The Advent Calendar mechanic offers a variety of daily animations related to your brand through "boxes" to open, including:
Win a new reward every day.
Discover a new product or service daily.
Participate in a different game each day.
And much more!
With many customization options, this module is extremely flexible. It’s perfect not only for year-end holidays like an Advent calendar but also ideal for engaging your community all year round. The promise of exclusive daily content strongly encourages users to return every day, boosting their exposure to your brand and long-term engagement.
✍️ Note: If your Winning Calendar involves multiple successive game modules, be sure to factor in the preparation time (including graphic creation, configuration, and testing) in your schedule.
Game design
Before configuring your campaign, you’ll need to have created the various required graphic elements. Start by checking this page for all essential information on graphic creation for your campaign: Creating graphics for your games.
You’ll find all the downloadable elements for your module (standard dimensions) in our pack, which includes a PSD file with standard dimensions and a graphic creation manual:
Page management
The calendar serves as an entry point to other mechanics or campaign pages. The number of boxes in the calendar is unlimited, but each box can only redirect to a single page.
When creating your campaign with the Winning Calendar mechanic, the default user journey is: Form, Calendar, Instant Win (Click & Win), Win Page, Lose Page, Already Played, and End (campaign end). Customize each step according to your user flow.
Background image
Import your web backgrounds by clicking the "+" icon in Background Image. For graphic specs, please refer to the "Game Design" section of this article. You can also add a solid background color to surround your game pages. Keep the base color or unify your campaign with a color reflecting your brand or game pages.
Import your web backgrounds by clicking the "+" icon in Background Image. For graphic specs, please refer to the "Game Design" section of this article. You can also add a solid background color to surround your game pages. Keep the base color or unify your campaign with a color reflecting your brand or game pages.
Calendar set up
Number of participations: Set the number of participations per day, week, month, or campaign per user, then create and select your "Already Played" page. If a user tries to play again, they will be redirected to this page. For a Winning Calendar, we recommend two options:
Unlimited participation: users can access your Calendar page unlimited times (regardless of limitations set on underlying mechanics behind each box).
Participation limited to once per day: to encourage users to return daily, creating anticipation and constant interest. If they return a second time within 24 hours, they’ll be redirected to the "already played" page.
Allow unlimited access to boxes: enables permanent access to all already opened boxes, in any order. For example, if you want users to discover 30 different products/services, they can access those boxes unlimitedly and in any order. If this option is disabled, access depends on the availability time window you set for each box.
Open past days’ boxes: lets you leave boxes whose availability date is before the current time "open." Note: users can still click on an already opened/past box if unlimited access is enabled.
Customize opened boxes: When enabled, you can customize two states of your boxes in the Calendar: opened boxes under the "Content" tab and closed boxes under the "Appearance" tab. By default, this toggle is on for new campaigns. If disabled, there will be only one visual for both open and closed states (the visual to be placed under "Content"). An opacity is applied automatically when boxes are opened by participants.
Zoom on box of the day (Mobile only) : Allows zooming on the box of the day when accessing the campaign via mobile. Activating zoom enables fullscreen mode on mobile by default.
Calendar content
The "Content" tab allows you to:
Set the redirect page: define which campaign page each box redirects to.
Set access dates (start/end) for each box.
In two-state customization mode (open/closed boxes):
Import visuals for box content shown upon opening each box.
In single visual mode:
Import box visuals to be placed on your game, with opacity applied automatically once boxes are opened.
You can redirect users to: Instant Win for prize distribution, Score Games to energize your campaign, Basic brand promo pages with videos or discount coupons... The possibilities make the Winning Calendar highly customizable to give your campaign a strong identity and extend user exposure to your brand.
Apply box placement to all views: If the calendar has different box positions for Desktop and Mobile, be sure to disable the toggle "Apply box placement to all views."
✍️ Time-saving tip: Set your campaign dates properly (e.g., 12/01 00:00 to 12/24 23:59) before uploading boxes in Content, as they will automatically take the date and time of each day.
Appearance customization
Game background visual (same on Desktop & Mobile): The same visual will be used on mobile. Ensure the background includes visuals of the boxes in "closed" state, as this is what users will see when landing on the Calendar page.
Game background visual (different box positions Desktop vs Mobile): Disable "Apply box placement to all views" to upload different backgrounds for desktop and mobile views.
Game background visual (single visual mode): Background can be transparent or contain decorative elements that are not boxes. Box visuals go only in the "Content" tab.
Particle type: Add extra animation to the background for immersion, like scrolling an image or a snow effect ❄️ with customizable colors.
Show box borders: You can outline your boxes with a solid or dotted border, choosing thickness and color to highlight them.
Highlight box of the day: Encourage users to click the box of the day with animations like "Outline," "Pulse," or "Buzz," where you can choose color, thickness (pixels), and halo density (pixels).
Only in two-state customization mode:
Opening animation: Several opening options are available (see below).
Box inner color: Add a color filter inside boxes, visible mainly on "wooden shutters" and "doors" animations.
Opening animations:
Shutter
Blind
Fade out
Bottom door
Left door
Right door
Top door
Advanced option settings let you configure your loading bar and the box of the day animation.
Mobile only (when "Apply box placement to all views" is off):
Box scale: Adjust box size on mobile with a slider to fit the game background perfectly.
Module editing and preview settings
To change the location of the boxes in your calendar, click on the game zone. A drop-down menu will open at the bottom left of your campaign.
Edit game dimensions: Use "classic" mode (default) for optimal dimensions or manual mode to fit your game inside your mobile app or website with custom sizes adapted to your webview constraints.
Edit game engine: Position visual elements imported under "Content" onto the game background. Opacity appears when moving boxes to align them properly, and box dates show on mouse hover. Boxes can be moved pixel-perfect with keyboard arrow keys.
In two-state mode, position open box visuals over the closed box visuals in your background. You can organize your calendar in any order you like.
Mobile version setup
Once your web campaign is configured, switch to Mobile view to import backgrounds and format your pages for this device.
Data export
Exporting user data from campaigns using the Calendar mechanic generates an Excel file including columns specific to this mechanic:
Calendrier_calendar_nb_open_slots: number of boxes opened during the campaign
Calendrier_calendar_open_slots: names of image files representing boxes opened by the participant
Campaign examples
Discover scenario examples of this module below and in our "Inspiration" section.