Escape To The Undercity
View the case- Brand
- Riot Games
- Year
- 2022
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Entertainment
- Mechanic
- Quiz & Trivia
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- BBH Singapore
Objective
Riot Games needed to launch Arcane's Southeast Asian debut through streamers and entertainment press, but a standard press event — schedule, presentation, passive viewing — gave creators nothing worth broadcasting and no material for their own audiences. BBH Singapore set out to turn the press event itself into something playable, so every attendee would have a reason to go live and a unique story to tell their followers.
Solution
Streamers and media open a link on desktop or phone and drop straight into a browser-based pixel-art rendering of the Undercity, with no set schedule — they pick where to go first. Wandering the district's 25 maps, they run into more than 200 background characters who each carry over 250 different lines, so no two conversations play out the same. Along the way they take on trap-filled mini-games and puzzles, run into a confrontation with Jinx, join a live in-world concert with impromptu karaoke, and can even draw their own character portrait. Because the space is this dense and the route is free-roaming, each streamer ends up walking their own version of the story, live, while their chat follows along and calls out what to try next.
Results
Over 200 content creators explored the Undercity, streaming their playthroughs to a combined 5.2 million subscribers across YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch.
- 1
A streamer or media guest from Southeast Asia receives a personal link in place of a press-event invitation, opening the experience in a browser on desktop or on a phone turned to landscape.
- 2
The player appears in a pixel-art recreation of the Undercity and moves a top-down avatar through its streets.
- 3
There is no schedule or host guiding the visit; the player chooses what to do first — explore, talk to residents, play minigames, or watch a live performance.
- 4
Exploring takes the player across 25 maps that recreate recognizable locations from the show.
- 5
Approaching any of more than 200 residents triggers a line of dialogue drawn from a pool of over 250, gradually revealing the city's stories and secrets.
- 6
Along the way, the player runs into standalone minigame episodes — one a hazard course dodging traps, another a puzzle that must be solved to keep moving through the city.
- 7
One encounter escalates into a confrontation with Jinx, one of the show's main characters.
- 8
The player can join a live concert and sing along in an impromptu karaoke session.
- 9
At an in-world artist's stand, the player commissions a personal portrait and receives it.
- 10
The whole visit is broadcast live, with the streamer's audience watching the exploration unfold in real time, and each stream follows its own unique route through the city.
