
A Belgium teacher started a book hunting game on Facebook that attracted an incredible popularity.
While other people are still chasing Pokemons, Belgians started to take up book hunting. The books are real and as a bonus, the players get to read them.
The idea came from one Belgian teacher who started its own version of Pokemon Go. The game has more than 40,000 users, and its users are more and more interested in looking for a Harry Potter edition than catching Jigglypuff.
The Belgian primary school teacher that started the frenzy is called Aveline Gregoire. He created an online game that involves book hunting instead of Pokemons. In just a few weeks, the game attracted thousands of players.
The game is not as sophisticated as Pokemon Go, and it does not use a GPS or a phone camera. The teacher used a Facebook group called “Chasseurs de livres,” which is translated as “Book Hunters.”
The rules of the game are pretty simple. A player must take a photo of the book and then hide it. Afterward, it goes to the Facebook group and gives clues to the other players that will start looking for the book.
After the finder reads the book, the rule is to release it again so that other players will benefit from it.
One example is a family from the southern Belgium that is playing the game during their morning walks. In just one day, they found one book hidden in their town and left four others. As they reached home, other players announced on the Facebook group that two of their books had been already found.
The initiator of the game says that his idea came when he realized he did not have enough space in his library for all his books. After playing Pokemon Go with his kids, he decided to release his books into nature.
The types of books that have been included in the game are of a wide variety, ranging from Stephen King stories to children’s books. The prints are sealed in clear plastic and hidden in various places from Belgian towns.
On the other hand, the Pokemon Go appears to be on a decline. Its users dropped from 45 million players that used the app daily to only 30 million, and the change occurred in less than a month. The daily downloads, the time spent and the engagement have also dropped.
As Aveline Gregoire wants to transform his game into an app, it may be that the timing is perfect.
Image Source: Flickr