The challenge
News Corp Australia approached Digital Marmalade with a compelling challenge: transform their traditional print puzzles into an engaging digital format that would attract new audiences whilst retaining their reputation for quality content. Market research had identified a significant opportunity in the digital puzzle space, particularly amongst users seeking both entertainment and cognitive benefits.
Strategic approach
Digital Marmalade developed a comprehensive solution that balanced sophisticated functionality with user accessibility. The team recognised that success would depend on creating an experience that felt both familiar to traditional puzzle enthusiasts and appealing to digital-native users. This led to the development of a platform that combined classic puzzles with innovative new formats, all wrapped in an intuitive mobile interface.
The solution
The resulting Brain Gains app emerged as a premium mobile platform offering an impressive array of daily content. Digital Marmalade created a sophisticated content delivery system that provides users with 15 fresh puzzles each day, spanning traditional crosswords, number games, and knowledge-testing quizzes. The development team paid particular attention to offline functionality, ensuring users could download and enjoy puzzles during commutes or flights without internet connectivity.
User Experience Innovation
Understanding the diverse needs of puzzle enthusiasts, Digital Marmalade implemented several innovative features to enhance user engagement. A power recommendation system helps users discover puzzles aligned with their interests and abilities, whilst time estimation indicators allow players to choose activities that fit their schedule. The platform's analytics dashboard provides detailed performance tracking, allowing users to monitor their progress across different puzzle types.
Social Integration
A standout feature of the Brain Gains platform is its sophisticated multiplayer functionality. Digital Marmalade developed both cooperative and competitive playing modes, enabling users to challenge friends or work together to solve puzzles. This social dimension adds a compelling community aspect to the traditionally solitary pursuit of puzzle-solving, whilst the ability to invite non-subscribers to multiplayer games creates organic growth opportunities.
Results and impact
Brain Gains has successfully positioned itself as Australia's premier digital puzzle destination, offering an unmatched combination of traditional and innovative content. The platform demonstrates how thoughtful digital transformation can preserve the essence of traditional media whilst creating new opportunities for audience engagement and revenue generation. Through careful attention to user experience, technical excellence, and strategic integration with existing media assets, Digital Marmalade has created a product that sets new standards for digital puzzle platforms.
A huge amount of innovation is being driven in our business and bringing together the best games and puzzles in a beautifully simple user experience has resulted in Brain Gains. The app is world-class, it's witty, challenging and rewarding and allows users to gain knowledge, sharpness, and peace of mind.
Conclusion
This case study exemplifies Digital Marmalade's ability to deliver sophisticated digital solutions that meet complex business objectives whilst maintaining focus on user experience and technical excellence. The Brain Gains project showcases how traditional media content can be successfully transformed for the digital age, creating new value for both the client and their customers.