3DFiti

A hunt across Paris for objects made by an anonymous visual artist. Printed in 3D, they are often funny little gadgets, designed to slip into the street.

Each drop is an event built around a new object, hidden somewhere in the city and announced on the platform. The clues have to lead players to it in the end without letting them find it too fast, and the whole thing has to make as many people as possible want to join the race.

The obvious reward goes to whoever gets there first and leaves with the object. But hundreds of people, sometimes thousands, see the notification, and a few dozen start running through the streets of Paris or jump on a bike or a scooter. Only one of them wins. Everyone else, which is to say nearly everyone, goes home disappointed. New players keep joining, but with odds this small they lose heart quickly, and even the most persistent give up after trying again and again without a win.

So the question was how to keep people engaged and give them a sense of achievement even when they go home without the object. Players who reach the spot after the winner can still check in there, which proves they were physically on site: a kind of participation prize. The other part was making results visible, with a scoreboard and, for every object, a timeline of who arrived when and who checked in first, second or third. Everyone who took part keeps a trace of it, and arriving second no longer means going home empty-handed.