In 2021, TBS brought an American adaption of the U.K. game show THE CUBE to U.S. audiences. To build excitement, they were seeking a way to give audiences a chance to test their skills on challenges they would see on the show. Having already worked with Dragon Army to build award-winning endemic games for other TBS programs, the team approached us for a web-based version of the game.
Dragon Army‘s depth in Applied Game Theory (AGT) informed our efforts to create a maximum balance of challenge and reward proven to hook players and keep them coming back. After bringing AGT intelligence, and UX and UI strategy to the table, Dragon Army then built the web-based 3D game in Unity. The high-fidelity interface and sophisticated retention mechanics made for an experience as slick, challenging, and fun as the televised game.
By mirroring the activities from the show but simplifying them slightly and adding in real-world elements, The Cube game quickly became a source of excitement and engagement. Between June and August 2021, the game achieved more than 144,000 visits and 280,000 unique game starts. And the average player spent 7 minutes engaged in play.
