Sign in to view
member only content

There’s no doubt that technology continues to provide ever-more immersive gaming environments, with the latest graphics and gameplay offering unparralled realism. A new game called Tweetland however, has plans to harness technology to build a gaming environment determined by social networking activity. The game — currently seeking funds on Kickstarter with an target of USD 7,000 — feeds off tweets from around the globe and pulls them into a user’s gameplay experience. For example, in the Route 140 racing game, a tweet reading “I’ve just seen a meteor” from someone on the Twittersphere will result in a meteor landing on the track for the gamer to dodge. The game has been programmed to respond to tweets mentioning a variety of objects and events, such as car accidents, shooting stars, volcano eruption, fireflies and zombies. A video of the gameplay can be seen here. The other Tweetland game currently in production — Love City — feeds off tweets about love or hate, with the player’s gun being loaded with “hate” tweets to combat enemies generated by “love” tweets such as “I like hugs”. Both games feature retro graphics and an original soundtrack. The Kickstarter funding will be used to develop the game for both the web and mobile devices, paying for the dedicated servers to run the Twitter integration correctly and to buy software licenses. Rewards are on offer for backers, such as a place in the game displaying the backer’s name, and access to a beta version of the game before a full launch. For those who can’t wait for that, a sample of the Tweetland world in action can be previewed on their website. The Tweetland world is an intriguing proposition, and it won’t be necessary for user’s to own a Twitter account to play in it. The game’s innovative use of Twitter is one of the more interesting that we’ve seen, and pushes the boundaries for what can be achieved with social networks. If you’re thinking of boosting your brands online presence, this should be food for thought! (Related: In London, public transport travel gets gamified — Finnish library uses games to crowdsource indexing — Platform adds gaming elements to any website or application.) Spotted by: Katharina Kieck