iXiGO, the online travel meta search engine, has launched a free destination trivia puzzle app, called, Yo! India. According to the company, the quiz based game tests a player’s visual knowledge of Indian destinations by asking them to keep guessing places in India through picture clues and gives players points if they answer correctly, within the alloted period of time.
According to iXiGO, the app has been built in-house with the entire team coding it during a 48-hour hackathon organized a few weeks back and the entire processes of ideation, blueprint preparations, curating and creating content, building the wireframe of the app, designing components, development, testing, and other steps involved in building the app, were completed within this time.
The game is available free of charge, on both iOS and Android platforms. iXiGO had earlier introduced a photo puzzle app on Facebook, iXiQuiz: Guess the place?, on its fan-page, in 2010.
The gameplay is pretty straight forward, and the game presents a picture clue with four choices out of which, one is the correct answer. The game keeps a tab on the players’ score through a leaderboard-like feature. Players can browse through destination photos, win badges as they progress, and share their scores and achievements on Facebook. The game requires player to achieve seven levels starting as a ‘Beginner’, moving up to the level of ‘Scout’ and the final destination of becoming a ‘Travel God’.
Gamification in travel deals?: It would have been interesting if iXiGo could allow players of the game to be a part of various promotions and discounts, depending on the badge they get or level that that they unlock, on the iXiGo site. While retaining the fun element, iXiGo could have got some new users through the game. It could also do co-branded gaming rounds with other travel partners, and offer deals to users who participate and monetize through branding. At this point in time, the game is just another picture trivia app with the iXiGo branding thrown in.
Other developments: In 2011, iXiGO had launched travel apps for iPhone and Android. The company had recently launched, the iXiGO Trip Planner, a travel planner aggregating information such as cheapest modes of transportation, driving directions, weather in each city and the top three places to visit in each city, as well as recommending nearby destinations, and offering it in a form of a guide. It had also launched a natural language flight search tool for Facebook and Twitter.
