Incorporating team challenges into viral marketing of a game

Abstract

In a method of incorporating team challenges into viral marketing of a game, an initiator of a team challenge of an online social game is prompted to select a friend of the initiator based on an online social network of the initiator to become a helper of the initiator in completing the team challenge. Based on a detecting of the friend of the initiator agreeing to become the helper of the initiator in completing the team challenge, the helper of the initiator is prompted to select a friend of the helper of the initiator based on an online social network of the helper to become an additional helper of the initiator in completing the team challenge. A completion of the team challenge is detected. A reward is provided to the initiator of the team challenge based on the detecting of the completion of the team challenge.

1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 prompting an initiator of a team challenge of an online social game to select a friend of the initiator based on an online social network of the initiator to become a helper of the initiator in completing the team challenge;   based on a detecting of the friend of the initiator agreeing to become the helper of the initiator in completing the team challenge, prompting the helper of the initiator to select a friend of the helper of the initiator based on an online social network of the helper to become an additional helper of the initiator in completing the team challenge, the prompting of the helper of the initiator being performed by a machine;   detecting a completion of the team challenge; and   providing a reward based on the detecting of the completion of the team challenge.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising providing an additional reward to the helper of the initiator of the team challenge. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , wherein the providing of the additional reward to the helper of the initiator of the team challenge is based on a contribution of the helper of the initiator of the team challenge toward the completion of the team challenge. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the detecting of the friend of the initiator agreeing to become the helper of the initiator is based on the friend of the initiator becoming a player of a game associated with the team challenge. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the prompting of the helper of the initiator to select a friend of the helper of the initiator to become an additional helper of the initiator is independent of whether the additional helper of the initiator is a friend of the initiator based on the online social network of the initiator. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the additional helper of the initiator is not a friend of the initiator based on the online social network of the initiator. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the friend of the initiator is an out-of-game friend of the initiator based on the online social game and the online social network of the initiator. 
     
     
         8 . A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium embodying a set of instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, causes the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
 prompting an initiator of a team challenge of an online social game to select a friend of the initiator based on an online social network of the initiator to become a helper of the initiator in completing the team challenge;   based on a detecting of the friend of the initiator agreeing to become the helper of the initiator in completing the team challenge, prompting the helper of the initiator to select a friend of the helper of the initiator based on an online social network of the initiator to become an additional helper of the initiator in completing the team challenge;   detecting a completion of the team challenge; and   providing a reward to the initiator of the team challenge based on the detecting of the completion of the team challenge.   
     
     
         9 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 8 , the operations further comprising providing an additional reward to the helper of the initiator of the team challenge. 
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the providing of the additional reward to the helper of the initiator of the team challenge is based on a contribution of the helper of the initiator of the team challenge toward the completion of the team challenge. 
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 8 , wherein the detecting of the friend of the initiator agreeing to become the helper of the initiator is based on the friend of the initiator becoming a player of a game associated with the team challenge. 
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 8 , wherein the prompting of the helper of the initiator to select a friend of the helper of the initiator to become an additional helper of the initiator is independent of whether the additional helper of the initiator is a friend of the initiator based on an online social network of the initiator. 
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 8 , wherein the additional helper of the initiator is not a friend of the initiator based on an online social network of the initiator. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 8 , wherein the friend of the initiator is an out-of-game friend of the initiator based on an online social network of the initiator. 
     
     
         15 . A system comprising:
 a processor-implemented helper-selection module configured to:
 prompt an initiator of a team challenge of an online social game to select a friend of the initiator based on an online social network of the initiator to become a helper of the initiator in completing the team challenge; and 
 based on a detecting of the friend of the initiator agreeing to become the helper of the initiator in completing the team challenge, prompt the helper of the initiator to select a friend of the helper of the initiator based on an online social network of the helper to become an additional helper of the initiator in completing the team challenge; 
   a detection module configured to detect a completion of the team challenge; and   a reward module configured to provide a reward to the initiator of the team challenge based on the detecting of the completion of the team challenge.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the reward module is further configured to provide an additional reward to the helper of the initiator of the team challenge. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the additional reward to the helper of the initiator of the team challenge is based on a contribution of the helper of the initiator of the team challenge toward the completion of the team challenge. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the detecting of the friend of the initiator agreeing to become the helper of the initiator is based on the friend of the initiator becoming a player of a game associated with the team challenge. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the prompting of the helper of the initiator to select a friend of the helper of the initiator to become an additional helper of the initiator is independent of whether the additional helper of the initiator is a friend of the initiator. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the additional helper of the initiator is not a friend of the initiator based on an online social network of the initiator.