Hockeyland
- Brand
- Sportsnet
- Year
- 2022
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Entertainment
- Mechanic
- Racing & Sports
- Platform
- In-Game
- Agency
- Jam3
Objective
Sportsnet's NHL broadcast audience was aging year over year, and the network needed to reach Gen Z and Gen Alpha kids who had no built-in reason to become hockey fans. Rather than wait for them to find hockey, Sportsnet went to the platform where they already spent their time, choosing Minecraft over Roblox or EA's NHL for its reach among 6-to-17-year-olds.
Solution
Players buy Hockeyland for 660 Minecoins from the official Minecraft Marketplace and spawn into a snow-covered hockey world. From there they explore, scavenging ingredients and crafting a full set of hockey gear piece by piece. Along the way they take on a string of mini-game challenges that level up their skills and fend off roaming enemy "grinders" who get in their way. The session builds toward a single goal: the climb up Playoff Peak, the map's summit, which caps the run once reached. Fourteen unlockable hockey-themed skins let players customize their look as they go.
- 1
The player finds Hockeyland in the Minecraft Marketplace and purchases it as a paid add-on world (DLC) for Minecraft Bedrock, not a standalone app.
- 2
Before entering the world, the player picks one of 14 hockey-themed character skins to play as.
- 3
The game opens into a large open hockey-themed world that the player explores freely, moving between distinct named locations.
- 4
The core loop starts as a scavenger hunt: the player searches the world for custom gear items that boost character speed and strength.
- 5
Collected materials feed a crafting system, letting the player build hockey equipment such as helmets, stick upgrades, and shoulder pads to strengthen their character.
- 6
The player tests their gear in standalone skill mini-games: an accuracy challenge throwing pucks at targets, and a timed skating race along an ice track.
- 7
Progression continues through combat encounters against enemy "Grinders" and exploration of cave areas beneath Playoff Peak.
- 8
The world culminates in a vertical parkour climb up the icy slopes of Playoff Peak, reaching the top as the game's final objective.
