PIECE WALKER
Open the game- Brand
- Metal Gear Solid
- Year
- 2010
- Objective
- Awareness
- Industry
- Entertainment
- Mechanic
- Puzzle
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- SONICJAM
Objective
Konami needed to build momentum for Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, its PSP exclusive, through the weeks leading up to launch. The campaign gave the series' fanbase a reason to return to the official site every day rather than just check previews, and let Konami reward that habit with exclusives — PSP wallpapers, custom themes, concept art and in-game unlock codes — obtainable nowhere else.
Solution
Players land on the campaign's official site and take control of Metal Gear's cardboard-box soldier on a puzzle board. Working solo or matched live against another player worldwide, they drag scattered picture fragments into place, racing to piece the image together before their opponent does. The board hides mines: drop a fragment on one and it explodes, knocking neighboring pieces back into the pile and undoing progress. A round can be played anonymously for a quick match, or under a registered profile so every point earned banks into a running leaderboard. Points accumulated over the campaign unlocked downloadable PSP wallpapers and themes, concept art, and codes that opened extra content inside Peace Walker itself, while the top standings competed for physical prizes, including a Peace Walker-branded PSP bundle.
- 1
The player reaches the promo through Konami's official Peace Walker campaign page and plays directly in the browser, with no download or installation required.
- 2
Before starting, the player chooses to either register a campaign profile, which records points toward a cumulative overall ranking, or play anonymously.
- 3
The player picks a puzzle to solve: an image drawn from the Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker universe.
- 4
Controlling the series' cardboard-box character, the player picks up scattered picture fragments and places each into its correct cell on the board to reassemble the image, scoring a point for every fragment placed correctly.
- 5
Puzzles can be played solo or in real time against another player — matched online, per press coverage, with opponents from around the world — with both racing to complete their own boards simultaneously.
- 6
Some cells hide mines: placing a fragment on one triggers an explosion that knocks neighboring fragments back into the unplaced pile, forcing that section to be redone; in online matches, players can also use mines as weapons to sabotage an opponent's board.
- 7
When a round ends, the player who placed the most fragments earns bonus points added to their score.
- 8
Results are saved to the player's profile and added to the campaign's overall leaderboard, where standing can be checked at any time.
- 9
As players accumulate points, the campaign unlocks PSP wallpapers and custom themes exclusive to the game; playing also earns Peace Walker wallpapers and images, previously unpublished Metal Gear Solid: Rising concept art of Raiden, and a passcode unlocking an exclusive T-shirt and other cosmetic items inside Peace Walker on PSP.
- 10
At the campaign's close, at 00:00 on March 18, 2010, the cumulative rankings are finalized: the top-ranked player wins a Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Premium Package bundled with a PSP in its original colorway, and prize goods are drawn among the top 200 participants.
