3.2. Game-centric apps
Companies primarily design game-centric apps due
to their high hedonic values. For example, the
Domino’s Pizza Hero app provides an immersive
game experience by allowing users to make top
quality virtual pizzas by kneading dough, spreading
sauce, sprinkling cheese, and placing toppings while
racing against the clock. The Johnson & Johnson
Happy Nurse app is a race game in which the user,
playing the role of a nurse, must avoid all obstacles in
his or her way. J&J posters appear along the nurse’s
path and the nurse has to use hand sanitizer at the last
moment to enter the operating room. The Heinz Dip &
SqueezeTM Ketchup Craze app (Figure 4) contains
10 game levels allowing players to squeeze Ketchup
on different types of food, such as hot dogs or bur-
gers. Kellogg’s Apple JacksTM Race To The Bowl Rally
app allows players to create avatars using Apple Jacks
mascots and then race through the frozen Ice King-
dom. Users get extra race points by collecting Apple
Jacks cereal pieces and achieve hyper-speed by col-
lecting Apple Jacks logos along the way.
From the business perspective, most game-cen-
tric apps aim to create an immersive environment
through the use of different brand elements, exposing
users to good brand moments to enhance brand
image and increase brand awareness. Some apps are
linked to e-commerce websites and aim to execute
direct sales. Moreover, companies can collect user
data through game-centric apps, which is useful for
customer relationship management.