Most Americans only know the kindergarten version of the Thanksgiving story.

To reveal its true complexity, we created a narrative strategy game that allowed visitors to relive, and potentially rewrite, the history that led to this seminal American holiday.

Players were placed on the path of the Plymouth Pilgrims and forced to face the same impossible choices, with every decision burdened by having to balance supplies, diplomacy, faith and well-being. As was the case in 1620, the goal was to establish a colony and keep as many members alive as possible. And just like the Pilgrims, players soon came to realize there were often no choices free of consequences — and that the first Thanksgiving was merely one peaceful moment amid a sea of murky diplomatic situations that shaped American history.

Our approach was to create a second-screen interactive experience that allowed players to relive, and potentially rewrite history through our narrative strategy game. Launched two weeks ahead of Thanksgiving using online media placements and social posts featuring a gripping teaser video driving players to the site and driving interest for the premiere.

Our brand prides itself on creating opportunities for audiences to dig deeper and uncover the real story behind historical events most think they know. The audiences’ interest in self-directed discovery aligned with wider interactive trends in point-and-click games, and second-screen multitasking guided our thinking. So a second screen gamified experience optimized for desktop, mobile and tablet, and accessible across all platforms was a must.

Onsite, following a short film and a brief tutorial, players were launched into their first decision. Subsequent decisions were dependent on the player’s previous choices and a bit of luck. Every decision affected their meager resources of supplies, diplomacy, faith, and wellbeing to ensure there were no easy choices.

Over 20,000 lines of JavaScript ES6 were crafted to create our game engine, providing players at least 24 unique pathways through the experience. Responsive cinemagraph animations composited from set photography and hand-painted character illustrations immersed players in each scenario. Each decision was extensively researched to provide in-depth, accurate historical context, and advice from historical figures helped guide our digital Pilgrims along the way, though ultimately the choice was theirs.

A dynamic colony view, based on the actual Plymouth colony, reflected a player’s progress, helped or hindered through side quests based on daily life in the New World.

At the end, players were provided a customized narrative ending that reflected the ultimate fate of their colony, along with a play-by-play timeline that showed where they stayed true to or deviated from history.

See Confidential Information for results.