Welcome To Republic City
Open the game- Brand
- Legend Of Korra
- Year
- 2012
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Entertainment
- Mechanic
- Quiz & Trivia
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- Monks
Objective
Nickelodeon needed to keep fans hooked on The Legend of Korra between episodes right after its April 2012 premiere, and to bridge the story gap between Avatar: The Last Airbender and the new series. The game gave them a reason to come back to nick.com by promising lore found nowhere else — including confirmation that Zuko had survived and become an ambassador for world balance.
Solution
Players open on an illustrated map of Republic City and click their way into nine locations, from Aang Memorial Island to the Pro-bending Arena. Inside each one, every interaction is a left click: tapping objects in the scene pulls up bios on the city's characters, creatures and artifacts, and completing small tasks there unlocks the path to the next location. Along the way, players take on a string of elemental challenges — air, water, earth and fire — that get harder as they advance, each one rewarding them with exclusive character details and story content. Some finds, like the official rules of pro-bending, could be downloaded and kept; a session ends whenever a player has worked through as much of the map, and its secrets, as they want.
- 1
The player opens the game from Nickelodeon's website, entering an illustrated virtual tour of Republic City from The Legend of Korra rather than a traditional arcade game.
- 2
All interaction runs through a single left mouse click, used to move between locations, open menus, and interact with objects on screen.
- 3
The city is presented as a set of nine selectable destinations - among them Aang Memorial Island, Air Temple Island, City Hall, Central Station, Future Industries, City Park, the police headquarters, the business district, and the Pro-bending Arena - and the player chooses where to travel next.
- 4
Inside each location, the player examines an animated illustration and clicks on scene details to find and unlock dossiers on the characters, creatures, objects, and organizations tied to that part of the city, including minor figures such as a park vendor and a bystander hiding in the bushes.
- 5
Progress through the city is gated: the player completes a small task in each location before moving on to the next destination, rather than exploring freely.
- 6
The unlocked dossiers build out the show's lore with new, non-canon material covering everyday life, city organizations, and period technology, as well as cast and family backstories, such as Zuko's abdication and new role, and the ages of supporting characters.
- 7
Alongside the exploration, the player works through a series of elemental mini-games - air, water, earth, and fire - each one harder than the last.
- 8
Completing the mini-games unlocks further exclusive content, including world backstory and character information, some of which - like the pro-bending rulebook - the player can save for themselves.
- 9
Access is limited to US visitors on Nickelodeon's site, so players elsewhere had to seek out the game hosted on other websites.
