Turning in-venue gameplay into a connected digital experience for Lane7

They’re recognised for their vibrant, high-energy atmosphere and modern approach to social gaming. Blending boutique bowling with interactive experiences such as karaoke, beer pong, mini golf, and arcade-style games, Lane7 has created venues designed around competitive socialising and memorable nights out.

Their venues are built to encourage group interaction, immersive entertainment, and repeat visits, making technology and customer engagement a key part of the overall experience.

Lane7 chose us to produce an interactive portal that allows customers to compete in groups and track who can achieve the highest scores across a range of fairground-style games throughout the venue. They approached us with the brief to design and develop a game-ready scoring system that could be displayed across tablets, venue screens, and large-format displays. The platform needed to reflect Lane7’s bold and modern visual identity, while also providing reliable real-time score tracking, player management, and leaderboard functionality.

The system needed to support multiple touchpoints throughout the venue, allowing guests to seamlessly create groups, join existing teams, compete in games, and view live scores during their visit. Alongside the customer-facing experience, the solution also required a scalable backend capable of storing player information, syncing scores across devices, and integrating with third-party hardware such as RFID card readers.

A key objective of the project was to enhance the competitive atmosphere within the venue by making scores and rankings highly visible, interactive, and engaging for guests throughout their experience.

Tablet-based frontend

The web application needed to perform reliably on in-house tablets while maintaining a polished, engaging user experience consistent with the Lane7 brand.

The interface had to be intuitive enough for first-time users to navigate quickly in a busy venue environment, while also remaining visually exciting and responsive across multiple screen sizes.

User Interaction with Tablets

To begin their experience, players are required to either create a new group or join an existing one. When creating a group, multiple users can be added to the team, streamlining the process for tracking collective scores and encouraging social competition.

Each player is prompted to enter their details, including their name, email address, and other relevant information. This group-focused onboarding process creates a more engaging experience, whether guests are playing casually with friends or competing against other groups across the venue.

Tablet Onboarding

Upon arrival, guests are greeted by tablets in a standby state displaying a clear “Tap to Begin” prompt. While idle, the screens showcase animated backgrounds, looping B-roll footage, or slideshows featuring the games available throughout the venue.

This approach transforms otherwise inactive screens into visually engaging digital signage that captures attention, builds anticipation, and introduces guests to the available experiences before they even begin interacting with the system.

Viewing Score

Guests can also use the tablets to view their scores or access live leaderboards throughout the venue.

Selecting “See Your Scores” prompts users to enter their group name before taking them to a game selection screen where they can review their team’s performance across different games. Alternatively, selecting “Leaderboard” displays venue-wide rankings, allowing guests to compare their scores against every player or group participating that day. This functionality plays a key role in reinforcing the competitive atmosphere across the venue.

Score Display Around the Venue

In addition to tablet experiences, the project also explored the use of dedicated display screens positioned throughout the venue.

These screens would continuously cycle through live leaderboards, featured games, and active groups, helping to create a shared competitive experience across the entire venue. Larger central displays could showcase top scores from all games, while smaller game-specific screens could focus on individual attractions and player rankings in real time. This introduced additional technical considerations around synchronising data efficiently across multiple devices and maintaining low-latency updates during busy periods.

Storage API Integration

User scores, session data, and player information needed to be stored and retrieved efficiently across multiple devices and locations. The platform required a reliable API layer capable of handling real-time updates, syncing data between tablets and displays, and supporting scalable growth as new venues and games were introduced.

RIFD Card Reader Integration

The platform also needed to support custom integrations with RFID card readers, allowing players to quickly identify themselves and interact with games throughout the venue. This required additional planning around hardware communication, session management, and secure player identification to ensure a smooth user experience across all touchpoints.

Web frontend

We worked closely with Lane7’s internal design team to define the available user journeys, frontend functionality, and overall experience across tablets and public-facing displays. The frontend platform was designed to be accessible both within the venue and externally through leaderboard.lane7.com, allowing players to revisit scores and leaderboards beyond their visit.

Using functional mockups provided by the Lane7 team, we focused on building a clean, responsive interface optimised for touch interactions and large-format displays. The experience was intentionally designed to remain simple and highly accessible, ensuring guests could quickly navigate the platform in a fast-paced venue environment.

The frontend architecture was designed around a lightweight modern framework, enabling fast loading times, smooth transitions, and easy deployment through Cloudflare Pages. The application communicates directly with the Scores API using JavaScript, providing near real-time score updates across all connected devices.

Key frontend features included:

• Tablet onboarding experiences
• Group creation and management
• Live score tracking
• Interactive leaderboards
• Game filtering and venue filtering
• Public-facing score displays
• Responsive layouts for tablets and large screens

Real-time Venue Experience

A major focus of the project was creating a connected venue-wide experience that extended beyond individual games. By combining tablets, live leaderboards, and venue-wide display screens, the system transformed scoring into a central part of the customer experience. Guests could instantly see where they ranked, follow their group’s progress, and compete against others throughout the venue in real time.

The result was a digital experience that enhanced engagement, encouraged repeat gameplay, and reinforced the social, competitive atmosphere that defines the Lane7 brand.