Hotel chain Marriott International is the latest company to jump on the Facebook gaming craze with a new lemonade stand style game they boldly claim “is similar in concept to the highly popular Farmville and Cityville games.”
“My Marriott Hotel” is said to allow users to manage a “virtual” hotel restaurant kitchen before eventually moving on to other areas of hotel operations. As at the time of writing, only the kitchen module is available.
Despite comparing the game to Farmville, My Marriott Hotel isn’t nearly as involved, nor interesting. The game setup is a classic Lemonade Stand style game, with basic resource management. Game play involves selecting ovens, cooks (“associates”) and cooking orders in the kitchen as they come in. The better and quicker the item is cooked, the more is eaten and the more points you earn.
In a media release, David Rodriguez, EVP of Global Human Resources for Marriott International said “As Marriott expands in growth markets outside the U.S., and as we seek to attract more Millennials – those between the ages 18 and 27 – to our workforce, we must find new ways to interest them in hospitality careers…This game allows us to showcase the world of opportunities and the growth potential attainable in hospitality careers, especially in cultures where the service industry might be less established or prestigious.”
The emphasis is mine, but it’s the key: Marriott believes that by launching this game, “Millennials” will want to flock to careers at the company.
In theory, it’s not a terrible idea, and it’s an interesting way to get your brand out there. But there’s one rather large catch here: the game is about as exciting as watching paint dry. The graphics and game play look like something you would see on an Apple IIe, and many people who try the game will walk away with a negative opinion of the Marriott brand, particularly given how poorly they rate their own food within the game.
If you’re really desperate and bored, you can play My Marriott Hotel on Facebook here.
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