Games on the Back of Cereal Boxes: Nestlé's RIO Augmented Reality Game
RIO was an augmented reality game played with a webcam and a marker printed on Nestlé cereal boxes, built by Dassault Systèmes' 3DVIA brand in 2011. No current official page offering the game was found.
Updated
How games on the back of cereal boxes worked
From mid-March 2011, shoppers in more than 50 countries could buy select Nestlé cereals and play RIO online with nothing but the box and a webcam. The game tied in with the animated film Rio. The player had to guide Blu, the film's main character, to a large bowl of cereal on screen.
The control was a marker printed on the back of the box. The webcam read it as a cup holding small bits of cereal, and the player tipped those bits across each level to lead Blu to the bowl at the end. It was the third augmented reality game that Dassault Systèmes made with Nestlé, and the first launched worldwide, in 29 languages and on 26 million boxes.
The earlier French launch, the first time 3DVIA put augmented reality markers on Nestlé boxes, was reported to have lifted the company's share of the cereal market there by 1.6 percent. 3DVIA's marketing manager, Emmy Jonassen, said at the time that the technique helped push boxes off the shelves.
Why it counted as a serious game
3DVIA described the cereal game as one of its serious games, a label it also applied to a training game for oil rig workers at a major energy company. Jonassen listed Nestlé, Boeing and BMW as Fortune 500 companies using game technology for sales, marketing or training. The RIO game is a marketing application, so it sits at the edge of the field this site covers. Still, games on the back of cereal boxes tied play directly to a purchase, because the marker existed only on the box.
Juniper Research forecast in 2011 that global revenue from augmented reality applications and services would approach $1.5 billion by 2015, driven by smartphones able to run such apps and by brands advertising with the technology.
What is true today
No page from Nestlé or Dassault Systèmes offering RIO turned up in November 2026. The 3DVIA address used in 2011 now forwards to a page about 3D home design software and HomeByMe, with no mention of augmented reality games. The address nestle-rio.com, which carries the promotion's name, shows an unrelated website.
The game needed a box with a printed marker, so it depended on that product run, and no source opened in November 2026 describes it as available.
Questions about the RIO cereal box game
What was the RIO cereal box game?
An augmented reality game launched in March 2011 on Nestlé cereal boxes. Players used a webcam and a marker on the box to guide Blu, the film's main character, to a bowl of cereal.
Who built it?
Dassault Systèmes' 3DVIA brand built it with Nestlé. It was their third augmented reality game together.
Can I still play games on the back of cereal boxes like RIO?
Not RIO: no current official page offering the game was found in November 2026. The address named after the promotion now shows an unrelated site.