Scvngr, the location-based game for mobile phones takes gaming to a new level by building a game around existing reality. Like a combination of Foursquare location-based check-ins and a real game, Scvngr builds a game “layer” on top of the existing world.
22-year-old founder and “chief ninja” Seth Priebatsch took to the stage dressed in his signature orange outfit complete with orange sunglasses to complete the look at SXSW today to talk about the future of gaming and Scvngr. “The last decade was the decade of the social layer. Now the game layer is coming.”
Priebatsch described Scvngr’s latest announcement, a feature called “Level Up,” a separate app designed to offer better rewards and discounts for checking into businesses or brands more than once. The model – rather similar to those of Foursquare and Gowalla – is different from the original app mostly because the original created a game where players embarked on various “challenges” tied to a certain place.
The interesting thing about Priebatsch was his sentiment towards location-based services; saying he felt they were still relatively powerless. Admittedly, he said, these services were good for building brand loyalty but don’t garner enough support for national brand campaigns.
So why develop a location-based app then?
“Right now, [the industry] is using very convoluted game mechanics to create loyalty in the real world,” said Priebatsch. In particular, he talked about group buying sites like Groupon offering consumers real values but failing to create real brand loyalty. He also mentioned check-in sites like Foursquare’s ability to create brand loyalty but falling short by not offering consumers any real value.
“The problem with the Mayorship paradigm is that it rewards a select few,” Scvngr’s SVP and brand alchemist Chris Mahl told Fast Company before the keynote. “We think that alienates the broader consumer base.” Priebatsch and Mahl say that games have the ability to make checking in mainstream thereby leveraging the power of the services.
In two pilot programs with Coca-Cola and Buffalo Wild Wings last year, Scvngr found people put more effort into the game if they have the ability to create their own challenges. Mahl said users played the app for an average of 14 minutes during the Buffalo Wild Wings pilot by building their own challenges. Overall, the wings challenge created 9,950 original challenges tied to the company’s restaurants.
“If I’m a patron and I create a challenge at Buffalo Wild Wings, you bet I’ll bring my friends back to the restaurant to do these challenges,” says Mahl.
“Level Up is really an experiment,” added Mahl, “and the goal is to see if merchants can solve the loyalty problem.”
