Packing Battle
- Year
- 2013
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Finance
- Mechanic
- Puzzle
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- SYMBIO DIGITAL
Objective
The game grew out of a travel insurer's campaign built to catch people during the run-up to their holidays — those long final workdays spent packing and planning a trip. Rather than pitch a policy directly, the brand attached itself to the packing ritual itself, using a suitcase-themed race to plant its message at the exact moment travelers were getting ready to leave.
Solution
You play Ludvik, a 3D tourist standing over an open vintage suitcase, and the goal is to grab as many travel items as you can before the clock runs out. As you dash around the case, "BEWARE, TRAVEL ACCIDENT!" warnings flash up alongside the everyday hazards of packing, and a shield icon appears for you to snatch as your protection against them. Each round ends when the timer hits zero, dropping you onto a leaderboard where you can see how your haul stacks up against everyone else. From there, a Facebook share button lets you post your score and needle friends into beating it.
- 1
The game opens on a closed, sticker-covered vintage suitcase centered on a plain background; there is no form or sign-up, and clicking the suitcase itself starts the game. A top bar offers sound and restart toggles, a score table, and a Facebook share button, with a "Created by SYMBIO" credit in the footer.
- 2
The suitcase opens: its lid lifts and unfolds into a resort backdrop while its worn yellow-wood base becomes the playing field, shown from an angled top-down view.
- 3
The lid backdrop changes from round to round, placing the same field against different settings such as a paper-cloud beach skyline or a snowy mountain scene.
- 4
The player steers a small 3D tourist character, Ludwig, around the suitcase floor against a countdown clock labeled "time remaining," while a "score" counter climbs as the run progresses.
- 5
The core loop is collecting: round tokens shaped like travel items (flip-flops, snorkel mask, book, sweater, pen, t-shirt) sit scattered on the field, and guiding Ludwig onto them picks them up. Some tokens are special variants, including a blue shield icon representing travel insurance and a green face-bearing token.
- 6
Red, angry-faced balls roll around the same field as obstacles the player must steer Ludwig away from; the number of these hazards on screen varies over the course of a run.
- 7
A speech-bubble callout above the field pops up with warnings tied to the hazards, such as "BEWARE, TRAVEL ACCIDENT!", framing the rolling balls as travel-insurance risks.
- 8
The run ends when the timer hits zero, locking in the score; players can check it against a score table and post it to Facebook via the share button, both accessible from the same top bar used during play.
