Chicken Filla Hunt

The challenge

BBT ran a promotional campaign at their hilltop restaurant and wanted something that turned diners into players. A reason to stay a little longer, come back, and tie the brand to a bit of fun. Not a screen people walk past, but something they'd line up to beat.

What I built

A branded arcade game for BBT, Chicken Filla Hunt — a Duck Hunt-style shooter reskinned for the brand, with three levels and a high-score screen that tracked the day's best players. That leaderboard was the loop. Clear the three levels, land on the board, come back to defend your spot. The day's top scorers won a BBT-branded handheld as a prize, so a high score was something to win, not just bragging rights.

What I'm proudest of is that it shipped to two completely different machines from a single codebase. One is a light-gun version: I mounted a Wii remote inside a plastic pistol and wired it to drive the game like a mouse, so you point at the screen and shoot. The other is a stand-up arcade cabinet with a joystick to aim and a button to fire, at a different aspect ratio entirely. Same game, same code, two different sets of hardware and controls — both built to take a beating in a busy restaurant.

The result

Engaged thousands of restaurant customers consistently over a three-month run on custom hardware.

"The game elevated the installation and attracted new customers consistently over a three-month period." — Hassan Amer, Swish

Why it worked

The high-score screen turned a one-off play into a reason to return, and the branded handheld for the day's top scorers gave that leaderboard real stakes. Retention built into the mechanic, not bolted on.

The controls were instantly readable — a light gun on one cabinet, a classic arcade joystick on the other — both things people already know how to use, so they walked up and played with zero instruction.

And three tight levels made a complete, satisfying loop in about the time a table waits for its food.