Hunger Crunch

Objective

Rice Bowls, a South Carolina-based nonprofit feeding orphaned children across 54 orphanages in 8 countries, needed a digital fundraising strategy to generate revenue while engaging younger audiences. The organization commissioned indie studio Wefiends Inc. to create an entertainment-first game that would convert player engagement into direct donations through in-app purchases.

Solution

Wefiends developed a one-touch side-scrolling platformer featuring a character named Beasty, who rides a fanged black mount, competing against 'Agents of Hunger' across 12 levels with boss encounters every three levels; each boss, designed by Rice Bowls' Bryan Martin, represents an aspect of the real-world fight against hunger. Controls are simple: tap to jump, hold to jump higher, and tap again mid-air to stomp. Players progress through a three-star rating system, compete in high-score tournaments, collect candy coins, reclaim stolen food, and hunt for hidden collectibles. The game monetizes through optional in-app purchases, including power-ups, with 100% of revenue flowing directly to Rice Bowls' operations. Built in Adobe Flash 11 (Stage3D) with ActionScript 3 on the Starling and Box2D engine, it launched July 30, 2014 on iOS (App Store) and Android (Google Play) as a free-to-play title; the iOS version was later discontinued due to development costs.

Results

Hunger Crunch won Facebook's Social Good App of the Year award at the 2015 F8 Developer Conference, earning $5,000 in cash plus $5,000 in Facebook Ad credits. The game received a 7.80 rating from CSS Design Awards.