The game requires two to five people and messages guide the group through location-specific challenges

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — A new smartphone game encourages people to get together, get outside and get familiar with the skills they’ll need to survive a natural disaster.

David Merino is one of the UBC user-researchers who helped develop Apocalypse Made Easy.

“What the main producer of the game basically pitched was a game that brought you outside with your friends to solve puzzles.”

Merino says the game requires two to five people and messages guide the group through location-specific challenges.

“It will put you in a natural location like Stanley Park where you will have to problem-solve your way through scenarios like finding water or living off the land,” Merino says.

He says the game is as easy to use as any other messenger program and requires nothing beyond a smartphone.

The game was developed with a grant from the Movember Foundation. One of the goals of the moustache-growing charity is to decrease social isolation among men.

Merino says coming together to solve problems and learn practical skills can ease people into making social connections.

“Doing this sort of team-based activity is a way to connect more with the people around you and get to know each other,” he says.