New Game Uses Facebook to Encourage Good Behavior
BetterScape, a new Facebook game that encourages and rewards people for doing good deeds in daily life, launched this week. The game seeks to turn casual online gaming into a force for good.
Online, January 31, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Inspired by the run-away success of games like Farmville and Mafia Wars, the co-founders of BetterScape set out to make a Facebook game that both entertains online and encourages good behavior in the real-world.
"We think it's great that 75 million people play CityVille and that online gamers spend more than $7 billion dollars on virtual goods . . . but we also think some of this time and energy should be directed to online games that have a real impact on the offline world," says Blair Baldwin, co-founder of BetterScape.
BetterScape, which launched this week, is a Facebook game that encourages players to tell short stories about how their friends are making the world a better place. A key part of the game is rewarding others with karma points in specific 'good deed' categories. These points let players earn badges like Earth Saver, Do Gooder, Mentor, Fun Maker, Super Friend, etc. Badges are prominently displayed throughout the game, adding a competitive element that encourages doing more good deeds. Consistent with the theme of doing good deeds for the world, BetterScape will donate 90% of the revenue from the sale of virtual karma sales to a different set of high-impact 501c(3) non-profits every month.
"If we can get more people sharing stories about how others have impacted their lives, the positive encouragement should lead to more good deeds," says Baldwin. The other co-founders of BetterScape are Casey Gustus and Adam Lucas.
To learn more about BetterScape, visit http://www.betterscape.com or http://apps.facebook.com/betterscape.
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Tags: casual games, cityville, facebook, farmville, Mafia Wars, non profits, Online-Games