A QR code game is a short game a brand puts behind a code on a pack, poster, screen or TV ad: scan it and play, usually straight in the phone's browser. This guide covers ten campaigns from 2011 to 2025, including Pizza Hut's PAC-MAN box and Volkswagen's ad-break race, with what players did and what each delivered.
Each is a campaign game from the library, commissioned by a brand for a marketing task, with a scan or a pack code as the way in. Every figure links to its source; where we found no results we could check, we say so.
On-pack QR code games: five promotion examples
On a pack, the code can do two jobs. It opens the game, and when each code is unique it proves a purchase, which turns a promotion into a reason to buy again. Seasonal packs can carry a game too; see Fanta's label game in our Halloween round-up.
Take Home The Fun — M&M's (2019)
Agency: Chaos Theory Games, Traffik · Mechanic: Arcade & Action · Platform: AR app
In Australia, M&M's players opened an app, saw an AR piñata hanging in the room and tapped until it burst. Scores fed a leaderboard, and every round was a chance to win prizes (Chaos Theory). Once the free attempts ran out, players entered the barcode from a real pack to keep swinging, so every extra round was tied to a purchase.
Result: over six weeks, 12,000 game sessions, 49,000 piñatas broken and 6,600 barcodes redeemed from a range of M&M's products, according to the studio (Chaos Theory).
WebAR PAC-MAN Box — Pizza Hut (2021)
Agency: GSD&M, Tool · Mechanic: Arcade & Action · Platform: WebAR
For its "Newstalgia" campaign, Pizza Hut put a QR code on limited-edition boxes of large pizzas, with a PAC-MAN maze printed on the lid (Marketing Dive). The scan opened a web page, no download. A short GIF showed how to start by pointing the camera at the lid (Tool). The printed maze became the board, and players picked one of three levels of rising difficulty, then added three initials to a leaderboard (Niantic Spatial).
Result: 10.6 million PAC-MAN boxes sold, 11,260 hours played and 741 million media impressions, per the ADC Awards entry (The One Club). The first number counts boxes, not players.
AR You Ready?! — Pringles (2022)
Agency: Mike John Otto · Mechanic: Arcade & Action · Platform: WebAR
In Germany, around the 2022 World Cup, a QR code on the Pringles can opened a browser game in which the can was the target. Players fired at the printed label against the clock, chipping it away to free one of six football characters, one per flavour, and anyone who freed one could enter a draw for a 3D-printed figurine (Demodern). Completing the set meant buying all six flavours.
Result: sales rose 32% during the campaign, according to Demodern, which did not publish play numbers (Demodern).
Tough Cookies: The Game — IGA (2022)
Agency: Sid Lee · Mechanic: Adventure & Quest · Platform: Web
The Quebec grocer sold temporary tattoos at its tills to fund paediatric cancer research at Fondation Charles-Bruneau, with designs and game missions by young cancer survivors (Ads of the World, Sid Lee). In 2022, the QR code on each tattoo opened a platformer on phone or desktop. Each of the four codes unlocked a different hero, taste and level, and finishing took all four (Sid Lee).
Result: according to the agency, the 2022 game drew more than 20,000 players, who cleared over 4,000 levels, and across four editions the campaign raised more than $1.7 million (Sid Lee). More charity and health games are in our healthcare guide.
OREOVERSE — Oreo (2023)
Agency: The Martin Agency · Mechanic: Mini-Games · Platform: Web and VR
Packs of the limited-edition Most OREO OREO sent shoppers into OREOVERSE with a scan, and the same world was open in Meta Horizon Worlds (Marketing Dive, Snack & Bakery). In the US, six short Oreo challenges ended in a code for a sweepstakes with a $50,000 top prize, closing on 31 March 2023 (The Martin Agency); fresh weekly codes gave players a reason to return.
Result: no published results we could verify.
How do posters and screens turn passers-by into players?
Out of home, nobody has bought anything yet, so the code must promise a game worth stopping for. The best examples put it inside the artwork, not in a corner.
The MythBuster Challenge — Klarna (2021)
Agency: Makemepulse · Mechanic: Quiz & Trivia · Platform: Murals and mobile web
Klarna commissioned seven paintings from the artist Ignasi Monreal, each tackling a misconception about the company, and reproduced them as murals in London, Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham. A QR code in each mural opened an online gallery where every painting was a game: search the scene for hidden items that disprove the myth, with prizes ranging from a weekend at Claridge's to a £10,000 donation to Beauty Banks (Klarna).
Result: across four weeks in May 2021, over 160,000 visits to the mobile experience, 45,000 people who dispelled all seven myths, and trust in the brand up from 58% to 67% (The Drum).
Enter The Nether Lands — Doritos (2025)
Agency: Fitzroy Amsterdam · Mechanic: Adventure & Quest · Platform: Mobile web AR
For A Minecraft Movie, Doritos placed a full-size Nether portal on Amsterdam's Museumplein. Visitors scanned an AR code on it to enter the game, where they gathered resources, crafted weapons and sabotaged a bridge to stop the Piglins (Adformatie). Taking part was a chance at an 18-karat gold Doritos chip worth €1,000 (Marketingreport). Everyone else could scan a QR code on 135 digital screens around Dutch cinemas (Dutch Cowboys).
Result: 400,000 unique interactions, 42.5 million impressions, a 185% rise in association with movie nights and a 27% uplift in brand preference (Marketingreport).
Can a TV ad be a QR code game?
Yes. Volkswagen built one around a habit instead of fighting it: viewers reaching for their phones as soon as the break starts.
Golf Ad Break Championship — Volkswagen (2021)
Agency: DDB, Art of Play, PHD · Mechanic: Racing & Sports · Platform: Mobile web
Volkswagen Australia bought the first slot in TV ad breaks to show a QR code that launched a browser racing game. Three practice tracks were always open, but the city circuit, the only one where players could win a new Golf GTI, ran only while the break was on air, so viewers raced each other live (Awwwards).
Result: according to the award entries, over 70,000 plays, with dealer callbacks up 436%, test drives up 725% and Golf sales up 55% during the active campaign period (Spikes Asia, Caples).
How do QR codes in store feed a game?
Snowball Effect — Coca-Cola (2011)
Agency: Leo Burnett, Ted Perez And Associates · Mechanic: Arcade & Action · Platform: App
At 7-Eleven in the US, QR codes on Slurpee and Big Gulp cups and on store signage led to an app download rather than straight into play. In the app, players had snowball fights with Facebook friends. Ammunition came from codes on Coca-Cola packs and cups and from 7-Eleven check-ins, with weekly iPads and an Arctic trip as prizes (MediaPost).
Result: Coke sales at 7-Eleven rose 20%, and in nine weeks players started more than 50,000 snowball fights, according to the award entry (The One Show).
Our guide to retail and ecommerce games has more store-led campaigns.
Do QR scavenger hunts work for brands?
Many search results for "QR code game" are scavenger-hunt builders for events. The brand version is the same loop at city scale: a map, codes at physical spots, a prize for finishing first.
Egg Hunt — Diesel (2025)
Agency: MONOGRID · Mechanic: Adventure & Quest · Platform: Web app
Diesel took its SS26 collection from the Milan Fashion Week runway to the streets with an evening hunt on 23 September 2025: looks on models inside transparent eggs across the city, and Diesel pieces for the first to find them all (The Impression). Players used a web app with a live map, scanned QR codes at the eggs, opened extra content and tracked progress in real time (MONOGRID).
Result: over 8,000 participants, 24,500 QR code scans and 500 players who completed the whole challenge, according to the studio (MONOGRID).
For play on an exhibition stand, see trade show booth games.
QR code games at a glance
| Game | Brand | Year | Code on | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Take Home The Fun | M&M's | 2019 | Pack barcode | 6,600 barcodes redeemed |
| WebAR PAC-MAN Box | Pizza Hut | 2021 | Pizza box | 10.6 million boxes sold |
| AR You Ready?! | Pringles | 2022 | Can | Sales up 32% |
| Tough Cookies: The Game | IGA | 2022 | Charity tattoos | 20,000+ players |
| OREOVERSE | Oreo | 2023 | Cookie pack | No figures we could verify |
| The MythBuster Challenge | Klarna | 2021 | Murals | 160,000+ visits |
| Enter The Nether Lands | Doritos | 2025 | Portal, screens | 400,000 interactions |
| Golf Ad Break Championship | Volkswagen | 2021 | TV ad break | Test drives up 725% |
| Snowball Effect | Coca-Cola | 2011 | Cups, signage | Coke sales at 7-Eleven up 20% |
| Egg Hunt | Diesel | 2025 | Eggs in Milan | 24,500 scans |
What makes a scan-to-play game work?
- 1The object is the boardThe pizza box (Pizza Hut), the can (Pringles), the mural (Klarna)
- 2Nothing to installPizza Hut, Pringles, Klarna, Doritos and Volkswagen ran in the phone’s browser
- 3The code is the only way inLive only during the ad break (Volkswagen), one tattoo per hero (IGA), a barcode for more rounds (M&M’s)
- 4A prize players can nameA Golf GTI (Volkswagen), a weekend at Claridge’s (Klarna)
- 5Measured past the scanTest drives up 725% (Volkswagen), trust up from 58% to 67% (Klarna)
- Nothing to install. Pizza Hut, Pringles, Klarna, Doritos and Volkswagen all ran in the browser; the app-based M&M's and Coca-Cola games paired the download with prizes that ran for weeks. Use the browser people already scan with: in China, Coca-Cola built its 2022 Chinese New Year games as a website that opened only in the WeChat browser (UNIT9).
- The object is part of the game. The pizza box is the board, the can is the target, the mural is the level: a reason to scan this object, not any code.
- The code is the only way in. Volkswagen's winning track was open only during the break; each IGA tattoo opened one hero; each M&M's barcode bought more rounds. That scarcity earns a second scan.
- A prize players can name. A Golf GTI, a gold chip, a weekend at Claridge's: players know what they are playing for before the page loads.
- Measured past the scan. The cases worth copying report sales, test drives or trust, not just scans. Decide what counts as success before printing, while each code can still be made unique.
When is a QR code game the wrong tool?
When the scan leads only to a landing page or a video, there is nothing to come back for. When the moment rules out a phone, as with a roadside billboard, put the code where people wait: Doritos chose screens around cinemas. Prize draws like Oreo's sweepstakes or the Pringles figurine draw need legal review in every market where the codes are printed.
AR asks for camera permission and a steady hand; Pizza Hut showed an instructional GIF before play. At a till or on a cheap impulse pack, a scratch card or spin-the-wheel loads fast and collects entries well. Keep the deeper build for products people buy again and again, as Pringles did with six flavours.
FAQ
What is a QR code game?
A QR code game is a short brand game that opens when someone scans a code on a pack, poster, screen, TV ad or store sign, usually in the phone's browser. In Pizza Hut's WebAR PAC-MAN Box, the code on the box opened PAC-MAN played on the maze printed on its lid.
How do QR codes on packaging work in a game promotion?
The code on the pack opens the game and, when each code is unique, proves a purchase. Brands tie extra plays, characters or prize entries to each code. IGA's Tough Cookies gave each of four tattoo codes its own hero and level, and M&M's Take Home The Fun swapped pack barcodes for more rounds: 6,600 barcodes were redeemed in six weeks.
Do people need an app to play a QR code game?
Usually not. Most campaigns above opened a web page straight from the scan: Pizza Hut and Pringles ran their AR in the browser, and Volkswagen's Golf Ad Break Championship was a browser racing game. An app suits play over weeks, as with M&M's Take Home The Fun, but puts a download before the first round.
How do you run a QR code scavenger hunt for a brand?
Put codes at physical spots, give players a live map and progress tracker, and reward whoever finishes first. Diesel's Egg Hunt in Milan did this with a web app: over 8,000 participants made 24,500 QR code scans in one evening, and 500 completed the whole challenge, according to the studio.
Browse more scan-to-play campaigns in the food and drink and AR in the wild collections and the web games facet, or send us one you made.