Mumbai: OptimiZEE, the social content hub at ZEE, has rolled out a first-of-its-kind endless front-runner game on the web, “Happu Ki Nikali Savaari” for ZEE show Happu Ki Ultan Paltan currently airing on &TV and streaming on ZEE5.

With a whopping 433 million gaming enthusiasts as of FY21, India stands as the second-largest country in the online gaming universe. Increasingly, brands too are leveraging the medium to further engage with their audience and build affinity. OptimiZEE’s launch of hypercasual games truly offers brands a chance to reach out to a highly engaged and invested audience, the platform said in a statement on Wednesday.

For gamers who crave an experience in vernacular languages, the device-agnostic game truly serves as the perfect platform to step into the shoes of their favourite TV character in a virtual world through a game that’s uncomplicated and exciting, it added.

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“Our audience is continuously engaging with the compelling stories and their popular characters at Zee and this engagement is growing across screens and formats,” shared OptimiZEE, ZEE – head, Kartik Mahadev. “Gaming is one such format which has witnessed significant growth and is no longer limited to serious gamers alone. The OptimiZEE solutions team along with the content teams and the tech partners worked in quick time to develop this format to engage with fans of Happu. It required that we delved into the world of Happu to pick attributes that would suit the gaming format and give the fans an enjoyable gaming experience. The team chose a web-based solution for greater access to fans of the show. This is just the first of many solutions that we hope will delight our audience. It will create value for our customers as well as brands are looking for innovative ways to interact with consumers. Over the course of last year, casual gaming has truly made its way from the basement to the boardrooms. The solutions in the pipeline will offer brands in-game integrations to engage with the immersed audience.”

“The pot-bellied Daroga Happu Singh has made our viewers laugh like no other. His incredible comic timing, Kanpuria quirks, and dialect make him an audience favourite,” &TV – business head Vishnu Shankar said. “Given his mass appeal and with viewers who are always craving new opportunities to engage with their beloved television characters, launching ‘Happu Ki Nikali Savaari’, a hyper-casual game, was a natural step for us. The game will enable his fans to immerse themselves into a whole new exciting world of Happu Singh. We at &TV are extremely proud of the fact that Happu Singh is the first character across the ZEE Bouquet on whom a game has been developed.”

Yogesh Tripathi, who plays Daroga Happu Singh in  “Happu Ki Ultan Paltan”, said, “You all have loved Daroga Happu Singh, his oil-slicked hair that perfectly twirls on his forehead, his goofy paan-stained grin that highlights his atypical moustache to his typical Kanpuria one-liners – Niyocchavar Kar Do, Arrey Dada, Gurde Chheel Denge. Now you have another reason to rejoice and get entertained at your fingertips. Happu Ki Ultan Paltan was a dream come true for me and now, to be immortalised in the form of a gaming character fills my heart with immense gratitude. I am sure our hypercasual game will add several moments of laughter and fun to fans’ lives. I hope our fans will shower the same love and affection to ‘Happu Ki Nikali Savaari’ as they have for ‘Happu Ki Ultan Paltan’ and keep enjoying both the show and play the game too.”

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Poised to be the first in the series of web-based games, “Happu Ki Nikali Savaari” will be amplified across social media, on-air and digital platforms of &TV and ZEE5. As part of the promotions, fans are invited to participate in an exciting contest on social media platforms.