Miniball 2
Objective
Miniball 2 represented an internal brief that NPB (Naked Penguin Boy) undertook with the objective of bringing an addictive experience to global football fans.
By expanding on the popular Miniball game, Naked Penguin Boy introduced League play with the advent of Miniball 2 to ramp the competitive nature of the game up another notch.
Target Audience
Miniball 2 appeals to sports lovers aged 18 to 34 – worldwide!
Description
Miniball 2 is based on the classic table football game also known as foosball.
Players can compete against the computer in single player mode or play against a friend in two player mode. New features included:
- The ability to create leagues and compete against football fans worldwide
- A High Score table
- Power shots (real world ‘spin’)
- User visibility on the site
- The ability to invite other Miniball 2™ players to Challenge matches
Additional content featured a collection of Easter Eggs (hidden cheats), which become active by entering a series of keys in the correct sequence on your keyboard.
Registered users (30,000 and increasing) of the game are members of the worldwide football and gaming communities who interact via the Miniball 2 forum. Registered users receive regular updates about new features, events and items of interest. Members can also download desktop wallpapers, screensavers and icon sets. Members can upgrade to VIP status by successfully referring two friends for registration. VIP members can then access exclusive downloads and become eligible for prize draws.
Success
The success of Miniball 2™ is spoken for by the total number of gameplays since launch back in 2005, as well as in the viral reach of the game. With only word-of-mouth promotion (via the first 200 users registered) among a small group of online game fans, more than 300,000 games were recorded. No other marketing was undertaken for the title – fans either found or sought out Miniball 2™ independently, and spread news of the game themselves. Learning of this, our game developers added in the League Play feature.
Average monthly usage of miniball.co.uk has increased 184%, with monthly page impressions averaging up to 300,000 and approximately 100,000 game plays per month.