We played Game’s Black Friday “metaverse” game — and it was pretty fun
Game has launched its The Black Friday Game in the Roblox “metaverse” on Monday, offering players a chance to win a share of R10,000 in store vouchers.
Although Game is taking some creative licence with the term “metaverse”, the fact is that Roblox is one of the world’s biggest online gaming platforms with over 200 million monthly users — primarily among tweens and teens.
In fairness, “metaverse” isn’t a well-defined concept yet.
Game developers and industry commentators have pointed to games like Second Life, Minecraft, and Roblox as early examples of metaverses, even though they don’t rely on virtual reality technology.
Roblox also does not use a blockchain to store player data or allow unrestricted transactions, but it offers an extensive marketplace where players transact with an in-game currency, Robux.
Robux lets players buy customisations for their in-game avatars and unlock premium features in games or “experiences” on the platform.
The Black Friday Game does not offer any such paid-for features.
We played Game’s game and found it entertaining. It can also be quite challenging to improve your times to try and crack into the top 3.
Game said its Black Friday game mixes South African culture and the fantastical in a race around a city neighbourhood.
Players use potholes as portals, can visit a rooftop DJ gig, and dodge goo from exploding pigeons while competing to get to the top of the leaderboard.
Each day, the top player will win R5,000 in vouchers, the second R3,000 and the third R2,000.
The game is open to all ages. However, to be eligible to win any vouchers, players must be at least 13 years old.
Vouchers can be redeemed on any product that Game stocks.
The competition ends on 28 November, although the game will remain available in Roblox for players to enjoy.
To play the game, you must visit The Black Friday Game Roblox store page and click the play button.
The Black Friday Game page on the Roblox website
If you don’t already have Roblox installed on your smartphone, tablet, or Windows or Mac PC, you will be prompted to download and install the app.
Roblox installation prompt
Within the app, you are presented with a splash screen showing the rules, leaderboard, and a start button.
The Black Friday Game splash screen
Once inside the game, you must run around collecting eight comet fragments in a scavenger hunt within the shortest time possible.
The world contains several references only South Africans will understand, including recyclers, taxi ranks, and e-tolls.
The Black Friday Game — Taxi rank
E-trolls cancelled
Recyclers in Game’s The Black Friday Game
During our testing, the game chugged on our Surface Laptop 3. Although it features a basic AMD APU, our frame rate was between 10 and 20 frames per second.
We also tested it on a Samsung Galaxy S22+, and it ran smoothly.
While basic, the gameplay and environment were fun.
However, it remains to be seen whether Game can pull South African Roblox players away from the hundreds of other games available on the platform for its marketing stunt to pay off.
Giving away R10,000 in vouchers every day is a compelling proposition, but that means the target market must find out about the game during the competition period, which ends on Cyber Monday — 28 November.
Comet in The Black Friday Game
Pigeons and trees — The Black Friday Game
Rooftop party with DJ Ondablox— The Black Friday Game
Potholes. Crazy, huh?
The Black Friday Game — End screen
Words by Jan Vermeulen, testing by Wikus Steyn.
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