With the debut of Rice Krispies’ latest Square Bars, Kelloggs’ wanted to get kids of all ages excited about them. Kelloggs created a website where they hosted all of their online games. To help advertise their new RK Square Bars, they wanted to create a game to announce its debut.
The Task
Create a new, fun and simple game to introduce Kelloggs’ Rice Krispies’ Strawberry and Cocoa Square Bars. All three characters (Snap, Crackle and Pop) and their flavoured Square Bars had to be incorporated into the game.
My Role
I was responsible for sketches, presenting and pitching game concepts and design, wireframes, and art direction. I also sourced the internet for free music and sound effects to be used in the game.
I worked closely with the illustrators and development team to provide them with direction and solved any problems that may have arisen along the way.
Once I had a working prototype, I was also responsible for testing the game and finding any improvements along the way.
I also presented the game to the client in meetings and addressed any problems or concerns throughout the process.
Discovery & Exploration
I always enjoyed the fun and wacky game shows in Japan, so that was the first thing I searched on YouTube. Some of these game shows had elaborate stages and crazy props. Because kids would be the ones to play my game mainly, I knew the game I had to come up with had to seem too wild to play in real life!
I needed to contrast the crazy stage with a simple game to play. I knew that some mobile games were easy to play with just one hand but were still engaging. I downloaded several games on my phone and began my research.
My Process
I presented two different game concepts with sketches to the client. I broke down the different objectives of each game and how all three characters and bars were incorporated.
After several discussions and collaborations with the client, we figured out a game we were both excited about. I then began to sketch all of the important screens to again present to the client for approval. The important screens included:
- Home
- Instructions
- Game Play
- Completed Level
- End of Game
I also had to figure out the game rules, how players earn their points and what rewards they can earn after playing a game.
I organized a list of different poses, animations, set designs and the snack bars that I needed from the illustrator. I also provided my own sketches to use as references for the art direction I wanted. Once I received all of the finalized illustrations, I began to build the game with Photoshop. I needed to present the game to the client with high-fidelity designs and teach them the game.
The Outcome
This was a fun game to work on. From figuring out how much each point is worth choosing the game soundtrack and sound effects, I didn’t realize how much detail is required to design and build a simple game.
Working with several outside vendors required me to stay organized and stay on track. Because I was working closely together with them, my vision for the game was fulfilled.
With the success of this game, I designed more games for the Rice Krispie brand. All but one Rice Krispie game on their platform are games that I came up with and designed!