Game On
Read the story- Brand
- Dexter
- Year
- 2010
- Objective
- Awareness
- Industry
- Entertainment
- Mechanic
- Adventure & Quest
- Platform
- App
- Agency
- SHOWTIME Networks
Objective
Showtime needed to keep Dexter fans engaged during the hiatus between seasons 4 and 5, and build momentum ahead of the September 26, 2010 premiere. Rather than run straight advertising, the network wanted an in-universe story fans could investigate together — one that could pull in alternate-reality-game players who weren't already watching the show.
Solution
The hunt opens at San Diego Comic-Con, where players pick up a location-based trail in the SCVNGR app that ends at a staged "kill room" outside the convention center; evidence there yields a code unlocking two rival sites — SleepSuperbly.com, a sleep-therapy site secretly run by the killer, and SerialHuntress.com, where FBI agent Dee "Serial Huntress" Pratt organizes the investigation. From there players settle into a weekly rhythm: Tuesday video briefings from Pratt, Friday "dream sessions" from the killer with clues buried inside them, plus Twitter and YouTube accounts, a phone hotline, classified ads, a jacket planted as a physical clue in New York, and an eBay auction for a piece of evidence to decode. The eight-week game closes with players voting on who lives.
Results
More than 100,000 "cheek slash" temporary tattoos were handed out at Comic-Con, players posted over 11,000 messages on the Serial Huntress forums alone over the eight-week run, and the season 5 premiere it led into drew 1.77 million household viewers.
- 1
The player installs the SCVNGR app on iPhone or Android and finds the "Dexter Game On" track, active at San Diego Comic-Con and in five other cities; walking to marked locations and completing app tasks there, each logged as a "kill."
- 2
Completed tasks earn limited SCVNGR badges redeemable for Dexter merchandise, including early access to the season-four DVD. Players also wear a temporary scar tattoo, photograph it, and upload the photo to DexterGameOn.com, where a running community counter tracks total tasks toward a season-five teaser unlocked at 100,000.
- 3
The track's final task sends the player outside the venue to a staged crime scene, the game's entry point into its wider alternate-reality layer. There the player examines physical evidence — a blood-drawn infinity symbol and scrambled letters — that spells out a code, SLEEPSUPERBLY.
- 4
The code unlocks SleepSuperbly.com, a fake sleep-therapy business complete with a testimonial video from a Dexter character. Opening its Premium Access tab auto-logs the player into another user's account, "F8" — the killer's — exposing recordings of his therapy sessions.
- 5
In each session the killer narrates his "dreams" to an automated therapist bot, actually descriptions of his murders. Players rewatch the videos frame by frame to spot hidden clues, such as a Twitter handle visible in a reflection, and new sessions post weekly, pulling players back on a recurring cadence.
- 6
In parallel, the player follows the investigation on SerialHuntress.com, a crowdsourced-manhunt site run by a former FBI agent who posts weekly video briefings; players can also call a dedicated hotline or debate theories with other players on the site's forum.
- 7
Additional clues surface outside the game's own sites and apps — classified ads, a paid newspaper notice, a planted lost jacket, YouTube videos, and Twitter exchanges. One clue is auctioned on eBay as an inscribed watch, with the winning bidder mailed the item at no cost.
- 8
The story concludes with a live standoff where the killer forces a choice between two hostages, and the community votes on who survives. Their choice spares the investigator, the killer dies, and the game ends just before the new season premieres.
