Jakub Jakubowski

Riyadh Season Treasure

‘The Riyadh Season Treasure Hunt app engaged a global audience, challenging players to navigate to social media looking for clues, break codes, solve puzzles, and even step into AR. With the story revolving around the many aspects of Riyadh Season, we have taken players on a journey of discovery and adventure – by the time of the (in-person) finale, everybody becomes an expert on the grand event. It was immensely challenging to build, but also incredibly fun and ultimately rewarding to see the app go live and watch players in action!’

Jakub Jakubowski, Creative Director, UNIT9

The background

The Riyadh Season is a renowned annual cultural festival in Riyadh, celebrated for its diverse array of art, music, theatre, culinary, and sporting events. In 2023, to boost excitement and participation, we launched a global treasure hunt challenge where participants can win up to $1.6 million. This involved the creation of an interactive platform, allowing users worldwide to engage with intricate puzzles and delve into various facets of the Season through an immersive virtual map.

The execution

The Riyadh Season Treasure Hunt was a complex and extensive application featuring 250 meticulously designed screens, 40 engaging puzzles across nine thematic aspects, structured in eight distinct phases and executed through three strategic deployments.

Over a span of two months, participants encountered a range of puzzles – from complex logic-based riddles to AR spatial tasks and intricate detective-style challenges. Players were not only engaged in the virtual realm but were also encouraged to interact with the real world, such as exploring the Riyadh Season’s offerings and His Excellency’s social media channels for clues, seamlessly blending the digital game with physical elements.

Developed in Unity for Android and iOS platforms, the Riyadh Season Treasure Hunt app boasted features enabling code-breaking, media content deciphering, and QR code scanning to unearth hidden clues. We implemented a staggered deployment approach to maintain fairness and prevent cheating, while the backend managed the influx of thousands of users, all eagerly anticipating new rounds of puzzles.

The climax of this digital odyssey was a live physical event where the ten fastest puzzle solvers competed for the grand prize. Only one participant emerged victorious in this intense finale, claiming the $1.6 million reward.

The results

With over 100k downloads, the Riyadh Season Treasure Hunt app successfully transformed the essence of Riyadh Season into a riveting two-month journey of challenges and exploration. This initiative was not just a game but a multifaceted venture, harmonising innovative game design, a robust technical framework, strategic marketing, and continuing user engagement. The result was a unique and immersive global experience, resonating with participants from all corners of the world.