The Earth is your gameboard, meet SCVNGR
Mashup and mold your meal into the shape of the state you live in, and snap a picture. This is one of the challenges you can participate in with SCVNGR.
SCVNGR asks the question, "What's fun to do here?" This new site is a social game creation platform created by Seth Priebatsch, that allows you to compete in challenges and treks that rack up points so you can earn rewards.
"I built this thing because I really like playing," said Priebatsch. His Boston-based team of 45+ employees have been hacking away at the platform like mad to get it ready for this week's Google I/O in San Francisco, where they will be giving away some pretty sweet prizes.
"Building a game layer on the world is not easy for one person to build, but if we let our users build it, it will be awesome."
They are still very new in the consumer market. Up until now, any Joe or Suzie couldn't create a challenge; they were targeting the enterprise world, setting up deals with companies to let people complete challenges.
Their "Builder" product is dead simple to use, so creating a challenge is cake.
One thing that sets SCVNGR apart from the rest of these social geo games is that you can you can build real-world rewards into your challenges. With Foursquare, it's not as simple to create a reward for your venue.
The most practical application would be if you are visiting a new city; just to see all the new challenges and treks that people have created. And what do you have to lose? You might actually get a prize or reward from it.
Some of their partners are Harvard, MIT, Princeton. Philly and Boston are two of the big cities using the product, but watch for New York and San Francisco to follow.
The US Navy is their largest client, building out challenges on every Naval base for sailors and airmen to compete in.
You have to unlock the ability to create a challenge right now, because they want people to have a little bit of time to understand how the game works. Also, it's a good way for users to earn reputation in the system.
On the roadmap for SCVNGR is to add Facebook integration, so you can find and invite friends.
If you are using iPhone or Android, please give them a try.
