Unlock Your Fandom
Open the game- Brand
- Kinder
- Year
- 2025
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Food & Drink
- Mechanic
- Puzzle
- Platform
- AR & VR
- Agency
- UNIT9
Objective
Kinder Joy wanted to cash in on Stranger Things fandom without just slapping a licensed image on the wrapper — turning viewers into active participants rather than an ad audience, in UNIT9's own words. The push was built to drive purchase and repeat purchase of Kinder Joy eggs (the game only unlocks via the in-pack QR code) while feeding collectors' appetite for the Funko POP! tie-in figures.
Solution
The game starts with a real egg: inside is a leaflet carrying a QR code and a secret letter-and-number combo. Scanning it opens a mobile site, no app required — first an age gate ("YOU ARE ABOUT TO ENTER THE UPSIDE DOWN," enter your birth year), then a title screen reading "SOLVE THE MYSTERY / GO TO THE UPSIDE DOWN." Tapping in launches a puzzle built around Vecna's grandfather clock, which the player has to crack to free the Stranger Things character trapped inside, picking up digital rewards along the way — the letter and number from the leaflet double as a clue to a secret mini-game hidden within. The link itself is personalized to the exact toy the player pulled from their egg, so the digital side always matches what's in their hand. It ends at a selfie camera loaded with AR accessories themed to that same figure, plus bonus unlocks and a one-tap "Share from the Upside Down."
- 1
The player buys and opens a Stranger Things–edition Kinder Joy egg, finds a leaflet inside with a QR code and a secret letter paired with a number, and scans the code to open a mobile web page tied to the specific figurine found, its code carried in the URL.
- 2
An age gate greets the player first, framed as entering the Upside Down and asking for a birth year before letting them continue.
- 3
A title screen under the Stranger Things and Funko POP! logos sets up the goal of solving a mystery, playing a cryptex animation before the player taps through to the game.
- 4
The core scene is a WebAR puzzle: the player faces a floor clock belonging to Vecna with a Stranger Things character trapped inside, and works through puzzle tasks around the clock to free it.
- 5
Completing tasks earns digital rewards, some of which stay locked as secrets; the letter-and-number code from the leaflet doubles as a clue that unlocks a separate hidden mini-game inside the AR experience, reachable only by players who checked their leaflet.
- 6
The experience ends on the front-facing camera, where the player grants camera access and tries on an AR accessory styled after the very figurine that came in their egg.
- 7
A closing "Share from the Upside Down" panel lets the player share their result, with one of the secret rewards being entry into a sweepstakes for a trip to the Upside Down.
