How FrieslandCampina's Olpy Character Became the Star of a Leaderboard-Driven Maze Runner
Written by Adrian K., Founder & Lead Engineer at Codanum
The Context
Chirri Urri had worked, and FrieslandCampina came back wanting a second Olper's game that didn't just repeat the formula. Where Chirri Urri leaned on a Flappy Bird-style mechanic, this one needed to be a top-down maze runner built around their Olpy character, with brand collectibles driving the score and friend leaderboards pulling players back between sessions.
The Challenge
Maze-runner games depend entirely on control feel. On mobile, directional input for a maze character needs to be snappy enough to handle tight turns yet forgiving enough that a mistimed swipe doesn't feel unfair. The maze layouts had to be challenging without producing unavoidable dead ends, and the Olper's red visual theme, explicitly required by the brief, had to be bold and on-brand without collapsing the readability distinction between maze walls, paths, and collectibles.
One-thumb
Control Scheme
Real-time
Leaderboard
The Solution
Olpy Chase, built in Unity 2D, uses a grid-based movement system with input buffering that queues the player's next directional intent, smoothing the gap between tap and character response without removing the skill ceiling. Maze layouts were hand-crafted across multiple difficulty variants, with dot placement designed to reward players who plan a route ahead rather than react. The Olper's red palette was applied through a layered UI system that keeps every visual element (walls, floors, collectibles, and Olpy himself) distinct and readable at a glance. Firebase powers real-time leaderboard ranking and friend score comparison.
The Impact
Olpy Chase shipped with the FrieslandCampina Olper's campaign on schedule. Testers hit tight maze turns reliably on first contact, a direct result of the input-buffering system doing its job. The dot-collection mechanic and leaderboard structure turned casual play into competitive replay, with session lengths climbing as players chased friend scores instead of stopping after one run.
"Olpy Chase has the kind of 'one more run' quality that's hard to manufacture. The controls feel tight, the brand is everywhere you look, and the leaderboard keeps pulling you back in."
