Kings Dominion theme park in Virginia has launched the Battle for Kings Dominion, an Extended Experience augmented reality app developed by Holovis.
Building on the success of the award winning Battle for Cedar Point, the Cedar Fair and Holovis teams have created a next generation app with more ways to play, intensified competition and increased personalisation.
Christian Dieckmann is Corporate Vice President of Strategic Growth at Cedar Fair. This is the parent company of Kings Dominion theme park and its sister park, Cedar Point.
He says, “We learnt a lot from the launch last year. Guests really engaged with the game but wanted more to do in the queue lines, more dynamic gameplay and more customization. We listened and are excited to introduce the enhanced version this year at both parks that directly addresses and delivers upon this feedback.”
The Battle For Kings Dominion gamifies activities that guests are already doing. It gives them points for riding coasters, the vertical miles travelled and the number of inversions. Traditionally passive experiences such as waiting in a queue line, seeking refreshments and even physical merchandise are transformed with Augmented Reality. Interactive mini games have hidden elements to discover, which can then be shared on social media.
Kings Dominion Theme Park rides gamified
The story begins with five of the Kings Dominion Theme Park flagship attractions. They are each transformed into a character with their own personalities and narratives. These are Dominator, Flight of Fear, Intimidator® 305, Avalanche and Volcano. Each alliance also has its own unique character avatar and a custom battle shield. After choosing their allegiance, guests then compete against each other. They attempt to defeat the other alliances for dominance of the park throughout the day.
The app features increased personalisation with each player able to create their own avatar. They earn virtual gold on the battle field to trade for even more design options. These can be customized and leveled-up over time as progress is made throughout the day and across multiple visits to the park.
This Extended Experience has been created by Holovis. The Holovis Media team of character and concept artists, animation experts, audio engineers, graphic designers and coders working closely with Kings Dominion Theme Park to bring the whole thing together.
Amy Steele is VP of Development at Holovis. She says, “Extended Experiences are the future of entertainment. Every element is connected together allowing guests to discover hidden narratives and gamify what are traditionally passive moments. One thing we noticed is that people are still interacting with the app when they get home. So we’ve built more features in so the game play can continue as they prepare for their next visit.
“From waiting in a queue line to having refreshments and even within purchased merchandise, everything now therefore becomes a chance to connect with other members of the park or share the moments with your wider community on social media.”
