Vodacom, 94.7 launch Gotcha!SA

Vodacom, 94.7 Highveld Stereo and 94.5 KFM launched a new social media game at an event today in Sandton, Johannesburg. The game, Gotcha!SA, is based off a similar game from Australia and will see participating players navigating around the real world in search of a virtual payday.

The premise of the game is this: there will be a virtual wallet in Cape Town and Johannesburg which can be located and tracked via the Gotcha!SA app which is available on most smartphones with access to a GPS. iPhone, Android and Blackberry users can sign up, log in and see where the virtual wallet, dubbed Smart Money, is. The idea is to claim the Smart Money and then successfully hold onto it until the time expires. The time is announced on one of the two participating radio stations but there is a catch. Anyone else who has the app active can snatch the Smart Money away from whoever has it, provided they are within 100 metres of the person who currently has possession. And… anyone with the app can see if anyone else with an active version of the app is in the vicinity, making this a game of wits as well as luck.

We got a chance to test out the game, which runs for four weeks from 13 August to 8 September, at Sandton City on a much smaller scale. There will be a boundary area for the game, leave that area while you have the Smart Money and you drop it (something that foiled my plan to snatch the Smart Money and bail through traffic on my motorcycle). When you snatch the Smart Money, you are invisible for a minute so using that time to get the hell away from everyone is a plan. If your GPS fails or your data connection is lost, you have three minutes to get it working or you drop the Smart Money. There will be designated safe areas, mostly Vodacom stores, that will render players invisible for up to ten minutes as well.

There is R400 000 up for grabs but this amount will be split among the two locations and over the four week playing period. Updates will be given on KFM and Highveld Stereo regarding Gotcha!SA about the value and location of the Smart Money and updates will run from 7AM to 6PM. Whoever is holding the Smart Money when time expires will win the real-world equivalent of whatever its current virtual value is.

If you’re keen to check out the app and prepare for the contest, you can find it on the BlackBerry, Apple and Android app stores, as well as here. The app is a little buggy on some phones at the moment but it should work fine after a few attempts.