Tru-Cape's Fruit-Full 3 clinches Best Gaming Solution at MTN App of the Year Awards

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Since 2012, the MTN App of the Year Awards has been celebrating the finest innovation, local talent, and out-of-the-box thinkers who drive disruption and change in coding and development in South Africa. This year, Fruit-Full 3 came out tops in a category that was described as "tough to judge, with some excellent submissions".

Fruit-Full 3 puts gamers in charge of their very own Tru-Cape apple and pear farm, where they learn about farming, managing resources, logistics, packing, and selling, all while having loads of fun with characters like James the Farmer, Granny Gogs, and Ruben the Shopkeeper.

Conrad Fick, marketing director at Tru-Cape, says the company strategically embarked on innovative initiatives to forge stronger connections with their customer base, while simultaneously advocating for a healthy lifestyle through engaging digital mediums.

"We are immensely proud that Fruit-Full 3 has been named the MTN Gaming App of the Year. Our journey in this domain commenced with a preliminary concept influenced by the classic Pac-Man game. The project gained significant traction in 2017 following our collaboration with BIGBrave.

"Despite the challenges posed by a constrained budget and a specific requirement for a simulation-style application, BIGBrave showed remarkable enthusiasm in bringing our concept to fruition. Fruit-full was meticulously developed, drawing inspiration from comprehensive field research, thus integrating an authentic representation of our operational processes.

Thousands of gamers joined in the fun over the past year. Most were from South Africa, but players from America, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Indonesia also ventured into apple and pear farming.

According to Brett Lindsay, chief operating officer of BIGBrave, the developer behind the interactive game, it is always great to be recognised for the work they do with their clients.

"This award not only recognizes our design and development talents in creating the game but also validates Tru-Cape's initial idea to commit to finding new ways to engage with their consumer market. This type of market engagement is not the typical advertising shout; instead, it involves immersive, shared experiences that take players on an adventure of discovery. This fosters strong brand affinity for Tru-Cape, and top-of-mind purchase persuasion at the till points."

Unique in South Africa

The game is set in the Ceres and Grabouw regions of the Western Cape. The BIGBrave team spent many hours in Tru-Cape's actual apple and pear orchards to get a real feel for the care, farming practices, and processes required to produce quality fruit. This ensures that the game closely simulates the real world while maintaining a fun and engaging game experience.

"There aren't many games like Fruit-full 3 in the South African context. For players the experience is similar to a virtual tour of the Tru-Cape orchards and pack-houses, all while learning about fruit production and the business of fruit sales," says Lindsay, adding that he is very proud of how much new knowledge he has gathered around the fruit growing process, different varieties and the resilience of fruit growers amidst challenging environmental and economic conditions.

"The strategy of the game is to highlight the process of production and the meticulous care taken along the way to promote Tru-Cape apples and pears as a high-quality product within the fresh produce sector."

According to Peter Furstenberg, multimedia developer at BIGBrave, Fruit-full 3 is aimed at players from 10-year-olds right through to adults. "Whether you are young or old, everyone can learn something from the process."

Fruit-Full 3 is available on Google Play and can be downloaded from the Apple App Store.