360° play from Hotrocket engages today's interactive kids and youth across connected platforms. 360° play is more than branded mini-games, ringtones and wallpapers. 360° play is about socially-driven storytelling, gameplay and entertainment that actively engages kids online, on-the-go, in the living room, and in real places. It's an approach we've refined while working with clients and our own award-winning productions like CIE, winner of Pitch It! at KidScreen Summit 2007.

360° play is based on ten guiding principles that have guided our approach to game design for young audiences over the years.

Blur the line between entertainment and education. Today’s audiences have more choices in the content they consume and in the experiences that they participate in. They want to engaged and entertained. To be successful, our products must be designed where entertainment value is at the forefront, supported by a foundation of educational and highly relevant content that compels audiences to continuously visit, participate and consume.

Be everywhere audiences are. We live in an increasingly multiplatform, multitasking world. So today’s audiences expect to be able to access information and content through the channels that are most relevant to them. This includes digital channels such as web, email, and mobile, along with traditional channels such as print and television. Our products need to be designed in a way so that we can reach audiences across these channels while providing a consistent experience.

Provide control and choice. Today’s audiences display a range of abilities and skills in regards to their media consumption. Audiences often cite "control" or the ability to personalize and manage the media experience and content as their primary reason for choosing the Internet over other forms of media. In order to reach this audience, our products must offer a variety of methods to access information, create content, and control the experience.

Encourage exploration and play. Often education games are designed using a fixed, linear path for learners, filled with yes/no and right/wrong scenarios, leading to ineffective learning experiences. Our products should provide more engaging experiences that encourage learners to explore and play. Today’s audiences are already playing games that place them in roles from armed forces recruit to zoo tycoon. In the process they’re using very sophisticated thinking skills to analyze, strategize, and implement their decisions. This creates opportunities for learners to discover both positive and negative outcomes that result from decisions they might make.

Encourage active participation. Communities are built around active social participation by its members. However, not all audiences immediately participate in communities. Some of the most effective online experiences are those that enable active, peer-to-peer interaction within a community. To build a strong online community, our products must provide opportunities for social interaction between its members through game play, collaboration, mentoring, and discussion.

One community, multiple experiences. Successful online brands like Yahoo! and MSN provide experiences that engage a broad community, as well as offer specific experiences targeted at individual or special interest groups within the broad community. Our products should also provide multiple experiences to its community so that we can successfully reach audiences of all ages.

Integrate multiple curricular skills. Our products should require knowledge of a variety of subjects including math, physics, and language arts. Learners should be able to connect the relevance of abstract subject material to concrete and applied skills required for job opportunities in the industry. Learners will also discover that skills applied in one career path can be transferable to another.

Use incentives to drive stickiness. Our products must bring audiences back again and again. To do so, it must provide compelling content and incentives that drive return visits. Great content combined with an incentive-based system that locks-in audiences to actively participate, play and collect within our experiences will be key to audience retention.

Use narrative to provide context. Often interactive educational content is focused solely on topics and concepts. Interactives focused on just the facts, without much context. Think about how much memorable and engaging the experience would be if story, plot and character was added to the mix. Narrative brings in emotion, empathy, and motivational context. Our products must weave content and narrative together to provide a much more satisfying experience for learners.

Use real people to inspire. Youth audiences need to hear and see the success of role models in other occupations. Learners need to see the connection between their academic choices today and their career options in the future. Our products should connect learner and role model through methods like interactive and video. This would provide a more personalized experience and connection between learner and role models.