Make a short branded game for a campaign, with a sign-up at the end
A campaign game earns attention for about a minute, so it has to be short, obviously yours and end with one clear ask. Anticode can build one in your colours and type, with a sign-up form on the final screen that reaches you. Prize draws are another matter: the game can't verify entrants or scores, so the rules and the draw are yours to run.
What makes a campaign game work
Marketing games fail in two familiar ways: they're a generic game with a logo pasted on, or they're an advert pretending to be a game. The ones people share tie the mechanic to the product. A coffee roaster's game where you time the roast by ear; a bike-lock maker's game where you spot the badly locked bike; a bank's game where you sort expenses into pots against the clock. The player learns one true thing about the brand by playing.
- Under two minutes per round. Most players arrive from a social post or a QR code and won't commit longer.
- Playable without instructions. One sentence on the start screen, at most.
- A result worth sharing. A score, a rank title ("Head Roaster") or a personalised outcome they can screenshot.
- One ask at the end. Sign up, claim a code or visit the shop. Not all three.
Formats that suit a brand
| Format | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Catch or dodge | Products with a physical form: food, drinks, gear | Feels generic unless the objects are clearly yours |
| Spot the difference | Showing a product detail or a quality point | Small details get lost on a phone |
| Quiz with a twist | Teaching a fact the campaign depends on | Becomes a form if there's no game feel |
| Sorting race | Services, finance, logistics | Rules must fit in one line |
| Memory match | Product ranges, flavours, characters | Too many pairs on small screens |
Keeping it on brand
Give the model your exact colours, typeface and tone, and add your logo and product photos to the build; it sees photos and uses them where they fit. If you don't have brand guidelines, ask for the feel of one of Anticode's seven design systems: Playful (Fredoka) suits family products, Brutalist (Archivo) suits a loud streetwear drop, Luxury (Jost) suits a fragrance or hotel. Everything else in the game, from the characters to the background, is drawn in code, so there's no stock art to clash with your look.
A request might read: "A branded game for marketing our new oat drink. Players pour oat milk into moving cups on a conveyor for 60 seconds; spills cost points. Use our colours #F4E9D8 and #2F5D50, our logo on the start screen, and a friendly, dry tone. At the end show the score with a title, a Share button that copies the score, and a newsletter sign-up for a launch-day discount."
The sign-up at the end
A newsletter or contact form on the final screen sends what the player enters to you through Anticode's form pipeline: you get it by email and in the dashboard, and connectors can pass it on to Mailchimp, Kit, HubSpot, Google Sheets or a webhook. Mailchimp sign-ups use double opt-in. Ask only for what you'll use; an email address is usually enough. Say what people are signing up for in plain words next to the button.
Free sites show a monthly allowance of submissions, with the rest held until you upgrade, which matters for a campaign that might spike. Check pricing before a large launch.
Prize draws and competitions
Offering a prize changes the game from marketing into a promotion, and promotions come with rules in most countries: who can enter, whether a purchase is required, how winners are picked and how you publish the terms. Get local advice for anything of real value. Technically, the game itself can't help much:
- Scores can't be verified. The game runs in the player's browser, and a determined player can change what it reports.
- One entry per person can't be enforced by the game; the browser can remember a play, but clearing it starts again.
- No unique prize codes. The game can show a code you wrote into it, not issue one per player.
A common, fair pattern is to treat the game as the fun part and the form as the entry: everyone who signs up is entered, the draw is made by you from the submissions, and the score is just for bragging rights. A giveaway page can hold the full terms.
Other limits
- No online leaderboard of all players; best scores save on each player's device only.
- No analytics of individual plays or completion rates; site analytics count page views per day by source.
- No ads, payment or outside tracking scripts inside the game.
For game types in more depth see the memory game maker and spin the wheel pages.
Questions people ask
Can I run the game on a tablet at an event?
Yes. Load it before the event; once loaded, play needs no connection. A sign-up form needs a connection to send, so keep the tablet online if you collect emails.
Can the game be on our own domain?
On a paid plan, yes, for example a campaign subdomain. Paid sites don't carry the Anticode badge.
How long does it take to change the game after feedback?
Ask for the change in a sentence and the build updates; recent versions are kept in history, so you can go back if a change doesn't test well.