Who we are!
Erik
Arve
Henrik
Billing
Lovisa
Zeiloth
Star Stable is an online adventure game all about horses. Along for the ride, players uncover mystery and friendship as they explore the magical island of Jorvik. As newcomers are always welcome, this campaign aims to bring more riders to the island – by bringing parts of it to them.
The story begins...
The campaign initiates with a new questline that ties in to the existing narrative of the game: Mr. Sands, the game's antagonist, has grown tired of his evil plans being stopped by the girls on horseback time after time. To avoid another failure, he and Dark Core – his evil company – attempts to rid Jorvik of its horses by putting a spell of dark magic on the island known as 'The Corruption'.
It makes horses disappear from their home and reappear in distant lands (in America, where our target audience just so happens to live).
Some days later,
riderless horses in the game begin to disappear. Concerns are growing.
The spell affects all horses in the game, making them glow in purple. But the game makers themselves give no indication of knowing where it's from.
The Star Stable community and its ambassadors start asking questions.
The story continues...
The Corruption has brought the riderless horses of Jorvik to America. Without the strong bond between horse and rider, the spell is able to take hold of the horse and transfer it out of Jorvik. But horses belong in Jorvik, on the open plains and in the snowy mountains.
Jorvik is in need of more heroines, more young girls that can create the bond between horse and rider that would bring the horses back to Jorvik. The Corruption gets weaker as more horses are given a rider.
The people of Jorvik therefore call out for help from the girl on horseback to gather more riders. Only when the spell is weak enough can the spell be put to an end.
New character,
new quest.
An NPC (non-playable character) appears in the game. Her name is Malova and she's an ex-employee of Dark Core. She explains to the player that source of the purple glow and missing horses is an evil spell known as "The Corruption", which is cast by her former boss, Mr. Sands. She continues with saying that the spell feeds off the lack of riders, and that every horse needs a rider to be safe.
She tasks the player with looking among her friends and loved ones for someone brave and caring that would be a promising rider. Malova continues to explain that when more riders have joined the riders of Jorvik, she knows a way to stop The Corruption all together.
The players are left with a quest to recruit more riders to Jorvik outside of the game, with the promise of rewards when successful.
+500K followers are made sure to be aware of the situation.
Refer-a-friend component encourages player to recruit more riders. Either via copying an invite link directly, or through a filter on Snapchat.
Players are tasked with finding an in-game poster, and bringing it to a postbox to share.
Star Stable makes sure to encourage the community to help find the missing horses.
All in the hands of new riders
Back camera lets you scan any horse – a real one, a statue or a photo – and gives you a clue if it's a lost horse of Jorvik or not.
Front camera augments your face and gives you a look at yourself as a Star Stable character.
The Snapchat filter direct users to the campaign landing page.
Star Stable's own channels make things clear to the community.
Meanwhile in America…
The lost horses of Jorvik have taken to the streets of America, with little regard for keeping track of their belongings. Select statues are fitted with in-game equipment as guerilla-inspired PR-stunt.
When looking closer, passers-by are encouraged to help the lost horses get their stuff back.
By this code, they get directed to a landing page that lets them know that the saddle they've just found, will be made available to them
in-game once they start playing.
PR
To spread the message of America having new, four-legged visitors. Select news outlets will receive a "hoof-written" job application from horses looking to start paying the bills.
Star Stable Entertainment gets in touch later asking about the horses who've gone missing – hoping to visit a morning show or two as the story gets picked up.
Where are the horses?!
The question we're all asking ourselves by now: If you were in a foreign country and wanted to fit in, what would you have done?
Try your luck at social media of course.
"Horsefluencers" take on Instagram and do everything conventional influencers do, visit @twinkletrouble yourself to see what that looks like.
YouTube
The target audience gets to know more lost horses in unskippable YouTube ads, which direct viewers to the campaign landing page.
OOH
And to sum up the campaign in a single image, billboards and banner ads will cover the physical spaces of America.
The narrative comes to close,
and so does the campaign.
The horses that were brought to America have found a rider and have been brought back to Jorvik. Together, the girls on horseback can band together through unity and sisterhood to perform "The Cleanse"; the ritual that rids Jorvik of The Corruption.
This event happens at a given point in the game, across all servers, where players are encouraged to do specific tasks in order to take part in The Cleanse. When The Cleanse is complete, all of Jorvik rejoice in celebration.
Back to where it started, in-game.
Malova appears in a new location, no longer wearing the Dark Core uniform. She's ecstatic over how many new riders have come to Jorvik and explains that The Corruption now is weakened enough to perform The Cleanse. She orders the player to go to a specific location and perform a task that empowers her to perform the ceremony.
At the location, the player finds Malova engaged in the ritual, which takes place over several days in order to let all players get a chance to witness it themselves. Bursts of bright light are shot out from the place of ritual, temporarily ridding all horses of the purple glow.
When The Cleanse-event is over, the purple glow is now gone. Malova appears to congratulate the player on her effort. All Jorvik is now in celebration of the ridding of The Corruption. Festivities ensue. Items and rewards are given away to players. Aside from the immediate reward that players receive when successfully referring a friend, players who’ve recruited many new riders are extra rewarded based on effort.
The Corruption is gone, but the threat of Mr.Sand and Dark Core still remains.
The player can continue their adventure throughout Jorvik as usual.
End of story.
© 2021
Arve, Billing, Callas, Ceder, Dahlkild, Kaiser, Plahn, Zeiloth