Wizards of the Coast
Dungeons & Dragons
CROWN launches a legendary social campaign for DnD
Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary oF Hasbro Inc., called on CROWN to concept and execute a comprehensive digital initiative to increase game play in advance of the 40th anniversary of their Dungeons & Dragons property (DnD), which is widely regarded as not only the source of the entire role-playing game industry, but as the raw element that gave a life and identity to gaming itself . DnD has continued to shape the gamIng subculture throughout the decades, and the game has some of the most rabid, engaged fans out there. People work ‘round the clock so they can afford the bronze and linens to make costumes to play out their fantasy characters in real life. For these die-hard fans, it’s rent, food, child care and DnD. They’re as devoted to the game as Tupac was to thug life.
Competing with some of Seattle’s top creative agencies, Crown Social concepted “The Sundering,” a DnD-based social network built on top of the Facebook API.
WE GAVE THIS AUDIENCE TWO UNBELIEVABLE OPPORTUNITIES
players were able to shape the lore of theFor the first time in the game’s history, DnD players were able to shape the lore of the dangerous creatures, and mighty deities, where magic and supernatural phenomena are quite real. Long ago, the Earth and the world of the Forgotten Realms were more closely connected, but as time passed, the inhabitants of planet Earth have mostly forgotten about the existence of that other
world—hence the term Forgotten Realms game designers alike as “The Realms”).
Die-hard fans who pride themselves on knowledge of the lore and advanced game play needed a way to connect with other players to express their love of and knowledge about the game, and to publicize their level of involvement.
Not only can players shape the lore of The Realms by checking in to stores and reporting play outcomes, but they can prove their tabletop prowess to the world by taking lore-based quizzes, engaging with other players, commenting on existing lore, joining relevant groups, and earning
merit badges and points for their achievements.
CROWN SOCIAL CROWN SOCIAL GOES INTO ACTION!
First, we thought about the user experience. After refining the vision with our friends at Wizards of the Coast, we knew thatthe crux of the UX would be taking place on mobile devices. Whether meeting new friends at an in-store Encounter, taking lore quizzes while riding the underground, or drowsily browsing through the app before going to bed, players would be using The Sundering on their phones.
EVERYTHING IS EVERYTHING IS RESEARCH.
After thinking long and hard about the latest sexy app designs, best practices in mobile device design, and the DnD brand, we sketched out some ideas for the multifaceted app. We then designed two concepts. Our goal was to triangulate the right answer vis-à-vis feedback from the DnD brand stewards, and we absolutely destroyed it. The final design incorporated an unprecedented amount of Facebook open graph integration, database caching, and thousands of potential RESTful API calls. With a deliberate focus on players’ needs, the technical design made sure every interaction was quick, secure, and delivered the best gameplay, whether on a mobile phone or questing away at home. We gamified the app by
incorporating merit badges, a countdown timer, and other effective game mechanics. No detail was spared that would delight fans of the game.
DESIGN IS HALF DESIGN IS HALF THE BATTLE.
Once the design phase was complete, we began mapping out a database schema that would connect the various actions users could take with their Facebook profile info and other user generated content. We analyzed the various possibilities inherent in these actions and authored a series of logical functions to govern the behavior of the app. As the project progressed, our team continually evolved the structure of our data storage
and mechanics to ensure im Mapping the seemingly infinite adventure options from the Dungeons & Dragons world into a structured, logical storage protocol was a challenge, and one we certainly earned and one we certainly earned we completed our models.
INHERENTLY INHERENTLY SOCIAL.
We built the app on an extensible LAMP stack framework that allowed us to push various versions of the code live at different times. We needed to be ready to scale our data storage just as quickly as we could scale our code framework, so we naturally chose Amazon Web Services (AWS) as our storage provider, and players can be sure of game uptime while scaling dungeons because we took the foresight to separate our assets, our data storage, and our core application into strict silos.
Client: Wizards of the Coast
Agency: CROWN
2. Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering
Goal: Increase awareness of Magic’s new game: Duels of the Planeswalkers, by bringing the social experience from inside the popular PAX event into the social sphere.
Solution: A socially integrated photobooth that encourages users to upload photos from the booth to their own social channels for a chance to win an all-expenses paid trip to PAX West in Seattle or PAX East in Boston, depending on location.
Client: Wizards of the Coast
Agency: CROWN
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