GDC 2025 Session Viewer
Using ARGs to Communicate What Makes 'Animal Well' Special
Dan Adelman (Business and Marketing, Shared Memory)
Pass Type: All Access Pass, Core Pass - Get your pass now!
Track: Business & Marketing
Format: Lecture
Vault Recording: TBD
Audience Level: All
Animal Well is a tricky game to market. Its screenshots may not look particularly impressive, nor even do short video clips. One of the things that makes Animal Well special is the secrets hidden throughout the world, but it was proving very difficult to communicate the feeling of uncovering secrets within the game without ruining them. We decided to demonstrate this feeling through the use of ARGs in which we buried puzzles within trailers and blog posts. This strategy was very effective in communicating what's special about the game while also giving our community something fun to engage with in exchange for their attention. But there was also a bit of a dark side. We noticed some people in our community chasing after shadows in ways we worried may not be healthy. We'll discuss how we approached this and some advice for others considering a similar strategy.
Takeaway
ARGs can be an effective and fun way to develop and engage with your community, but it's important to keep players' mental health in mind and maintain healthy boundaries.
Intended Audience
Marketers, independent developers. No prerequisites.
