The BBC has announced its first ever cross-channel game, Fly-High And Huggy for CBBC and CBeebies.
The games will be available across PC, mobile and tablet. This is the BBC’s first brand designed to appeal to both CBeebies and CBBC audiences – bridging the gap between the two Children’s channels.
The cross-platform games will be supported by five animated TV shorts which will simulcast on the respective channels from Monday 12 May daily at 16:00. The shorts feature characters from the games, and see Fly-High the squirrel and Huggy the guinea pig test Professor Aulus Von Hoot’s latest crackpot invention to get the golden nut up the tree for the king’s breakfast.
CBBC and CBeebies audiences can play the Flash version of Fly-High and Huggy on their PCs where it takes the form of a ‘platform runner’ style game; where Fly-High runs through levels, jumping, scampering and flying to avoid objects. The CBeebies audience has eight levels to complete up to a three star rating; once completed they have the option to go to the CBBC version of the game and continue their experience.
The CBBC version features 12 levels and offers audiences greater challenges, new characters and narrative; giving the players a new experience yet it’s a natural progression from CBeebies to test their skills.
The mobile and tablet version of the game is built in HTML5 and designed to suit touchscreen devices. Huggy must catapult Fly-High through the air in a bid to deliver the nut. Players can control how Fly-High glides to reach his goal, catching tasty bugs and power boosts from the tree’s inhabitants.
Fly-High and Huggy has been developed by Chunk and Darrall Macqueen, with character design and animation by Dublin-based JAM MEDIA.
Catherine McAllister, Executive Producer, BBC Children’s, says:
We’re very excited to launch our first-ever cross channel game for our younger audiences; this is a big milestone for both CBBC and CBeebies. We know that children’s media consumption habits are changing and we have a duty to reach our audiences wherever they are, and we strive to produce rich online content to extend our broadcast propositions. Fly-High and Huggy creates warmth and humour that works for both age groups in an interactive way, while adding depth and complexity for the older children, offering a smooth transition from one channel to the other.
Maddy Darrall, Executive Producer at Darrall Macqueen, adds:
Developing an IP that works across audiences, platforms and channels has been a very exciting experience, and it’s been great to work with Chunk to bring this idea to life. At the heart of all the game play, for both CBeebies and CBBC, is a great story. Chunk has really grasped the importance of narrative and strong characters in the Fly-High and Huggy games and the team at JAM Media has created characters that have a real glint in their eyes.
