GAMING
An Immersive Museum Game
Year
2016
Company
Wells Fargo
Role
Product Design
Background
Wells Fargo has a rich history of using, owning, guarding, and operating the six-horse stagecoach, with 12 museums across the country showcasing its unique role in American history. The Wells Fargo Innovation team wanted to reimagine the museum experience to engage younger audiences while preserving the stories of the Gold Rush era.
The challenge was to create a VR game that would be educational, interactive, and fun for kids visiting the museum.
Solution and Experience
To reimagine Wells Fargo’s museum experience for younger audiences, we designed an interactive VR game and companion app that turned learning into an adventure while preserving Gold Rush stories. The experience moved kids and families from passively viewing exhibits to actively exploring history through games and interactive storytelling. By blending technology with physical exhibits, we made the museum visit more engaging, fun, and memorable.
Explore Experience
We designed an interactive app that turned museum visits into engaging learning adventures. As families moved through the exhibits, geo-fences and beacons unlocked activities, short videos, and quizzes tied to what they were seeing, helping kids connect with the history in front of them.
Using AR, visitors could scan artifacts to see them come to life, like a 3D stagecoach or an animated miner sharing stories from the Gold Rush. Kids could track their progress, collect virtual “gold,” and earn badges as they explored, encouraging curiosity and repeat exploration.
This approach blended physical exhibits with digital moments, making learning more fun, interactive, and memorable for kids and families.
Game Experience
The VR game guided visitors through the journey of a Gold Rush miner:
Collect Gold: Pan for gold and gather as much as possible.
Weigh & Estimate Value: Weigh the collected gold to calculate its worth.
Choose a Destination: Select a travel route to ride the iconic stagecoach.
Start the Journey: Gather essential supplies, face trail challenges, and experience decisions miners made on their journey west.
This game blended play and learning, transforming passive museum visits into immersive, story-driven adventures.
Learning and Outcomes
The experiment in mixed reality led to:
Increased dwell time at exhibits as visitors explored interactive content.
Repeat gameplay and family collaboration, turning learning into shared fun.
Modernization of the museum experience while preserving Wells Fargo’s historical storytelling.
By blending physical exhibits with digital experiences, we helped turn a traditional museum visit into an engaging, hands-on exploration of history.