The problem
Barrel puts a pub's drinks list on every phone in the room. Guests scan a QR code, see what's pouring and build their round. But a drinks board is something you glance at and put away.
My client wanted to give people a reason to keep the board open a bit longer, and to make it feel like part of the fun of a night out rather than just a menu. So I built them a game: quick to pick up, short enough to play while your pint settles, and full of pub character.
What I built
The bell's gone. Leg it. That's the whole story. You're a cheerful little barrel with stubby legs, sprinting down a festival path under strings of bunting, past casks, fences and pub umbrellas, while the landlord closes in behind you.
Three lanes, four moves. On a phone you swipe left or right to change lanes, up to jump and down to slide. On a computer, the arrow keys do the same. A "How to run" card sets it all out on one screen before you start, so anyone can play.
Pints to grab, not just things to dodge. Every pint you collect is worth 25 points, and every metre adds one more. Up high, now and then, there's a Golden Pint worth 150, with its own little firework. Let a pint go past and it costs you 10, so you can't just hide in one lane.
Time, please. Run into something and the game tells you why, with a bit of pub humour. When I played it, I ran straight into a wall of casks and got: "That one wanted a lane change." Then came the bill: "5 pints went past you: -50."
Leaderboards with a pub feel. Each pub has two boards, today's best and all-time, ranked by score. Make the board and you can add your first name. There's no email, no sign-up and nothing to agree to, and your run is saved either way. Scores are checked, so nobody can cheat their way to the top.
Built for real phones in real pubs. The game plays in 3D on most phones. The start screen appears quickly, and the scenery loads in behind it. If a phone can't keep up, the game switches itself to a simpler, flat version, so nobody is stuck with a juddering screen. My own phone test runs played smoothly, without a stutter.
Kind to everyone. If someone's phone is set to reduce motion, the screen shake, the lurching camera and the swinging bell are switched off, and the run itself stays the same. Sound stays off until you turn it on.
The venue stays in charge. Barrel Run lives on the venue's own drinks board, and the owner decides whether it's switched on.
Made better by playing it. I improved the game by playing it, a lot. Early play-tests showed that pints placed high up needed a jump, that they should be bigger, and that missing them should cost something. That's where the Golden Pint came from.
How it's going
Barrel Run is live on Barrel's demo board, and venues using Barrel can switch it on for their guests. For my client, it gives guests a reason to keep the board open, and it's a fun way to show venues what Barrel can do.
It was also great fun to build. A pub game tests everything I care about: it has to load fast, work on any phone, respect people's privacy and make them smile.
