Born To Run
An endless runner about doping substances
Full Name: Born to Run Championship
Made By: Feinheit GmbH
Made For: Antidoping Schweiz, NADA Germany, NADA Austria
Plattforms: iOS, Android
Roles in Project: Concept & Pitch Design, Game Design, Graphic Design, Gameplay Programming
Idea
Background
Born to Run is a game designed and developed for the three anti doping agencies of Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The usage was to create awareness for the topic at a very young demographic and create a entertaining piece, that could be used at fairs and exhibitions.
Gameplay:
In Born to Run Championship, you are put in the shoes of a young athlete in the fictional “Roof Running League”. You are playing an endless runner across rooftops and need to jump, slide and dash to properly avoid obstacles. if you fail to make a jump or fall behind the screen scroll, you are out and your score is exqual to the distance you traveled. The course is randomly generated, but exactly the same for every player in each given week. That means players are competing for the high score and its bragging right every week before the board is wiped.
During the course you can collect various “power up” doping substances, which can be manually activated. These substances have tremendious benefits for your gameplay, from slowdowns or the ability to break through obstacles to infinite dashes or higher jumps. However, at the ned of your run, you might be tested for substances, and should you be found out, the game will lock down for a week, banning you from play. Not only that, you will also be marked down on a wall of shame on the games ranking website.
Design Summary:
Born to Run is a game designed for a young and competitive audience. The game can give you the ability to excel in a competition and potentially earn everlasting glory by earning high scores and beating your competition. Doping substances are, by design, very powerful and can give you the edge over your competition, but the chances of being caught are ever present and carry hard consequences.
More than this though, the design tried to evoke a feeling. A feeling of uncertainty whether your competition actually managed to be the best by using forbidden substances or not. Because only that uncertainty could be comparable to the social pressure that young athletes might feel when it comes to the topic of reaching your zenith and using forbidden substances.
Impressions
