Every year, the American Heart Association (AHA) hosts a charity gala in NYC to raise funds for heart and stroke health. And every year, the organization has a specific issue for which they’d like to raise awareness. This year’s theme: hands-only CPR. In NYC, the survival rate of cardiac arrest is a mere 4%, with only 1% of the area’s population trained in CPR.

With that in mind, we had three objectives: 1) raise awareness for the issue 2) teach hands-only CPR, and 3) do it in an effortless, engaging, and memorable way. Thus, we made "Rhythm Rescue," a multiplayer, two-screen interactive experience that teaches the correct rhythm for administering hands-only CPR. It not only enamored the 800 attendees, but it also empowered them to easily save lives. "Rhythm Rescue" became a rallying cry and an educational tool to advance the cause of hands-only CPR education.

All art and copy was produced in-house, but our external development team was an integral part of making the experience work on users’ phones and on the big screen at the main event. We collaborated over several months to refine the gaming experience. Leading up to the event, we stress-tested the game at the venue to make sure it could handle 800 attendees tapping to the rhythm at the same time.

It was the first time either group had ever done a project of this scope and of this kind. We went with a colorful, 8-bit art style to give it a light-hearted, family-friendly vibe (think Nintendo from the 1980s). We also kept copy short, simple, and clever to make it easy for users to start playing right away.

During dinner, the game was unveiled onstage simultaneously on four large screens to the 800 attendees. Participants put down their forks and picked up their phones to play "Rhythm Rescue" and learn the 100-beats-per-minute rhythm of hands-only CPR. The guests were prompted to access a website on their phones, and tap the correct rhythm to the tune of 100-beats-per-minute songs. Whenever the players made the correct number of taps in succession, a life would be saved, represented by a dancing 8-bit avatar sent to the big screen. By the end of the night, we "saved" over 10,000 lives, completely filling the big screen with dancing avatars. In the end, we took an important issue for the AHA, tied in its overall mission of education and prevention, and made the learning experience of hands-only CPR one that attendees would never forget.