Wally's Adventure Game
- Brand
- Wawa
- Year
- 2020
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Retail
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- Neo-Pangea
Objective
Wawa had just rolled its new Kids Meals out to all 900-plus stores in August 2020, launching straight into a category where every rival competitor leans on toy premiums. With no premium of its own, the chain needed another way to make the new meal stand out — and to keep its goose mascot, Wally, in the picture with kids and families once the food was gone, giving them a reason to linger and play together at the table or in the car.
Solution
A QR code printed on the Kids Meal box, and on Wally Goose collectible cards tucked inside, opens the game straight in the phone's browser — no app to install. Point the camera at a tabletop, car seat, or countertop, and a miniature low-poly forest appears, with tiny Wally flying above it; players can lean in, pull back, or circle around the scene to change their view. Tapping the screen makes Wally flap his wings and climb, while side taps steer him left and right around trees, over fences, and under storm clouds as he chases the red balloons carrying Kids Meal boxes. The course keeps building itself as you go and gets tougher the longer you last; three collisions end the run, and the game restarts from the top.
- 1
The game launches when a player scans a QR code printed on a Wawa Kids Meal box or on a collectible card inside it, or types in the game's web address directly. It opens instantly in the phone's mobile browser, with no app to download or install.
- 2
The game asks the player to point the camera at a flat surface — a table, a carpet, a car seat — and places a miniature AR forest course with the goose mascot Wally on it. Players can walk around, lean in, or step back, and the view shifts with the phone's position.
- 3
Once placed, Wally takes off down the forest path and the run begins, with the track scrolling forward endlessly ahead of him.
- 4
The player controls Wally by touch: holding the screen makes him flap and climb, releasing lets him glide down, and sliding a finger left or right steers him sideways across the path.
- 5
Three obstacle types appear along the route — trees to steer around, fences to fly over, and storm clouds to duck under.
- 6
The player also gathers Kids Meal boxes that float above the track on red balloons; the farther Wally flies, the more boxes there are to collect.
- 7
The course keeps generating with no final level, and difficulty rises the longer the run continues, so the goal is to survive and score as long as possible.
- 8
Three collisions with obstacles end the run, and the player starts over from the beginning.
- 9
At launch the game gives no reward for the boxes collected beyond the run's score — only a possible future version considered issuing coupons for them.
