Spider Swiper
- Brand
- Mentos
- Year
- 2012
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Food & Drink
- Mechanic
- Arcade & Action
- Platform
- App
- Agency
- Graeme Devine
- With
- Tool
Objective
Mentos' 'Rainbow' TV spot showed a superhumanly strong spider getting the better of a man, and fans wrote in asking for a chance to even the score. Spider Swiper gave them that outlet, carrying the joke off the screen and into an app players could keep coming back to. Winning also unlocked a coupon for a free Mentos roll, turning the revenge fantasy into a reason to visit a store.
Solution
Spider Swiper puts players in a boxing match against eight legs instead of two fists: hold to block, swipe to throw punches, and chain combos to wear an opponent down across six distinctly rendered spiders of rising difficulty. Each bout runs in rounds with health and stamina meters for both fighters and a crowd that reacts to every hit landed or taken. Beat the first spider and the game unlocks a coupon for a free Mentos roll on your next purchase. A later update added a gym mode for practicing moves between fights, plus Game Center achievements and leaderboards to chase once the roster is cleared.
Results
The app reached the top 5 of the App Store and passed 2 million downloads.
- 1
Players discover the game through Mentos' "Rainbow" TV spot, in which an oversized spider beats up a man, and download the free tie-in app from the App Store.
- 2
The app frames itself as a rematch for that commercial — the player's thumbs against a spider's eight legs — then puts the player into a boxing-style match against a spider opponent, staged with reacting-crowd sound.
- 3
Combat runs on two touch moves: holding a finger down raises the player's guard against the spider's attacks, and swipes land hits that chain into damage-boosting combos when timed well. A health bar and a stamina meter force the player to alternate attacking and blocking rather than swiping continuously.
- 4
Beating the first spider unlocks a real-world reward: a coupon for a free Mentos roll.
- 5
Progression moves the player through six increasingly difficult, realistically rendered spiders, each fought in a different oversized household setting, down to the space under a bed.
- 6
Between fights, the player trains a gym stat through three mini-games: punching a bag for strength, running a treadmill for speed, and jumping rope for stamina.
- 7
Each spider match can earn up to three stars, awarded for winning, winning with health at 50% or above, and winning while landing a combo.
- 8
Results sync to Game Center, where the player checks achievements and compares scores on leaderboards.
