Clash of Clans launched Hammerless in Finland in November 2024, a four-part true crime podcast by DAVID New York that drew more than 3 million listens.
ARCHIVEClash of Clans Turns Hammer Jam Into a True Crime Podcast
Hammerless: A True Crime Podcast in a Fantasy World is a four-part branded podcast series created by DAVID New York for Supercell's Clash of Clans, published in Finland in November 2024, in which the disappearance of a beloved in-game item during the annual Hammer Jam event is investigated as a genuine true crime mystery.
The campaign centres on one of the game's most cherished seasonal events, Hammer Jam, during which players earn and use Hammers to speed up in-game construction. When the Hammer vanishes under suspicious circumstances, the entire Clash of Clans village is placed under suspicion. Characters familiar to the game's global community — including the Goblin, the Hog Rider, the Barbarian, and the Builder himself — each emerge as credible suspects with plausible motives, transforming the Clash of Clans fantasy world into a crime scene.
Distributed across Spotify, Apple Podcasts, the Clash of Clans YouTube channel, Reddit, and social media, the integrated campaign invited players to follow the investigation across four episodes released on November 5th, 6th, and 8th, 2024, as reported by MediaPost. The series was designed not merely as entertainment but as a participatory event: players were encouraged to share theories about the culprit, deepening community engagement at a moment when Hammer Jam's future hung fictionally in the balance. The campaign earned a Clapboard Score of 79 out of 100, reflecting its creative ambition and structural originality within the gaming industry.
ARCHIVESupercell is headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, anchoring the Hammerless campaign to a market that has produced some of the world's most commercially significant mobile games. The strategic logic behind the campaign rests on a clearly identified cultural tension: mobile gaming audiences, particularly those loyal to long-running titles like Clash of Clans, increasingly consume content beyond the game itself, and true crime is among the most powerful formats for building that kind of sustained off-platform attention.
André Toledo, Chief Creative Officer at DAVID New York, stated in MediaPost on November 8, 2024, that "true crime stories are incredibly popular for building community and sparking conversation," identifying the genre not as a novelty but as a proven community-building mechanism. Toledo further described Hammerless as "the first in-game true crime story," signalling that the campaign was conceived as a format innovation, not simply a content extension.
The competitive context sharpens the rationale. Clash of Clans operates in a mobile gaming landscape increasingly contested by titles such as Brawl Stars — also a Supercell property — and Genshin Impact, both of which command substantial player engagement and media spend. Clash of Clans ranked 18th among top-grossing mobile games globally in the first half of 2024, generating approximately $202 million in that period, according to Pocket Gamer. Retaining the attention of an established player base during a competitive seasonal window is precisely the challenge this integrated campaign was built to address. In Finland, where Supercell's cultural footprint is deepest and the gaming industry carries national economic significance, a campaign that transforms an in-game event into a multi-platform media moment carries particular strategic weight.
Hammerless executes a precise genre transplant. DAVID New York took the narrative grammar of true crime podcasting — suspect profiles, forensic testimony, escalating revelations, cliffhanger episode endings — and applied it without irony to the Clash of Clans fantasy world. The result is a four-episode series that functions as credible audio drama while remaining entirely legible to players already familiar with the village's inhabitants and lore.
The creative decision to recruit a real forensic expert as a cast member elevates the series above straightforward branded content. Dr. Leslie Dobson, a forensic psychologist, appears as a guest across the podcast, providing genuine analytical commentary on the suspects' psychological profiles and possible motives. Her involvement lends the production an authentic true crime texture that the campaign's target audience — habitual podcast listeners and Clash of Clans players alike — would immediately recognise. The casting of a credentialed professional within a fictional game universe is among the campaign's most distinctive craft choices, collapsing the boundary between entertainment and the gaming industry's seasonal marketing cycle.
The four episodes were sequenced deliberately across three release dates in early November 2024, as reported by MediaPost, sustaining audience suspense across a week rather than dropping all content simultaneously. This episodic release structure mirrors the pacing conventions of prestige true crime series, encouraging repeat engagement and community theorising between episodes. Distribution across Spotify and Apple Podcasts placed the campaign inside the listening environments players already occupy, while the Clash of Clans YouTube channel and Reddit provided spaces for community discussion and theory-sharing. According to coverage published by LBBOnline on November 15, 2024, the campaign generated thousands of fan theories — evidence that the participatory architecture of the creative was functioning as intended.
Hammerless generated more than 3 million podcast listens, according to LBBOnline reporting published on November 15, 2024. The same coverage documented thousands of fan theories submitted by players, indicating that the campaign's participatory mechanics produced measurable community behaviour rather than passive consumption. For a branded podcast series tied to a seasonal in-game event, an audience of that scale represents a meaningful outcome within the gaming industry.
D&AD reported that the campaign produced what it described as "the biggest Hammer Jam ever," though no specific numerical data on player participation, revenue lift, or in-game spending was disclosed by D&AD. The campaign's recognition at the D&AD Awards in 2025 — receiving recognition in the Radio and Audio category — provides an independent creative benchmark. No verified recognition from Cannes Lions, the Effies, the One Show, the Clios, or the Webby Awards has been confirmed.
Structurally, the campaign's effectiveness derives from its alignment of entertainment format, community mechanics, and seasonal event timing. By making the resolution of the mystery contingent on community participation, DAVID New York created an incentive structure that rewarded engagement rather than merely requesting it. In Finland, where Supercell's standing in the gaming industry gives Clash of Clans campaigns particular cultural visibility, a format that crosses into mainstream podcast culture extends the brand's reach beyond its existing player base. The Clapboard Score of 79 out of 100 reflects the campaign's creative originality and its demonstrable audience impact, balanced against the limited disclosure of commercial performance data.
Hammerless is a four-part branded podcast series created by DAVID New York for Clash of Clans in 2024. It frames the theft of the in-game Hammer during Hammer Jam as a true crime mystery. Forensic psychologist Dr. Leslie Dobson appears as a guest, and players were invited to submit theories about the suspects.
The Hammerless podcast is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and on the Clash of Clans YouTube channel. DAVID New York also distributed the campaign across Reddit and social media, as reported by MediaPost in November 2024, making the four-episode series accessible across the platforms its audience already uses daily.
Hammerless generated more than 3 million podcast listens, according to LBBOnline reporting published on November 15, 2024. The campaign also produced thousands of fan theories from players. D&AD credited the campaign with delivering the biggest Hammer Jam ever, though specific participation figures were not publicly disclosed.
DAVID New York created Hammerless for Supercell's Clash of Clans. André Toledo served as Chief Creative Officer at DAVID New York on the campaign. Toledo described the project to MediaPost in November 2024 as the first in-game true crime story, positioning it as a format innovation within the gaming industry.
Hammerless received recognition at the D&AD Awards in 2025 in the Radio and Audio category, according to D&AD. No verified recognition from Cannes Lions, the Effies, the One Show, the Clios, or the Webby Awards has been confirmed. The campaign earned a Clapboard Score of 79 out of 100.
Clash of Clans is developed by Supercell, which is headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, making Finland the natural home market for the campaign's publication in November 2024. Finland's gaming industry carries significant national economic weight, and Supercell's local standing gave the Hammerless integrated campaign particular cultural visibility in that market.
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