Clubhouse Studios

Priv

ate

& C

onfid

entia

l

Monster Flash Arcade Easter Egg

DOWNLOAD ASSETS PLAY GAME (by typing the Konami Code)

REWARDING THE SUPERFANS

↑↑↓↓←→←→BAOriginally a cheat code for power-ups in the NES 1985 arcade game Gradius (the year ST3 is set), the Konami Code has since become a symbol in entertainment sub-culture; achieving success within hundreds of videogames, and, outside of that genre as a mechanic to access secret content.

The code bridges the year of the show and symbolism of videogame culture which the Stranger Things kids are hugely into, so we want to bring it into the E-store as a ‘meta’ and unexpected way of rewarding superfans of both the brand and the show.

In addition to our ‘Polaroid 80’s world’ content and creative, we’ve created a series of easter eggs, scattered throughout the campaign and across the different touchpoints; seeded authentically to superfans of - firstly the Polaroid brand - and secondly, the Stranger Things show.

PolaroidOriginals.com allows us to do something interactive, and for a chance to drive traffic to the platform that’s brand and product-led, without it being a straight-up marketing hard sell.

UNLOCKING A SECRET ARCADE GAME VIA KONAMI CODE

THE GAME - “MONSTER FLASH”

The Game: Games in the 80’s were often whimsical platform puzzlers with the common goal of defeating other-worldly foes and claiming your virtuous prize, and our quest is no different.Monster Flash is the name of the game, and the objective is to dig down and ‘shoot’ your monstrous foes with the OneStep2’s high-powered flash, just as it’s described on the back of our camera: “Always use flash, it kills monsters”.

While the game will feature the OS2 Polaroid camera and film, with photography shooting at the heart of gameplay, we aren’t overtly mentioning ‘Polaroid Originals’ or ‘Stranger things’ brand or character names, as this isn’t a branded game on the face of it but for those who pay attention, it is.

‘Monster Flash’

• The game title combines the generic foes of 80’s games (which were generally monsters of any kind) and symbiotic link to the villain in the Stranger Things show, and the flash being the One Step 2’s key feature, and focus for the campaign.

CHARACTERS

Players can choose from a selection of 8-bit characters that are loosely based

on characters from the show (but you’d need to make that connection

yourself). Character names take the form of value-driven avatars rather than referencing Character names from the show (as this isn’t a ‘Stranger things’ themed game),

or any regular name at all. Instead, our avatars have the below esoteric nicknames and taglines, and all

characters behave in the same way in the game - choosing one is arbitrary and more for creative theatre.

• DEATH STAREAll Mysterious & Powerful

• BULLSEYEAlways takes the shot

• MAVERICKPlays by his own rules

• PALADINLoyal & Truthful with Friends

• ORACLESees things others cannot

• ChiefProtector of the people

ELEVEN INSPIRED LUCAS INSPIRED DUSTIN INSPIRED

MIKE INSPIRED WILL INSPIRED HOPPER INSPIRED

GAMEPLAY

Instructions:

• “Destroy monsters with your powerful flash, or by dropping rocks on them.”

• “Collect any pictures you find. You’ll need them to boost your shooting power.”

• “The further away you shoot, the more points you earn.”

• “Watch out! Monsters can be sneaky and don’t always keep to their tunnels!”

Gameplay IP:

• While inspired by 80’s arcade platform classics, all gameplay logic alongside

the creative narrative is original; not infringing on any previous copy-written gaming materials.

• The codebase has been written in its entirety for the Monster Flash project.

Additional Polaroid touches:

• Just as with the OS2 cameras, players shoot in rounds of 8. On every 8th

shot, the characters will stop, and reload their OS2 with new film.

• Playing with perspectives, the monsters you’ve ‘shot’ appear as little

Polaroids in the right hand channel - with their frames matching those from

the i-Type Stranger Things edition pack.

GAME OVER

Leaderboard:

Evidence of the game’s previous most successful players take up spots 1-4,

with untouchable super high scores.

• 1-3 of course match the aliases of the Stranger Things kids, and for those

with a keen eye, their scores match those from dig dug in season 2.

• For the Polaroid superfans, ‘Edwin’ takes up position 4, the namesake of

‘Edwin Land’ the Polaroid founder. Within his score is the number ‘1937’ - the year he founded the company.

• Each player always takes position 5 with their fresh score.

Takeaways:

An option to download your leaderboard as an image is available for those who

want to remember how they stacked up against the game’s hall of famers.

Journey Onward:

CTAs are available to ‘Play again’ (which restarts the game) and ‘Shop Stranger

Things’ (which exits the game and drives the shopper to the campaign landing page).