Nordic Game Program decided recently that our very own little web-based game idea, Willinilli was good enough to support with a good deal of cash.

Now we can start producing some serious inhouse work.

We are delighted to be given the support to produce something we are burning to make; a project that for us will mean putting the best we have to offer into a product we think will both entertain and enlighten kids.
While doing that we hope to offer parents of kids an online world that they can also stand behind – and understand;)

We start putting our weight behind our little baby at the start of next year.
Can’t wait!

Read the press release here

(in the picture: Gry a. Bauer, Pennie Sølbeck, Luke Séguin-Magee and Kevin McLean)

I got a nice little surprise this morning, as I walked up the stairs to the the office. Amongst all the bills and receipts I found a small envelope from smashLAB. All the way from Vancouver! “What might that be?” I thought. I didn’t remember ordering anything – could it be one of their guides they have online… no.. that was a PDF I looked at. Hmm… funny envelope- looks homemade. That’s cool…uhhhooooo!! Cards!

I took a little second here to check myself. I started to feel a little grumpy – (it’s Monday, afterall. Grumpy day.) We haven’t sent out cards yet – firstly because we’ve been too unorganized right now, and I feel burnt out for some reason. Secondly, I’ve been uninpired this past week (-burnt out?). Lastly (but not least importantly) – cards are trees. I like trees. Not very “green” of them, I thought, for Canadians…
But that faded. Turns out they were very green- having made the cards on recycled paper- and adding instructions to recycle them if you don’t use them yourself. The grumpiness faded. Moreso when I found there was even a hand written “hello” from Peter inside. “All the way from Canada!” I thought, with a smile. There you go. Why did I get the package? Because I check out their blog. And we link to that blog from here. (Talk about a sweet payoff for doing that!;))

SmashLAB rock, I have to say. Many a time I have found myself riding my bike home and mulling over- or recalling some passage I’d read on their blog ideasonideas.com. Eric Karjaluoto writes some very intriguing pieces, and you can tell he puts a lot of thought into his thoughts about design, the creative business, creativity and family. Nice reads.

Nice CARDS!

I can’t see who Peter is – on the site – but thanks got out to him for sending the pack, and more to all the folks at smashLAB.

In Part One, we established that AdGames are free online web games that are used as a part of a marketing campaign. But how does it work? Well the last post ended with our motto: “ENTERTAIN, ENLIGHTEN AND ENGAGE!”, and that is exactly what AdGames do.

Games are not necessarily entertaining. Many games have a lousy gameplay. They’re too easy or too hard – or just boring. If the game isn’t fun, it’s not gonna be enlightening or engaging. It’s not gonna work. Of course you don’t want your brand associated with something boring or crappy! So, first priority is always; ENTERTAINMENT.

It takes knowledge and a good idea to make a game fun.
At UOVO, we have both.

If the game is entertaining there’s a good chance that it’s gonna be engaging too. Let’s compare a game to a tv-commercial. People zap away or just don’t pay attention to all commercials. In a good game, the player is engaged and absorbed in your commercial – often for hours.

Ok, so maybe these games are funny and engaging, but “enlightening”? Don’t computergames make you stupid?

No. Stupid tv makes you stupid. Stupid books make you stupid. Stupid GAMES make you stupid.

Neuroscience and theories about learning show that rationality and emotion aren’t two independent entities. On the contrary. If you have fun, you’re more likely to understand something new. Therefore, not only does the positive reaction towards the ad often lead to a positive reaction towards the brand, but you can also use the game to give your potential target group an idea about why your brand is superior.

With a revision of the journalistic rule of thumb; we say, “Play it, don’t say it!”