Explorence, a company that makes GPS-based mobile apps that bring video games outdoors, launched their first title in private beta on TechCrunch. You can read the full story on TechCrunch here.
DASH!, the first title using their technology, enables you to create, participate, and wager in races of any kind, asynchronously. The game is pretty simple - First, you create a race from your GPS by traveling the course with your phone, selecting the Start and Finish areas and selecting how many “Coins” (virtual currency) you want to wager. Then, anybody who selects that race can compete and try to take the race creator’s Coins. Like any video game, the race is augmented with a countdown to start, frenetic music and sound effects during the race, and leaderboards to see where you stack up against your friends and others afterwards. In the future, Coins will be redeemable for both game enhancements and real-world goods. DASH! works with any racing discipline: driving, cycling, running, snowboarding, etc.
DASH! is available in private beta on Android and launching on both iOS & Android later this year. To access the Beta, visit Explorence.com and use the code TechCrunch. There are 500 slots available.
Explorence has two more titles in their pipeline which will utilize the same platform. Their goal is to promote activity by bringing the excitement of competitive video games outdoors.
The company, and its Co-Founder and CEO Mike Suprovici, is a Graduate of the San Diego Founder Institute.