Mobile Apps Are Better With 'M®: "M&M'S® Brand Chocolate Factory" is Colorful Fun!

ATLANTA, Dec. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Gamers and chocolate lovers alike will have colorful fun inside the "M&M'S® Brand Chocolate Factory," a new gaming app launching on iTunes for $.99.   Users help the adventurous M&M'S® Characters save M&M'S® Brand Candies from melting by utilizing different tools to divert the lentils from falling into hot milk chocolate. This engaging app was developed by Mars Retail Licensee Alchemy3 and is the first of its kind developed for the M&M'S brand.

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121211/NY27210 )

The app "M&M'S® Brand Chocolate Factory" gives consumers an exciting, new way to connect with their favorite M&M'S® Characters.  In the past, Mars Retail has offered a variety of family games that incorporate the M&M'S® Brand, from puzzles to checkers and YAHTZEE, so creating a gaming app was the next step forward. Consumers of all ages have been looking for an M&M'S® Brand app, and it is expected it will be a big hit.

In the game, the six M&M'S® Characters plead for help to save M&M'S® Brand Candies from melting inside the factory. Using a set of six tools that includes rubber bands, conveyer belts, pinwheels and pipes, the user creates a system to catch and direct the bouncing M&M'S® Brand Candies around obstacles.  Every candy that is safely directed into the bag becomes a point-scoring pinball as it bounces through the Pachinko pins to rack up points. Each session ends with a final score resembling a plant inspection report.

Before, during and after the game, the M&M'S® Characters offer tips and comments inside talk bubbles. With a nod to safety, M&M'S® Character Blue -- wearing a construction hard hat – warns, "Remember not to play while operating heavy machinery, driving or flying," while pointing to a yellow caution sign with drawings of a plane, train and automobile.

Features of the app include Pachinko style scoring, 12 different levels, 34 achievements, Twitter messaging, Facebook Posts and a game center leaderboard. There's even a "gifting button" on iTunes (in the app under the options settings), so it can be a unique, virtual gift providing hours of entertainment.

The game will be available on iOS, and users can download the app from iTunes.   

About Alchemy3

Since its inception in 2007, Alchemy3 has worked with nearly all of North America's lotteries and also provides strategic marketing services to world-class companies such as Mars, Incorporated; EA Sports; Bass Pro Shops; Neiman Marcus; and Norwegian Cruise Line. In addition to developing mobile apps and interactive games, the Alpharetta, Ga., based company offers a myriad services, from marketing planning and execution to product design, website development and fulfillment services. Please visit www.alchemy3.com.

About Mars Retail Group

Headquartered in Mount Arlington, New Jersey, U.S., the Mars Retail Group (MRG) creates and builds retail businesses that build the brands of Mars, Incorporated.  The iconic M&M'S® World stores, located in New York City, Las Vegas, Orlando, and London, currently represent Mars' largest retail business.  MRG also operates the company's Licensing and MY M&M'S® businesses, as well as the gourmet chocolate business that is sold under the ETHEL M® Brand name.

Mars Retail Group is a division of Mars, Incorporated. In 1911, Frank C. Mars made the first Mars candies in his Tacoma, Washington kitchen and established Mars' roots as a confectionery company.  In the 1920s, Forrest E. Mars, Sr. joined his father in business and together they launched the MILKY WAY® bar. In 1932, Forrest, Sr. moved to the United Kingdom with a dream of  building a business based on the objective of creating a "mutuality of benefits for all stakeholders" – this objective serves as the foundation of Mars, Incorporated today. Based in McLean, Virginia, Mars has net sales of more than $30 billion, six business segments including Petcare, Chocolate, Wrigley, Food, Drinks, Symbioscience, and more than 70,000 Associates worldwide that are putting its Principles into action to make a difference for people and the planet through its performance.

Mars brands include: Petcare – PEDIGREE®, ROYAL CANIN®, WHISKAS®, KITEKAT®, BANFIELD® Pet Hospital and NUTRO®; Chocolate – M&M'S®, SNICKERS®, DOVE®, GALAXY®, MARS®, MILKY WAY® and TWIX®; Wrigley – DOUBLEMINT®, EXTRA®, ORBIT® and 5™ chewing gums, SKITTLES® and STARBURST® candies, and ALTOIDS® AND LIFESAVERS® mints.  Food – UNCLE BEN'S®, DOLMIO®, EBLY®, MASTERFOODS®, SEEDS OF CHANGE® and ROYCO®; Drinks – ALTERRA COFFEE ROASTERS™, THE BRIGHT TEA COMPANY™, KLIX® and FLAVIA®; Symbioscience – COCOAVIA™, WISDOM PANEL™ and SERAMIS®. 

For more information, please visit www.mars.com.  Follow us: facebook.com/mars, twitter.com/marsglobal, youtube.com/mars.

SOURCE Alchemy3