Enjoy this blog while you can, it needed to be written per my committment to getting words on a page, but may disappear due to a need to be more relevant, professional, logical...

Developing the game design and reading, "Tapworthy: designing great iphone apps." It really gets into how people actually interact with their apps. When they use them, what else they may be doing. It discusses icons, flow, and other design that needs to be extremely well thought out, but should be simple and intuitive on the page. Users are very smart, but not patient. So the design is extremely important. Currently, we are cleaning up Geo Popper so it embodies these principles.

Testing for Geo Popper has slowed down due to the extreme weather conditions in Michigan and by extreme, I mean not pleasant and quite chilly. Unfortunately, when games are set up inside buildings, the GPS  tracking is not accurate. So it is time for the team to get on snowsuits (yep, 2 members of the team own snowsuits), take a business trip to Florida, or just suck it up (which reminds me of a little outfit called Suck it up Cafe on Packard Street in Ann Arbor. The owners were so enthusiastic, but quite dismal on the business end. I only went there once to buy a pretzel. I was one of the only customers that day and did not have to purchase the pretzel because I guessed the number of the day (a number 1-10). That is one time I did not feel great about being a lucky winner. They closed up shortly after, hopefully that enthusiasm payed off in their next venture and maybe for future promotions they choose their number of the day within a greater range). This also reminds me that if something pops up in one's brain, it is not necessary to share it with others, especially if it is not that interesting, funny, or relevant. I lack this filter when I speak and even more so when I write, eeks.

In other Playcadia news:

• Due to an overwhelming response (from CStax) C-Dogg will be replaced with Cstax.
• Geo Popper players can log in through facebook and invite friends through facebook (this lead to Zorro getting a facebook account, and an awkward invititation to me, where I really contemplated accepting the friend invite.  And a subsequent quote from Zorro, "Oh crap, do I have to be friends with people now?"

More on game design in future posts as well as much to be discussed about marketing. Currently, Zorro is quite adamant that people will do anything for a free cookie. Now on the one hand, i believe he and most people in grade school will be quite moved by a cookie. Will the cookie promotion hit our target audience of young adults? Also since geo-popper has huge cardio potential, we may be thinking wabout using a more health based approach and that does not go hand in hand with cookies (at least any decent tasting cookies)

Now a few notes related to my defunct blog, "How I won the Boston Marathon and Made it on the Amazing Race," a blog about visualizing and dreaming big. Although neither has happened, I did do a casting call for Amazing Race last Friday and recieved my confirmation for the Boston:) There is certainly something about visualizing and writing down goals and possibilities that makes them much more likely to happen.

Watch for our upcoming annual Christmas/Holiday contest (If Zorro has anything to do with it, their will certainly be chocolate and flour involved. I'm thinking more along the lines of The Human Fund)