Testament to the creative talent bubbling away in Irish IT circles, new company Plazro Games has just launched an iPhone App called The Simpleton Exam, which is now available on the Apple iTunes Store.
It was a family get-together and a casual conversation around a Sunday roast earlier this year that compelled two brothers, their sister and her husband to pool their creative design, software R&D and marketing and advertising experience, form a company and develop their first app.
As Kevin Brodigan, one of the co-founders, explains: “We came up with some really exciting ideas for apps over the Sunday roast! We took a look around the dinner table and realised we had the creative, marketing and development skills to turn those ideas into reality.”
Approved in two weeks
Having spent some months developing The Simpleton Exam, Plazro Games submitted its application to Apple on 13 October and two weeks later the game was approved.
The team say the idea for this app came about because they had seen lots of test/quiz-based apps on the AppStore and felt the majority of them were boring in terms of content.
Co-founder David Brodigan describes The Simpleton Exam as a “brain-training-meets-joke quiz all rolled into one zany and fun experience!
“We felt we could do a fresh approach on the typical exam-style app by making the questions quirky and so off the wall that they make you laugh.
“We were also keen for the app to have some serious gameplay that would keep people addicted until they figured out how to pass each level. Most test apps only use tap functionality and we really wanted to explore using the iPhone’s shake and zoom ability as a way to answer questions.”
Yuletide fun
This enterprising family is already setting its sights on bringing out some fun, novelty apps for Christmas, while the team is also working hard on a multi-player game prototype, which it hopes to release in the new year.
“We had a blast developing The Simpleton Exam and we have many ideas for more apps. We’re hoping we can keep pushing the boat out and roll out some killer muli-player apps in the near future,” affirms David Brodigan.
For other would-be developers out there, Plazro Games’ advice is to carry out plenty of research on what is being sold in the App Store.
“Try to create something unique that will stand out from the crowd. Remember that content is everything. If you’ve got a good idea, make sure you execute it well in terms of the graphics and layout.”
By Carmel Doyle
Photo: A glimpse of the new app, The Simpleton Exam.
