Chordsurfer
- Brand
- Red Bull
- Year
- 2016
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Entertainment
- Mechanic
- Music & Rhythm
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- EPIC Agency
Objective
Red Bull TV needed a hook to pull music fans into its new Season of Festivals content, so Red Bull Media House and agency EPIC built a standalone browser game to put festival energy directly in front of visitors before sending them on to watch.
Solution
The game opens straight into a run — no download, no login — with the player racing down a neon festival track. Swiping or steering between three lanes, they dodge gaps and obstacles while grabbing musical instruments along the way, and each one they catch layers a new part into the soundtrack, so the score literally builds as the run goes on. The world keeps generating and the pace keeps climbing until a mistake ends the run, dropping the player onto a results screen with their distance and score.
- 1
The player opens chordsurfer.redbull.com directly in the browser, no install required, and lands on an intro screen inviting them to surf into Red Bull TV's Season of Festivals.
- 2
Once started, the player takes a behind-the-character view as the runner moves forward automatically through a stylized music-festival world; there is no speed control.
- 3
The core input is switching between three lanes to line up with the lane the player wants to be on.
- 4
Lane switching serves a collection loop: musical instruments are scattered across the lanes, and running into one picks it up as the run's main pickup.
- 5
The same lane changes double as avoidance: gaps and penalty objects appear on the track, and failing to dodge them by swapping lanes ends the run.
- 6
Progress is expressed musically rather than through a score display alone: the longer the run lasts and the more instruments are collected, the denser and fuller the accompanying track becomes, building a soundtrack out of the player's own performance.
- 7
The run ends on hitting a gap or an obstacle, showing a Game Over screen with the result and an option to try again.
