With”Desert Dash - 15th Anniversary Challenge“, Dinobros lands in the United States, specifically in California, on a direct call from the United States itself. But why? Well, the company AK JOHNSTON, expert in experiential marketing, had a lightning vision: that of exploiting an Advergame to give its users a totally new and, above all, fun brand experience. And what can I say? We accepted the challenge!
With two offices, one in California and one in New York, celebrating 15 years of business required an unusual approach. We wanted to tell a story, one of those adventures that could really happen when you are immersed in the production and preparation of an event. But there's a detail: we did it through a video game!
'Desert Dash - 15th Anniversary Challenge': AKJOHNSTON's enchanting retro game
The player, who plays the role of CEO Austin, finds himself inside the very loyal AKJOHNSTON office where, before reaching the Cochella Festival, he can not only change his look for the occasion but also take a trip to the bunker, where one of the employees will guide through the most important projects carried out over the years.
Once out of the office, we see Austin losing the van that would have taken him to the Coachella Festival!
In order to achieve his goal, Austin will have to jump over obstacles, avoid messages on Slack, collect coins and slices of pizza, and only then is the van ready to wait for him at the end of the road.
Once boarded the AKJ van, here we are in the famous desert faithfully reproduced in pixel art, where here you will face frenetic traffic. During this phase of the game, in addition to avoiding the various vehicles, the protagonist can collect coins and gas cans, all in an environment with attention to the smallest details. The goal of the game will be the arrival at Coachella, recognizable by the majestic Ferris wheel.
We are well aware of how much fun we had developing this video game, especially from a graphic point of view. We created the entire universe of AKJOHNSTON in our pixel art style, faithfully reproducing not only the characters and landscapes, but also the impressive presence of the dinosaurs that rise in the desert (we couldn't miss this opportunity!) and even the iconic wheel.
