Cell Survivor
A message-led online game and social campaign that reached half a million people on Twitter and Facebook for World AIDS Day, carrying HIV prevention messages to a younger audience.
A message-led online game and social media campaign that reached half a million people across Twitter and Facebook during World AIDS Day, helping communicate serious HIV prevention messages to a younger audience in an engaging way.
- Client
- International HIV/AIDS Alliance (Frontline AIDS)
- Sector
- Online game
The brief
The International HIV/AIDS Alliance (now Frontline AIDS) wanted a fresh way to engage younger people around World AIDS Day — something that would work in social media, feel accessible and entertaining, and still communicate a serious underlying message about HIV prevention and care.
The challenge
The core message needed to be clear without feeling preachy, reaching a younger audience in the spaces they were already using while making them pause long enough to absorb the point: the game is not over when it comes to HIV. That meant balancing playfulness with purpose — fun enough to share, meaningful enough to support the charity's wider awareness work.
Our approach
We designed and built Cell Survivor, a message-led online game combining retro game aesthetics, clear narrative framing, and social media amplification — created to be instantly accessible, easy to share, and aligned with the World AIDS Day message.
Use a game to draw people in, then use that engagement to deliver the message in a way that felt memorable rather than instructional.
Alongside the game, we ran a social media outreach campaign and influencer-style distribution to help the message travel. The creative idea was simple: use a game to draw people in, then use that engagement to deliver the underlying health message in a way that felt memorable rather than instructional.
Solution
A shareable, retro-style online game that carried a serious public-health message to a younger audience without feeling instructional.
We delivered
- Concept development
- Game design & build
- Social media campaign
- Influencer outreach
- Messaging strategy
- Making-of video
The outcome
- 500,000 people reached
- Twitter & Facebook campaign
- Positive player feedback
- World AIDS Day 2014
In their words
“Globally, the majority of new HIV infections are among young people, which is why engaging young people in the HIV response is critical to halting the epidemic. With this in mind we developed Cell Survivor in conjunction with Developing Dreams to mark World AIDS Day 2014. Cell Survivor is an original online game intended to engage new audiences with the work of the Alliance.”
Where AI fits next
This is a strong example of using interactive media to shift understanding and behaviour. Approached today, we'd look at how AI tools could support faster iteration on game prototyping, campaign messaging, audience testing, and content adaptation across channels.
Services & stack
Game design & build · Social campaign · Influencer outreach · Messaging strategy