Pinball wizardry: The magic of the World Wide Maze

International – In its latest Chrome Experiment, Google Japan is enabling users to turn a website into a smartphone-controlled pinball game.

In a world in which gaming is increasingly omnipresent, brands are continually looking for ways to incorporate games into their products, even when they are not specifically gaming applications, as we reported in our Ubiquitous Gaming Culture macrotrend.

Chrome World Wide Maze uses HTML5, Javascript and WebGL- powered graphics to transform a regular website into a maze-like pinball game. After synchronising the Chrome mobile browser with a tab on the desktop and connecting a smartphone, the smartphone becomes the controller, enabling users to navigate around the website’s graphics and beat the maze.

The app works with any Android phone running 4.0 as well as iPhones running iOS5 or later.