Western Development Museum launches cellphone scavenger hunt
Saskatoon web developer brings past into present with text message game
Tracking down a horse thief in Saskatchewan used to take good old-fashioned police work. Now it's as easy as picking up a cellphone.
A new digital scavenger hunt at the Western Development Museum in Saskatoon uses text messages to guide participants on the hunt for a horse-stealing bandit.
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The game, entitled Boomtown Pursuit, incorporates items from the museum into the storyline of the game.
U.K. origins
Saskatoon web developer Adam Bissonnette said he was inspired to create the game after he played a similar version in the United Kingdom.
"It was just a really good way to consume some of the history and some of the information," he said. "Travelling and stuff, there's so much to see, and eventually statues and all the beautiful architecture just becomes a bit much."
Back in Boomtown
Bissonnette started working on ideas for a similar tour in Saskatoon.
When he took the concept to the Western Development Museum, they invited him to start working on a storyline for the game.
Bissonnette and a colleague took hundreds of photos of historical items before they decided which ones to include in the game. Eventually, he settled on a storyline that asks its participants to solve a horse-stealing crime.
Hot commodities
The museum's education and public program co-ordinator, Scott Whiting, said horse theft was common in historic Saskatchewan.
"You can relate it to automobile theft today," he said. "It was the prime method of transportation for a lot of people and horses were a big investment."
Whiting said Boomtown Pursuit is a light-hearted game and most people were able to complete it, although it took varying amounts of time.
Old and new
He said the museum was excited about offering a new way for people to experience the museum.
"It's also, we're hoping, something that will appeal to a different demographic that perhaps might not be visiting the museum otherwise," said Whiting.
"With augmented reality now, it's a different way to see the place and a different way to appreciate it."
Bissonnette said anybody could play the game as long as their cellphone could receive multimedia messages. It costs $7.50 plus tax to play.
With files from CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning