Press release from Flowstate:
Flowstate today announced the launch of Flowstate Game Modes; a points-based incentivised leaderboard engine designed specifically to drive repeat bookings, deepen engagement and cross promote products & services. Flowstate Game Modes is built to addresses one of the industry’s most persistent commercial problems: getting guests who had a first session to come back for a second, third, and fourth by incentivising repeat bookings and cross-sells with prizes and status.
Live now at URBNSURF Sydney and URBNSURF Melbourne, Atlantic Park Surf, Lost Shore, and o2SURFTOWNMUC next to roll out across the company’s global partner network.
Every session a guest surfs at a participating pool now earns points; for waves caught, ride length, and manoeuvre skill level. Every game has its own specific set of goals, rules, and multipliers. Create the gameplay rules and the Flowstate AI automatically calculates Scores for each and every wave.
“Every wave pool operator is chasing the same thing: a surfer who books once and keeps coming back. Flowstate Game Modes gives us the most powerful rebooking engine we’ve ever had. When every session earns points, unlocks achievements and puts your name on a leaderboard, the reason to book your next session is built into the experience itself.”
- Mike Mortimer, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer, Flowstate
Built on Behavioural Science, Not Just a Leaderboard
Every Flowstate game is engineered around a specific behavioural lever, not just a ranking. A near-instant prize keeps the habit alive session to session; stacking daily, monthly and annual rewards gives guests a reason to play today, this month and all year; public status; a named title like Barrel Hunter of the Day; turns a good session into recognition in front of the community guests already surf with; and reframing a wipeout as a spin, rather than a setback, opens a door many guests would otherwise close. In the off-season, the Winter Warrior mechanics turn a slow period into a competition guests want to win.
A Named Games Platform, Not Just a Leaderboard
Rather than a single generic leaderboard, Flowstate Game Modes runs on a catalogue of Named Games; themed, branded competitions that sit on top of one shared scoring engine. Each game is mapped to a specific commercial goal and a matching incentive ladder, and each pool can run its own game with its own identity, timeframe, and story, refreshed seasonally to keep content and community engagement alive. Four Named Games are live now: Everyday Hero, Barrel Hunter, Wipeout Roulette, and Winter Warrior.
Everyday Hero. “The handicap system, equally weighted for every surfer.”
The comp anyone and everyone can enter, designed to drive repeat purchase across the whole guest base by lifting average purchase frequency: one becomes two, and the average of two becomes three. Guests climb a daily, monthly and season-long incentive ladder. A handicap-style system evens out the playing field from beginners to intermediate to advanced surfers. Get scored based on similar abilities so that any surfer of any ability has the opportunity to win.
Barrel Hunter. “Drop in. Get pitted. Get kudos.”
A badge of honour for the battle-hardened, built to deepen engagement with the core, regular surfer. Landing an AI-scored barrel earns guests “Barrel Hunter of the Day” leaderboard status, with recognition and rewards scaling up for the top barrel count each month and season.
Wipeout Roulette. “Commit. Crash. Cross-promote Coaching.”
Turns every wipeout into a chance for redemption and a nudge toward Flowstate’s coaching suite. After a winning wipeout, guests can win AI coaching feedback, unlock a tip, or claim a in pool coaching offer. People who may have been embarrassed to ask for help are now placed in a direct funnel into promoting coaching and progression products.
Winter Warrior. “Catch the most waves in winter and be rewarded as the ultimate warrior .”
A season-long volume challenge built to keep sessions selling when demand drops, Winter Warrior is the ultimate challenge for the battle hardened core winter surfer to not only receive the best value wave pool surfing sessions in the market, but also rewarded for their marathon efforts. Guests climb the seasonal leaderboard through a daily and grand-prize incentive structure, with rewards to be confirmed with partners ahead of launch.
“The Flowstate AI model was built from the ground up to understand exactly what happens on a wave; every manoeuvre, every section, every ride in full context. Flowstate Game Modes is the gamified engine that feeds off this powerful new model. Whether it’s getting to your feet for the first time, surfing backside or pulling into a barrel, every moment is scored with weighted handicap points designed to find a winner across every level of surfer.”
- Chris Hausler, Co-Founder & CTO, Flowstate
The Utilisation Problem
Surf parks sell a first session easily. The harder, more valuable problem is the second one. Most guests book once, have a great time, and don’t automatically come back the following week; yet the surf park business model depends on frequency, not just first-time visits.
Flowstate Game Modes is built to close that gap by giving every guest a reason to rebook that has little to do with discounting: a rank to defend, a score to beat, and a leaderboard to climb.
The launch follows a phased go-to-market: a teaser phase to build awareness with guests and operators, this launch phase now underway, and a proof phase this August in which Flowstate will publish first-cycle leaderboard results and utilisation data ahead of the Surf Park Summit (September 1–3, Virginia Beach), where the platform will be demonstrated live to the operator community
Proof of Concept: The 12-Hour Marathon
Ahead of the wider rollout, Flowstate put its gamification engine to the test with a 12-hour, AI-scored surf marathon at URBNSURF Sydney between surfers Blakey Johnston and Red Bull athlete Valentino Guseli, run live across three Named Games. The results showcased the range the engine is built to reward: Blakey led Barrel Hunter (2,611 to 1,793 points) and Everyday Hero (7,046 to 6,114 points), while Valentino’s high-risk approach on Wipeout Roulette; 75 wipeouts to Blakey’s 19; earned him a decisive 25,266 to 6,572 point win on that leaderboard.
“Driving and maintaining high levels of utilisation across the the week, the month and throughout the seasonal cycle of the year is the key goal of any surf park operator. Consumer spending habits are currently more reserved and people have been more conservative with their spending. Developing creative and fun ways to boost repeat purchases has been a big challenge to try and solve. Competitive socialising is one of the key consumer trends globally, in which we’ve looked at experiences such as Topgolf, virtual reality zombie experiences, and the good old-fashioned arcade for references as to how other industries use similar tactics to drive repeat purchases and deepen engagement with core demographics.”
- Luke Wallace, Co-Founder & CEO, Flowstate
What It Means for Operators
Incentivise rebookings: a rank to defend and a score to beat gives guests a reason to return that has nothing to do with discounting.
Drive user engagement: named games and live leaderboards turn every session into part of an ongoing competition, not a one-off visit.
Create loyalty through gamification: regulars build a season-long relationship with your park as they climb the leaderboard and chase rank.
Drive coaching attach rate: Wipeout Roulette doubles as a discovery funnel for AI coaching, video review, and 1:1 sessions, turning a session’s worst moment into an upsell.
ARPU and demand shaping: operators can apply configurable multipliers (e.g. off-peak, same-day-double) to shift bookings into quieter slots.
Co-branding potential: monthly leaderboard prizes and Named Games can be co-branded with sponsor and lifestyle brands, opening a new partnership and sponsorship revenue line for your park.
Experience Flowstate Game Modes Now
Flowstate Game Modes is live now at URBNSURF Sydney and URBNSURF Melbourne, with Atlantic Park Surf (Virginia Beach), Lost Shore, and o2SURFTOWNMUC next to roll out as the platform expands across Flowstate’s global partner network. Flowstate operates across surf parks using five different wave-making technologies worldwide.
Flowstate Game Modes is now available exclusively to Flowstate partners.
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