Game Chronicle
- Brand
- Japan Tourism
- Year
- 2019
- Objective
- Awareness
- Industry
- Entertainment
- Mechanic
- Quiz & Trivia
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- BIRDMAN
- With
- ENJIN Inc.
Objective
ANA created GAME CHRONICLE to promote Japan as a destination and itself as the carrier flying people there, part of its long-running "IS JAPAN COOL?" campaign for overseas audiences. Video game culture gave the brand an untapped hook for tourism — the release ties directly into the emerging "game trip" trend of travel built around gaming landmarks. It also filled a real gap: no accessible, English-language history of Japanese games existed online for foreign fans.
Solution
The site itself is the game: a free browser side-scroller playable with arrow keys on desktop or taps on a phone, no install required. Players run their character through four levels, one per console era from the 1980s to the 2010s, collecting coins and blue "chronicle" items along the way. Each chronicle opens a card detailing a console, game, arcade cabinet, tabletop game, or esports milestone, and some carry a play icon that launches a video interview with an industry figure. Visuals and sound shift with each era, moving from 8-bit to 16-bit to full 3D as the player advances, so crossing into a new level feels like stepping into the next console generation. Points accrue for every article read and video watched, feeding into a global leaderboard, and a companion GAME TRIP section lists real gaming spots in Tokyo for players who want to visit in person.
Results
GAME CHRONICLE drew 16 million impressions in its first week, was played by more than 480,000 people across 110 countries, and was covered in over 860 news articles in 60 countries.
- 1
The player opens the page in a browser on desktop or phone, with nothing to download and no payment required; instead of an article, the page turns out to be a side-scrolling game, opening on a hero character on a level styled after 1980s 8-bit hardware.
- 2
Controls are minimal — arrow keys on desktop, screen taps on mobile — and the character runs automatically to the right across a horizontally scrolling level, picking up yellow coins along the way that build a score and set the pace of the run.
- 3
Blue "chronicle" items scattered on the level open cards detailing a specific console, game, arcade machine, analog game, or esports discipline; reading these entries and watching linked videos earns achievement points, and every item collected is added to a personal chronicle collection the player can revisit for the full write-up.
- 4
Play-button icons on the levels launch video interviews with one of 11 industry figures, including the designer of the Famicom, the creator of Space Invaders, the designer of Super Smash Bros., the producer of Gran Turismo, and Japan's first professional esports player.
- 5
A platform marked START triggers a timed bonus round in which coins fall more densely, turning the run into a short score-chase.
- 6
Each of the game's four eras hides 25 collectible items split across five categories — hardware, software, arcades, analog games, and esports — for 100 items total across the game.
- 7
Clearing an era advances the player to the next level, and the game's look and sound shift with it: 8-bit visuals give way to 16-bit, then later graphics, and finally full 3D, with the final era bringing the history up to modern esports.
- 8
The game closes with an ending sequence featuring an ANA plane, followed by the player's final score and their placement on a global leaderboard.
- 9
Alongside the game sits a GAME TRIP section listing real gaming locations in Tokyo by type — arcades, shops, theme parks, and esports venues — connecting the game's history to an actual travel itinerary.
