Bob & The Smiggle Colour Lab
- Brand
- Smiggle
- Year
- 2012
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Retail
- Mechanic
- Puzzle
- Platform
- App
- Agency
- Visual Jazz Isobar
Objective
Smiggle's young audience of kids and tweens was already living on Facebook and mobile, and the brand had built a following of roughly 280,000 fans around its blob-shaped mascot Bob. Rather than let that mostly happen on someone else's platform, Smiggle wanted to bring Bob into its first-ever branded app and turn passive Facebook fans into people actively playing with the brand — while making them feel like they'd helped build it.
Solution
Players pick one of three colour-coded Smiggle labs — blue, pink or black — and guide Bob, a googly-eyed blob of colour, through gravity puzzles by arranging the pieces on each level so he picks up enough momentum to reach the exit. Clearing a level can turn up one of Bob's hidden friends; collect three and you unlock a new costume for him, the next lab, or one of the game's Smiggle secrets, with a hidden final level tucked away for players who find them all. Across the 48 launch puzzles, sessions are short and self-contained: solve, unlock, move to the next lab.
Results
The game reached #3 on iTunes' puzzle chart shortly after launch.
- 1
Ahead of launch, players first meet Bob — a wisecracking blob of colour with mobile eyebrows — through weeks of posts on Smiggle's Facebook page, which introduces the character before the app exists.
- 2
Players download the paid app (AU$0.99 on iTunes for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, or the Android release), Smiggle's first official mobile app.
- 3
From a start screen styled as Smiggle's Colour Lab, the player picks one of three interactive labs — blue, pink or black.
- 4
Each lab opens onto a level-select screen; the game starts with 48 puzzles, with further levels unlocked through progress.
- 5
In a level, the player studies the lab's arranged objects — nearly every item is placed with a purpose — and manipulates them to use realistic physics and gravity, building up momentum to carry Bob, who cannot navigate on his own, across the stage to the exit.
- 6
Beyond simply clearing the level, players seek out up to three of Bob's friends hidden in each stage as an optional secondary objective.
- 7
Friends found and points scored unlock rewards, including costumes and special abilities that let players redress and customize Bob.
- 8
Clearing a level opens the next, and clearing enough levels unlocks the next lab, carrying players from the blue lab onward through the others.
- 9
Progress through the labs also uncovers branded "Smiggle secrets," collectible rewards tied to the game's advancement.
- 10
A secret ending is hidden deep within the Colour Lab for players who complete the game to find.
