Phewtick Matchmakes People Through Gamification and LBS (And a Lot More)

Japanese startup, Phewtick, is the pitch that has caught my attention – and confused me the most – this morning at the G-Startup pitches here at the GMIC 2012 event in Beijing. It’s wacky. So wacky that the idea is kinda brave and refreshing. It’s a combination of a lot of stuff: location-based service, matchmaking, gamification, and mobile. The purpose of Phewtick is ultimately helping users to meet new people. Let me attempt to explain how it works in one paragraph.

The Phewtick app allows users to meet new people. Users are ranked according to points. These points are earned based on playing mini games with the folks you meet in reality. So say when two people meet, they can scan each other’s QR code which will trigger a mini game that allows those two users to play and earn points. The points are useful. Every 1,000 points is equivalent to $1 which can be claimed via Paypal. Another way to earn points is to visit stores, and interact with so-called “local advertisements.” So if a user pops by a store at a specific time the users are able to claim and earn the points. Phewtick will take a cut of the points earned as revenue for themselves.

Users are recommended to each other based on the following:

1. Your requests in terms of schedule, location, and mood
2. Your profile information on Facebook – age, hometown, education, career, mutual friends, and common interests
3. Your location information automatically analyzed by the background location technology

It’s fascinating and at the same time mindblowing how Phewtick is trying to piece everything together. It is ambitious but wacky and has certainly caught my eye. The manner in which it tries to connect people together is refreshing too. You can find out more on its FAQ page here and also check out demo below too:

(Video link on YouTube for mobile readers)