MAINE, Maine — Two Mainers from Cape Elizabeth have started a new mobile app and it brings some familiar games to your phone, but with an added twist.
The new game is called "Slap" and it's kind of similar to the classic games of Tag and Assassin— one that you can play in-person while tagging people or getting tagged using a friendly push button on your phone.
IPhone users can now download it from the App Store if they have an Apple device, and you can find it under the name "Slap MVP."
Lauren Steidl is one of the Mainers who founded Integrated Reality Labs, which is a gaming company. This is the company's first game creation.
Steidl says what's unique about this new game is that it features real-time players who log into the app to play, while also meeting people in person and making connections.
"It's definitely clear that we are living through an epidemic of loneliness and there's a lot of challenges when it comes to encouraging people to exercise and get out and running around. And if we can use technology, and make something that's really sticky and promotes all of those positive things that we need to see, I think that would be really special and that's what made me really excited about this," Steidl said.
Steidl said the game avoids the use of guns or similar weapons to tag people, so it's a friendlier version for everyone. She also said the game is intended for people of all ages; younger people can run and older people can walk to tag folks, but the baseline goal of making real connections is present no matter where you live, where you come from, or how old you are.
If you would like to learn more about this new and evolving game, you can click here.
"What's really unique about this is what we call integrated reality and it's very different from what we've seen from other similar location-based game apps like the Pokemon Go's of the world. So instead of having to stare at your screen as you move through the game, you can actually put your phone in your pocket and through this integrated reality experience, really be able to continue playing and progress through the game without having to stare at the screen the entire time," the Cape Elizabeth native said.
Slap is currently only available for iPhones, but Steidl and her team are working on adding it to Android phones very soon.
Here is the link to download the app on your iPhone.