived on Discord and Twitter, starting with a website update and a Discord upgrade in January 2022.
- Marketing
Audience, content and talent
Audience targeting, a social identity and content calendar, influencer outreach and the film’s cast in the content.
Play to earn
How the rewards worked
Membership was the key. Each membership pass, itself an NFT, let its holder play the game and earn daily rewards in $RUN, a deflationary token. A member started at 10 tokens a day and could multiply that up to 600 times: up to 3x for the character’s level, up to 100x for leaderboard rank, and 2x for holding a legendary runner.
A pass also opened giveaways and a chance at a legendary runner, a one-of-one pixel-art NFT of a character from the film. The deck planned four pass sales, with better odds of a legendary runner for earlier buyers. No passes or $RUN tokens were ever sold.
- 10$RUN tokens a day to start
- 600xTop multiplier: level up to 3x, rank up to 100x, legendary 2x
- 15Legendary one-of-one runners in the game deck
Results
Players sent to the film
- 87,000Approx. players sent to the film’s site, about 97% of everyone who played
- 108,653Downloads
- 90,000Approx. players, more than 8 in 10 downloads
- Approx. 250,000 visits to the film’s site from the game and the wider campaign
- Live from March to September 2022
The characters
Drawn from the film
The runners came from the film and its cast: Joseph Sikora’s Rom, Annie Ilonzeh’s Bianca, Andrew Bachelor’s Benny, Terrence J’s Russ, Ruby Modine’s Serena, Tyler Abron’s Kim, Jessica Allain’s Meg and Iddo Goldberg’s Michael, each redrawn in pixel art.
The deck introduced fifteen legendary runners: Rom, Bianca, Benny, Russ, Serena, Flight, Rox, Legend, Kim, Meg, Lou, Michael, Las Bruhas, Forever Young and Ferry. For the release itself, see the Fear (2023) case study.
The roadmap
A year of drops, giveaways and lotteries
The game deck laid out 2022 month by month. Dates moved as the work went on: the beta opened in March, the full game in July and play to earn on August 26, and the film opened on January 27, 2023.
- Jan 2022Website update, Discord upgrade, development beginsFoundations
- Feb 2022NFT characters generated, three character giveaways, tokenomics revealed, design traits, game client, server and smart contractsBuild
- Mar 2022Three more character giveaways, characters generated, the initial sale plan, game client, server and smart contractsBuild
- Apr 2022Game and security testing, a character giveaway, a legendary character giveaway, the NFT character disclosureTest
- May 2022The film’s premiere date at the time, game launch, character sale and distribution, legendary character distribution, a liquidity poolLaunch
- Jun 2022A $RUN token lottery and a giveaway of 100 autographed DVDsRewards
- Jul to Nov 2022A $RUN token lottery every month, with exclusive cast diaries and behind-the-scenes special features as giveawaysRewards
- Dec 2022A $RUN token lottery and the official Fear key art NFT collectionCollectibles
The team
Who built it
The game deck lists the development team. Darrick Angelone created the game and managed the project.
- Creator and project manager
Darrick Angelone
Created the game and managed the project.
- Lead tech
Filip Jelic
Led the technology.
- Creative director
Doncel Brown
Creative direction.
- Strategic partnerships
Omar Joseph
Director of strategic partnerships.
- Lead programmer
Andro Mikulić
Led the programming.
- Blockchain developer
Marko Ivanković
Blockchain development.
- Tokenomics
Ante Sosa
Tokenomics.
What it taught us
Play first, then the trailer
A game gave the film an audience months before it opened, and every player saw the trailer on the way in. We plan games the same way for releases and brands today. Shipping a game client, its servers and its smart contracts on three platforms is the same kind of build our AI platform work calls for.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What was Fear: The Game?
A pixel-art running game and play-to-earn NFT experience for web, iOS and Android, inspired by Deon Taylor’s psychological horror film Fear. AONE Creative built it for On Chain Innovations with Hidden Empire Film Group to grow the film’s audience before its January 27, 2023 theatrical release.
How did the game promote the film?
Every player watched the film’s trailer before gameplay began, and the game sent approx. 87,000 players, about 97% of everyone who played, to the film’s site.
How many people played?
The game had 108,653 downloads and about 90,000 players while it was live, from March to September 2022. The game and the wider campaign drove about 250,000 visits to the film’s site.
Was it free to play?
Yes. Anyone could play. Members, who held a membership pass NFT, could also play to earn from August 26, 2022: $RUN tokens, NFTs based on the film and the chance to attend events like the Hollywood premiere.
How did play to earn work?
A member started at 10 $RUN tokens a day and could multiply that up to 600 times through the character’s level (up to 3x), leaderboard rank (up to 100x) and a legendary runner (2x).
Who made it?
AONE Creative built the game, and Darrick Angelone created it and managed the project, with Filip Jelic, Doncel Brown, Omar Joseph, Andro Mikulić, Marko Ivanković and Ante Sosa on the team. The plan for the release itself is in the Fear (2023) case study.
Can you build a game for our release or brand?
Yes. We lead with mobile games for iOS and Android, and also build experiences in Roblox, Fortnite and Minecraft. See Branded games.
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Branded games
Could a mobile game grow your audience?
Fear: The Game ran on web, iOS and Android and sent approx. 87,000 players to the film’s site. Tell us the release or the brand, and we will show you what the game could be.