STRANGER THINGS

Netflix - Stranger Things ARG

How it worked

Stranger Things season trailers have become part of the cultural zeitgeist, generating 50 million-plus views and igniting millions of conversations across social platforms. In collaboration with the show’s creators (The Duffer Brothers) and Netflix, Candy hid a visual puzzle within the official Season 4 trailer (time stamp 1:59).   

The answer to the puzzle hidden within the trailer was a URL (IamHellsMaster.com) – and awaiting fans was the ticking grandfather clock from Stranger Things Season 4, counting down to the start of the game. 

Once the clock hit zero, the website displayed a scene from the Stranger Things universe and included a fully interactive Lite Brite (officially licensed) where fans can use the Lite Brite just as the characters of Stranger Things did in Season 4. 

Hidden within the scenes depicted on the website, in the marketing campaign content directly from Netflix, and even in the show itself, were puzzles and clues as to what a fan could draw on the browser-based Lite Brite to open up portals and progress through four levels each with a different scene from the TV show.

Winners from each of the four levels were rewarded with exclusive digital collectible posters. Physical awards such as Stranger Things branded Lite Brites were awarded to the best user-created artwork on the website’s interactive Lite Brite.

In true Stranger Things fashion, a hidden bonus level tasked fans to work together to solve a final puzzle that unlocked a terrifying 3D digital “Demobat.”