Originally Posted by
New York Times
Tricking out your video-game character with the biggest weaponry, the brightest enchantments and the rarest pieces of armor can be half the fun of playing the game. Keith Lee, the chief executive of Booyah, a start-up based in Palo Alto, Calif., is hoping to tap into that gear lust as a way to get players hooked on the company’s new iPhone game. But to succeed in the game, players will have to put their phones down once in a while.
Booyah Society, available free in iTunes, is both a social network and a game. Players customize an avatar and record their real-life activities, like going to a music festival, taking a cooking class or eating at a new restaurant. Each moment or activity logged earns points towards achievements, which are similar to quests performed in video games “but designed for the real world,” Mr. Lee said.
“It’s the first achievement system for life,” Mr. Lee said. He likens the points that players earn for noting their achievements to “being Boy Scouts and earning badges for learning to fish and camp.”