Bay AI for SolarBuddy

SolarBuddy LIVE App Game
Proposal

A platform proposal for two digital products that turn SolarBuddy's real-world impact into a participatory, gamified corporate experience — grounded in UN SDG research and competitive market analysis.

Prepared byBay AI
Date12 May 2026
StatusDraft for review
2.1 Strategic Framing

One platform. Two products.

Bay AI recommends treating these as a platform, not two separate apps — the investment in shared infrastructure serves both products and reduces total cost.

The underlying architecture — real-time session management, leaderboard engine, admin panel, event data export — is common to both products. Building them sequentially on the same base reduces total build cost and creates a coherent product family that SolarBuddy owns outright.

The two products address different market segments: Product A targets corporate event facilitators running indoor or office-based team sessions; Product B targets team building providers (TBPs) and corporates running outdoor city experiences. Together, they cover the full spectrum of the SolarBuddy LIVE event market.

Product A — SolarBuddy Impact Game Office/event SDG decision experience. Teams make energy access decisions and see their ripple effect across the SDGs, converging on a shared impact reveal.
Product B — SolarBuddy City Quest GPS-guided city exploration experience. Teams discover SDG themes in the physical environment — challenges completed = real-world impact generated.
2.2 Gamification Concepts — Product A

SolarBuddy Impact Game

Five concepts for the office/event SDG decision experience. Bay AI recommends A1 as the core build, with A4 as a low-cost add-on.

Core Builds
Add-on SKU

A4 — Lights On

Kahoot-meets-Ripple; fastest to build; best conference energiser

A rapid-fire format designed to run in 20–30 minutes as a conference breakout or event warm-up. All participants join via QR code — one phone per person. Questions appear on the big screen; participants vote individually. Each question is a real-world decision scenario tied to an SDG.

The aggregate of the room's votes creates a "collective decision" and the screen shows the impact rippling outward. Ends with a room-level summary: "This room just generated X impact points — equivalent to Y study hours for Z children."

Differentiator: Scales to 500+ in a conference hall. No team structure required. Lowest barrier to entry. Entry-level SKU that primes buyers for the full Impact Game.
Additional Concepts

A2 — SDG Pathfinder

Broader SDG coverage; better for clients beyond energy themes

Teams are each assigned a different SDG as their starting point. Decisions unlock cross-SDG connections — the finale shows a live web of how all 17 goals interconnect across the room.

Differentiator: Covers all 17 SDGs. Widens appeal to corporates with sustainability commitments beyond clean energy.

A3 — Mission Control

Higher competitive energy; best for large conference breakout

Teams are "mission operators" managing energy access with a resource budget (tokens = funding, personnel, technology). Mid-game crisis events (storm damage, supply chain issues) disrupt plans. A global leaderboard tracks Impact Efficiency Score — impact generated per resource unit.

Differentiator: Resource scarcity mechanics make energy poverty visceral. Strong appeal for finance, strategy, and operations teams.
Phase 2

A5 — The World Builders

Multi-session campaign format; highest ESG reporting value

Not a single-event game but a multi-session campaign. Three events across a quarter, each a chapter of a longer narrative. Teams carry their community identity and score across all three events. Cumulative impact data becomes powerful ESG annual report content.

Differentiator: Transforms a one-off event into an ongoing ESG programme. Creates year-round client retention.
2.2 Gamification Concepts — Product B

SolarBuddy City Quest

Five concepts for the GPS-guided city exploration experience. Bay AI recommends B1 as the standard SKU and B4 as the premium enterprise product.

Core Builds
Additional Concepts

B2 — Race for the Light

Fastest, most competitive; high energy and physical activity

Time-pressured city race with a meta-game: teams that take longer to discuss decisions get higher impact scores; teams that rush get lower impact. The final winner is determined by a composite Speed + Impact score.

Differentiator: The speed/impact tension is a metaphor for short-termism vs. long-term ESG thinking. Highly replayable.

B3 — City of Light

Most immersive; best for storytelling over competition

Teams play development consultants auditing a fictional city. They collect "evidence cards" at real locations, then present recommendations to a "board" — other teams vote on the best plan. The winning team's recommendations are notionally funded.

Differentiator: Strong for L&D and leadership development contexts. Peer voting creates facilitated discussion without requiring a facilitator.
Phase 2

B5 — Hidden Lights (AR Edition)

Most innovative; highest differentiation; future SKU

AR overlays at real locations reveal stories of communities served by SolarBuddy. Fully cooperative — teams collectively uncover a set of community stories. Ends with a shared gallery of real-world impact.

Differentiator: Genuinely innovative; differentiates sharply from every competitor. Community story collection is emotionally powerful ESG-report-ready content.

Bay AI's Recommendation

Product A: Build A1 (The Ripple Engine) as the core experience. Add A4 (Lights On) as a conference-energiser SKU on the same engine at low incremental cost.

Product B: Build B1 (SDG Trail) for the standard city explorer, and B4 (Global Impact Sprint) as the premium multi-city SKU. B4 is the product that justifies the "Race Around the World" concept and has the highest enterprise sales potential.

Phase 2: Plant B5 (AR) and A5 (World Builders) in the proposal as future directions — they demonstrate ambition without committing to complex build in Phase 1.

2.4 Build Approach

How to build it

Three options were considered. Bay AI recommends Option 3 for Product A and Option 1 or 2 for Product B.

Option 1

White-Label Platform

Pre-built scavenger hunt / gamification platforms (PlayTours, GooseChase, Seppo). Fastest to market — weeks, not months. Lower cost. However: limited ability to customise the impact scoring logic, ripple narrative, shared big-screen display, or post-event data export. Would look and feel like every other app-based treasure hunt.

Option 2

Hybrid Build

White-label platform for checkpoint/challenge delivery, with a custom layer on top for SDG impact logic, shared display, and data export. Middle path — faster than full custom, more differentiated than pure white-label. Risk: technical debt at the interface between platforms; limitations may surface mid-build.

2.5 Phased Plan & Indicative Costs

Timeline and investment

All figures are indicative and in AUD unless otherwise noted. Final scope and pricing follow a discovery workshop.

Phase What You Get Indicative Range (AUD) Timeline
Phase 1 Product A MVP — web app, community profiles, 2–3 decision points, Ripple Reveal finale, basic admin panel, post-event data card $35K – $55K 10–14 weeks
Phase 2 Product A full — native app, multi-location sessions, TBP admin layer, individual voting, post-event notification, ESG data export, A4 conference SKU, white-label branding +$40K – $65K 16–24 weeks
Phase 3A Product B — City Quest via white-label platform + custom SDG layer (recommended path) $18K – $28K 8–12 weeks
Phase 3B Product B — City Quest, fully custom on shared platform $30K – $48K 14–20 weeks
Phase 1–3A total Full dual-product suite via most efficient path ~$88K – $133K ~24–36 weeks
Ongoing: Hosting, maintenance, and content updates scoped separately as an annual retainer — estimate $8,000–$15,000 AUD/year depending on platform scale.
Phase 3+ Premium SKUs (Future)

Multi-City Global Sprint (B4)

Real-time cross-city leaderboard; enterprise conference product.

$20K – $35K AUD

Campaign Format (A5: World Builders)

Persistent multi-session progression for year-round ESG programmes.

$25K – $40K AUD

AR Edition (B5: Hidden Lights)

AR community story overlay; cooperative city experience.

$35K – $55K AUD

2.6 Open Questions

Two items that shape final scoping

These remain unresolved and will determine the scope of the fixed proposal Bay AI produces after the discovery call.

Budget ceiling

Even a rough signal ("low five figures" vs. "$150K") determines whether we scope Phase 1 alone, or present Phase 1 + 2 as the starting package. Without this, the cost table above is the honest range.

Event administration scope

Does a TBP-facing admin panel need to be in Phase 1, or can we start with SolarBuddy-staff-only and add the partner layer in Phase 2? The difference is roughly 3–4 weeks of build time and $8,000–$15,000 AUD.

Bay AI recommends addressing both in a short discovery call before any build begins.

2.7 Why Bay AI

What Bay AI brings

🧭

Strategic framing, not just delivery

We've structured this as a platform investment, not a one-off project, because that's what maximises SolarBuddy's long-term return. A white-label tool gets you to market faster but limits your product.

🔍

We know the space

We researched the competitive landscape so you don't have to sell to your exec team based on intuition — you can show them exactly where the gap is and why SolarBuddy fills it uniquely.

💡

We understand the mission

The emotional core of SolarBuddy — one light, one child, one ripple — is what makes this product worth building. Bay AI's job is to make sure every technical decision serves that story.