Horizon Interactive Awardee

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Aarki for Gardenscapes:
Growing Engagement

Campaign Role: Creative Designer / Ad Production

Client: Playrix

Game: Gardenscapes

When Playrix launched Gardenscapes in 2016, it quickly captured global attention with its unique mix of match-3 puzzles and home-renovation storytelling. But like many successful titles, the challenge came a year later: how to re-engage lapsed users and attract new ones while keeping current players excited.

At Aarki, we set out to design a creative strategy that would make the game feel fresh, compelling, and interactive again.

The Concept

We wanted to do more than just showcase gameplay — we wanted to immerse users in it.

Our solution was to create interactive video interstitials that encouraged players to make decisions within the ad itself. These mini-choices brought the familiar Gardenscapes world to life, reminding users of the creativity, humour, and challenge that made the game so popular.

By giving users a sense of agency through these ads, we not only drew them back into the game but also turned advertising into an extension of gameplay.

My Contribution

As part of the Creative team, I:

Iterated on creatives based on performance insights, helping scale the campaign’s effectiveness.
Supported scaling efforts, working closely with account managers and analysts to roll out variations that maximised ROI.

The Results

The campaign delivered outstanding performance gains:

ROI increased significantly, surpassing Playrix’s KPIs.
CPI dropped well below target, proving that creative innovation drives measurable impact.
Most importantly, Gardenscapes successfully re-engaged lapsed players while continuing to grow its player base.

Reflection

This project taught me the importance of collaborative creativity. While I wasn’t leading the campaign, being part of the team that designed and scaled these interactive ads gave me hands-on experience in performance-driven creative production. It reinforced my belief that great ads don’t just sell a game — they make players want to play again.