The challenge
Build an immersive experience with no app to download that spreads the word about the Kraken, builds excitement for the partnership, and drives sweepstakes entries.
Modelo × Seattle Kraken · Mobile web game
The Skate Challenge
A modern-day retro hockey game, played in the phone’s browser, that turned a brand partnership into sweepstakes entries.
XR Designer · CXR Agency (Kinemeric)
UX, pixel art, animation, VFX and sound · one month, concept to launch
ROLE
XR designer
CLIENT
Modelo × Seattle Kraken
PLATFORM
App-less mobile web game, in the browser
TIMELINE
One month, concept to launch
Background & challenge
A city that waited years for its team
Seattle joined the NHL in 2021 and named Modelo its official import beer. Both brands needed a fun way to get fans excited about the partnership.
10,000
season ticket deposits in 12 minutes
32nd
team to join the National Hockey League
1
new partner: Modelo, official import beer
The answer
The Modelo × Kraken Skate Challenge: a short retro game that opens from a link and puts both brands on the ice.
What I did
One designer, every asset, end to end
I was the only XR designer: UX, wireframes, pixel art, animation, VFX, sound and testing.
Illustrate
Characters and props drawn in Adobe Illustrator
Sheet
Frames built into sprite sheets in Photoshop
Animate
Loops for skating, winning and losing
Hand off
Delivered to developers, ready to code
Test
Tested builds on real phones with the developers
1 month
Design and development ran in tandem to ship on time
1 designer
I was the only XR designer on the project
Every asset
Illustrated, animated and delivered by me
Pixel art & sprites
Every pixel, drawn from scratch
The Kraken skater, rival players, bottle caps, ice cracks, HUD icons and screens, inspired by the lo-fi games of the 80s and 90s.
The six-frame losing loop, as handed to developers
Depth, rewards and motion
A 2D game that feels like skating up the ice
I built the rink and the rewards to add depth and give players a payoff they could see.
Rink in perspective: laid out with the Kraken and Modelo marks, then tilted with a 3D camera in After Effects
A reward worth chasing: the Kraken bottle cap, in pixel art
Coin drop · falls, flips and lands on the pile
Gameplay UX
Simple enough to play with one thumb
Authentically retro, without giving up immersion. Enemies, rewards and smooth transitions keep people playing.
Two big controls
Left and right arrows move the Kraken skater across the rink.
Clear stakes
Hearts track lives and a counter tracks bottle caps, always in view.
Things to dodge
Rival skaters and cracks in the ice cost a life.
A fair start
A “Ready?” countdown gives players a beat before every run.
Game over
Every run ends at the sweepstakes
Win or lose, the end screen shows the score and puts the sweepstakes one tap away, right when players are most engaged.
Score recap
Lives remaining and bottle caps collected, shown in the game’s pixel style.
Two clear choices
Play again, or enter the sweepstakes.
Feedback you can hear
Sound effects give caps, hits, wins and losses their retro feel.
Tested on real phones
I tested builds with the developers and refined the visual effects and transitions.
Results
Hundreds of signups in the first days
Whether they won or lost, players spent time with both brands, and a taste of old-fashioned fun.
Winning loop: two key poses from the animated win screen
Hundreds
of sweepstakes signups in the first couple of days
End to end
UX, wireframes, visual effects, sound and testing
0 apps
Opens from a link, straight into the game
Client work for Modelo × Seattle Kraken, delivered at CXR Agency (Kinemeric). I was the only XR designer, working with the development team. This page shows my role and contributions.
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