The Music Video Game
- Brand
- Birdy Nam Nam
- Year
- 2016
- Objective
- Product Launch
- Industry
- Entertainment
- Mechanic
- Music & Rhythm
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- Atomic Digital Design
Objective
To launch the single "Lazers from My Heart" (feat. Elliphant) and build momentum ahead of the album "Dance or Die," Birdy Nam Nam skipped the standard music video and built something the audience had to actively play through rather than passively watch. Tying the full song to a play session was a deliberate hook to keep listeners engaged and bring them back for more attempts, while a daily prize draw pushed that online engagement toward real-world concert attendance.
Solution
The site opens on a short live-action scene of the three band members at home, then pulls the viewer straight into the game. From there it's a run of arcade mini-episodes, each putting the player in control of a different band member — skateboarding, swimming, driving — using a single key, the spacebar, to dodge a giant, laser-firing woman chasing them the whole way. The track only plays while the player keeps moving, so how much of the song they hear depends on how far they get, with the full song reserved for those who make it to the end. Points accumulate as you go, and the top scorers each day won VIP/backstage passes to the band's concerts.
- 1
The game runs on its own microsite, lazersfrommyheart.com, opening with live-action footage of French electro-scratch trio Birdy Nam Nam relaxing at home rather than a store page or band landing site.
- 2
The footage is interrupted as the musicians are pulled inside a video game, and the visuals switch from live-action video to hand-drawn, cartoon-styled arcade graphics.
- 3
Control is reduced to a single input: the player presses the space bar to act, with no other keys or mechanics to learn.
- 4
A giant, laser-firing woman pursues the player's character throughout the game, setting up a constant chase the player must keep ahead of.
- 5
The game unfolds as a sequence of arcade mini-games, each starring a different member of the band in a different setting, from skateboarding past obstacles to swimming and driving a car, with the player timing space-bar presses to navigate hazards.
- 6
The band's track plays only while the player is actively progressing, and failing a mini-game cuts the song short, so hearing the track in full requires completing the entire game, something few players manage.
- 7
Finishing a run awards points and a spot on a daily leaderboard, with top daily scores earning VIP or backstage passes to the band's concerts.
