Working Week: How Townsville Created a 4-Day Campus-Wide Adventure
Client
What the customers say:
"You can really tell that all these people put their heart and their soul into this and their enthusiasm makes the game so much better."
The Challenge: Energizing an Entire Campus
Working Week brings thousands of Google DeepMind employees from around the world onto one campus. Our challenge was to make it feel like more than a series of meetings.
DeepMind wanted an experience that employees could stumble into, not opt into — something that sparked spontaneous connection across teams, rewarded curiosity, and gave people a genuine reason to step away from their screens.
The brief: build something woven so deeply into the workday that the actual campus becomes the game.
The Handstand Magic: Welcome to Townsville
Our fictional town spanned four themed neighborhoods, 100+ custom quests, and a multi-day narrative brought to life by actors, daily newspapers, and larger-than-life puzzle installations.
Every detail was designed so that anyone who walked by could start playing immediately. Some highlights include;
• Interactive Truck – 1954 Ford F100
• Moving Truck 3D Tetris
• Custom Web App
• AI Avatar Generation
• Daily Newspapers
Case Study Video
Custom Web App
A custom digital platform brought Townsville to life — from real-time riddle tracking and dynamic leaderboards to Gemini-powered avatar creation.
Branded Avatar Generation
Participants generated on-theme animated characters using Handstand's custom service backed by Gemini. Over 300 unique avatars were created.
Large Installations
The Puzzle Car
A tricked-out 1954 Ford F100 challenged players to unlock secrets. Kick a tire → the radio plays a song. Touch a bumper sticker → the LED mirror lights up marquee text. Configure the external battery → the car starts running!
Brenda's Boxes
A larger-than-life challenge had participants playing a giant game of 3D Tetris, and was one of the most talked-about puzzles of the week.
Immersive Characters
Townsville residents brought the game to life by welcoming guests, running live quests, and making everyone feel like a VIP through repeated interactions.
The Daily Newspaper
The Townsville Tattler was printed fresh every night! The papers propelled the narrative forward, featuring player-generated content and hidden puzzles.
Golden Prizes
Players that earned their spot in the top 10 were gifted keys to Townsville by Mayor Crater himself.
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Favorite Moments
“Definitely 10 out of 10. I really love all the in-person things with all the folks like Brenda and the Mayor and such, where there is this real human connection.”
“I really liked the car puzzle. It was a really fun way to interact with a physical object and see cool things happen. It was one of the best things I've done so far in this experience.”
“I think this experience has been really great. The puzzle with the truck was pretty awesome. It made you really use your brain and the technology used for it was cool. I'd rate that a 10 out of 10 – really impressive.”
“Something that stood out to me was I think the depth of the puzzles. Towards the end everything started clicking together in terms of what characters interacted with what and all that stuff. That was really well designed. I also felt like some puzzles led into other puzzles which is cool. I think overall just the design of this was really awesome.”
“I find it a really nice way to be able to walk around and enjoy the campus. I'm actually based in New York so I don't usually get the chance to explore. So it's been really nice. Thanks for all your work planning.”
“My favorite challenge was the Tetris one. And I like how the puzzles were very defined. It was really fun to solve different types of puzzles.”
“I'm having a lot of fun. I really like all the diversity of puzzles. I feel like there's lots of talking to people, looking for things, and solving things.”
“The one thing that stood out to me are the characters in the game – the real-life people that you can interact with. They made the game amazing.”
“I realized I really needed to kick the trucks' wheels in order to get music. People were walking in to get their morning coffee and register and were all looking over. It turned into a fun interactive thing where people who were not necessarily doing The Hunt are now part of my little Hunt experience. It was a very fun and exciting thing! So that is my highlight so far.”
“My favorite part was seeing the characters, like the Mayor, and all those folks that we've been hearing about, in person. They're kind of like a celebrity! That was really neat.”
“My favorite part about the scavenger hunt so far are how the different puzzles from the newspaper and the text messages and the different locations you have to go to all kind of come together at various points. I feel like that's a really cool thing. And also the fact you have to do it over a few days. You can't go do it all at once. I think that makes it more fun and interesting.”
“I have been enjoying the Quests for this week and I thought the one thing that stood out is the app is very well developed, and robust, and easy to navigate and find the Quests. So kudos for that!”
Client
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