Race To The Finish
- Brand
- YTV
- Year
- 2010
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Entertainment
- Mechanic
- Mini-Games
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- Secret Location
Objective
YTV wanted to turn passive viewing of its reality show "In Real Life" into weekly participation, and tie the broadcast to the show's website in the gap between episodes. It wanted fans to have real influence on the story — deciding which eliminated teen came back for a bonus episode — while building traffic and time on site.
Solution
The player lands on the show's site and jumps straight into a browser game built from obstacle-course levels, earning around 100 points for each one cleared. Playing needs no account, but logging in lets the player "partner" with one of the show's teen contestants, so every point earned funnels into that contestant's running total. A second mode hands the player a level editor: build an obstacle course, publish it, and other players run it, comment, and like it, adding more points and badges to both sides. Standings show on a running leaderboard, and at season's end the two contestants with the highest fan point totals return for an exclusive bonus web episode; by season three, the top-scoring players join them there too.
Results
The game drew 30,000 unique visitors in the three weeks after its October 4, 2010 launch, with average visit times of eight minutes on weekdays and up to 25 minutes on weekends. Fans built about 250 custom levels the night after the first episode alone — matching the studio's forecast for the whole season — and pushed that to roughly 1,500 levels within the first month, driving player point totals into six figures.
- 1
The game lives on the companion website for YTV's reality show "In Real Life," appearing alongside the show's other season content.
- 2
Players can start immediately as an unregistered guest and begin clearing levels right away.
- 3
The core loop is completing levels for points, worth roughly 100 points per level cleared.
- 4
Logging in lets a player adopt one of the show's teen cast members as their partner; every point earned afterward is automatically credited to that cast member's total, functioning as a vote for their return to the show.
- 5
A separate mode lets players build their own level using a level editor and publish it to the site.
- 6
Levels built by other players are open to everyone, who can play them, comment, and leave likes.
- 7
Points and badges accumulate across both playing and building, and players can compare their standing against other fans on a leaderboard.
- 8
At the end of the season, the two cast members with the highest fan-point totals return for an exclusive post-finale webisode.
- 9
In the following season the stakes rise further: top-ranked players can also win a spot appearing alongside the returning cast members in that webisode.
- 10
That same season, the same level-playing and level-building loop is also available through a companion mobile app.
