Bonfire Challenge: Real Money Gaming Loyalty Elevation Engine using Braze Canvas & Catalogs

Urvi

Hey everyone! 👋

Wanted to drop in my submission for the Bonfire Challenge: a real-time loyalty tier elevation and retention engine built for Real Money Gaming (RMG).

The goal with this build wasn't just to automate backend mechanics, but to capitalize on peak player momentum. In RMG, impulse and thrill drive engagement. If a player hits a milestone or makes a deposit, waiting hours for a batch job to update their status kills that dopamine loop.

By building a real-time engine in Braze Canvas, we instantly reward high-value actions when player intent is highest, turning session wins into immediate retention.

Canvas Architecture & Logic Flow

1. Calculate Points & Update Attributes:
   The Canvas triggers off session events - when a user wins a game or makes a deposit. Using Canvas Context Variables, point values are calculated dynamically (10x deposit multiplier or direct win points) and pushed straight to the user's profile.
2. Branching Split ("Tier Changed?"):
   A Decision Split evaluates whether the session points pushed the player into a new tier threshold.
3. Path A — Non-Upgraded Nudge (Experimentation):
   For players who earned points but fell short of the next tier, we route them to an Experiment Step testing 8 content combinations. This step optimizes subject line, CTA, and body header variations to find the highest-converting email to drive their next deposit.
4. Path B — Tier Upgrade Success:
   The user flows through to an "Update loyalty tier" step, followed immediately by a dynamic "Tier elevation celebration" email pulling perks straight from a Catalog.

Scalable Catalog-Driven Messaging

To keep marketing ops clean and maintainable, all tier perks live in a single Braze Catalog. Welcome bonus chips, cashback percentages, point multipliers, support levels, and tier graphics are maintained in one centralized table rather than being hardcoded into individual email templates. The emails pull perks dynamically via Catalog Liquid tags.

Let me know what you think or how you would have approached a use case like this. ☺️

stefanie.baldwin

@Urvi Thank you so much for sharing this Canvas entry with the Bonfire Community!
Your detailed description of how you used context variables to lead to a branching split is going to be a game changer for folks getting started with their own canvas designs!

Thank you for being so generous in your sharing!