Getaway Island
Open the game- Brand
- McDonald's
- Year
- 2023
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Food & Drink
- Mechanic
- Adventure & Quest
- Platform
- In-Game
- Agency
- TBWA\NEBOKO
Objective
December is the most competitive month on the Dutch retail calendar, with rival brands outspending McDonald's on holiday campaigns by three to seven times. McDonald's Netherlands turned to its own app — already carrying a large user base and a track record of December hits like Gift Calendar and X-Masters, which had each drawn over 100,000 users — to grow active users and engagement during the crunch, then convert that attention into restaurant visits through daily deals and in-store giveaways.
Solution
Open the McDonald's app in December and you land on a snowy 3D island, guided around by Mack, a friendly in-app character. From there you choose where to go: the Game Zone drops new mini-games every Tuesday and Saturday, the Music Square streams exclusive tracks and performances through Spotify, and the Shop Plaza rotates exclusive merch on Mondays and free items on Wednesdays while stock lasts. As you explore and play, a passport stamps your actions and you hunt the island for hidden gold nuggets, while a fresh daily deal waits to be claimed. Each visit ends with a reward — a discount, a free item, or a prize — that you redeem by scanning your app at the restaurant.
Results
1.44 million unique active app users during the campaign; 107,000 new registered accounts; over 4 minutes of average time spent exploring the island's zones; record-breaking December app visitor numbers, with campaign goals exceeded in the 2023 edition.
- 1
The player downloads the McDonald's app, logs into their account, and opens Getaway Island from the main screen, entering a rendered 3D winter island where an animated guide character, Mack, greets them.
- 2
An overview map pans past a parallax layer of clouds to reveal the island split into four zones: Game Zone, Music Square, Shop Plaza, and a Crew Area locked to McDonald's staff; the player picks a zone to enter.
- 3
In the Game Zone the player picks from a grid of simple touch-controlled mini-games built in Phaser — titles like Burger Obstacle Run, Big Mac Mania, Fries from the Skies, and a falling-gifts tower game or shopper-dodging game added in later editions — with the available lineup refreshed twice a week and some games rotated out for new ones between yearly editions.
- 4
Each mini-game played earns the player points and a prize specific to that game.
- 5
In the Shop Plaza the player buys limited-run exclusive merchandise released weekly, and separately claims free giveaway items released on a different weekly schedule by visiting a restaurant and scanning a barcode while supplies last.
- 6
In Music Square the player streams exclusive tracks and performances made available through an integrated Spotify feed.
- 7
Completing activities stamps a digital passport toward a shot at the grand prize, while a separate side hunt has the player searching all zones over the course of the campaign for twelve hidden collectible nuggets.
- 8
A new discounted food deal unlocks each day, giving the player a reason to open the app daily throughout the campaign.
- 9
The campaign closes with a prize draw for a fully organized winter trip to Lapland worth several thousand euros.
