Mars Mayhem
- Brand
- Paris Texas
- Year
- 2023
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Entertainment
- Mechanic
- Racing & Sports
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- Wayward Creative
Objective
Paris Texas's debut album "Mid Air" is built around a dystopian vision of Mars, and the campaign's job was to pull fans further into that world rather than just promote the cover art. The game extends the album's shelf life by rewarding listening itself: the longer a fan plays and streams, the deeper they get into the record.
Solution
Players drop into a free, install-free browser game: a third-person motocross runner down a dirt track winding through Martian dunes under a huge planet hanging in the sky. A score counter and run-progress bar sit top left, with a menu button top right. Steering the bike along the trail, players scoop up glowing pickups — purple-drink bottles, cigarette packs, and pills pulled from the album's imagery — while dodging hovering drones, purple barrels, and roadside posts topped with a watching eye. Metal boost pads marked with yellow arrows and ramps launch the bike into the air. The album plays throughout from a connected Spotify, Apple Music, or TIDAL account, with each checkpoint keyed to the next track, so riding further down the trail means moving further through the record.
- 1
The player enters a third-person motocross run, riding a dirt bike along a narrow trail winding through orange Martian dunes under a giant planet in the sky; a HUD in the top corner shows a SCORE counter and a horizontal progress bar.
- 2
The bike accelerates forward on its own, and the player's task is to stay on the trail and steer into glowing purple pickups — cigarettes, pills, and purple drinks drawn from the album's visual world — as they appear ahead.
- 3
Each pickup raises the SCORE and fills the progress bar, and the score also climbs simply from the time spent riding and listening, rewarding both collecting and endurance.
- 4
Hovering drones appear directly in the bike's path to be dodged or passed under, and roadside obstacles such as large purple barrels force the rider to swerve toward the dune's edge; hitting either triggers a bright explosion effect and a visible collision mark on the ground that breaks the rider's rhythm.
- 5
Totem poles topped with a giant human eye line the route as landmarks, visible on the horizon well before the rider reaches them.
- 6
The dirt trail occasionally gives way to metallic boost platforms marked with arrows, which launch the bike forward with a burst of speed onto the next stretch of track.
- 7
Ramps send the bike airborne inside a translucent glowing dome, giving the player a brief aerial view of the dunes before landing back on the trail.
- 8
Collecting a pickup wraps the rider in a glowing aura with a trailing purple streak that fades out after a few seconds.
- 9
The full session is scored to the album "Mid Air," streamed live from the player's own Spotify, Apple Music, or TIDAL account, with checkpoints along the trail matching up to the album's tracklist.
