Moviegoers have probably seen the trailer for the new crime flick Nerve starring Emma Roberts and Dave Franco, in which two teens join a popular online game that has players doing adrenaline-filled stunts in exchange for cash. Now players can actually take part in this social network in real life—well, minus the dangerous acts and pressure to do them or suffer the harsh consequences.
Developed by Flying Manta and officially launched on July 26 after being in beta, Double Dog is the social gaming app that lets users to send and accept dares with the chance to win real money.
After downloading the app, users will be given a brief tutorial to get their feet wet. The team at Double Dog will have the user complete a silly dare, something like "take a photo with a funny face." If the user completes the dare, they earn reward points.
This is the basis of the game. Friends will dare users to do harmless and funny things, with the user sharing the video or photo of them doing said dare and even making some money off it if they are lucky—perfect for that one friend who is known for never saying no to a bet no matter how wild it is.
If this sounds a lot like the new movie in theaters on July 27, it sort of is. However, the app's creators at Flying Manta revealed that Double Dog was developed independently, with the team working on it since the beginning of this year. Talk about good timing to have it released alongside what will probably be a big summer movie.
Users can also send dares to specific friends on the app or use the roulette feature that sends the dare to all users until someone accepts it. The user then must describe the dare and can use the platform's categories with suggestions to choose the challenge. These include things like impersonate Sonic from Sega, dance like the Backstreet Boys in public, eat some ketchup and so on.
There is even a category for the movie Nerve, where the user can dare others to do things like asking a stranger if they are famous or going streaking.
The user then sets the reward for the dare, but people can also double dare that dare's creator and earn double the points.The reward system consists of what is known as "bones" on the platform. Bones are coins, or virtual currency that are rewarded when dares are completed, which allows the user to continue to play with friends.
Each player starts off with 100 bones and if they run out they can buy more in the app store.Users can also play with real money. In order to play in this "elite mode" with money, the player must be 18 years old and older. There is also a weekly tournament where the team sends the "top dog" winners mystery prize boxes that include items like T-shirts and gag gifts. These items can then be included in funny video dares.
There is always the option to refuse to do the dare, which will take away points (or money) from that player.
The team said that this "equilibrium dare system" prevents users from going too far in the app.
"The system is built in such a way so that the person initiating the dare cannot dare anyone to do something crazy because when you send a dare out, if the guy receiving the dare doesn't want to do it, the dare comes back to you," Rodrigo Carvalho, Flying Manta co-founder and CEO told Tech Times. "And if you don't want to do it yourself, you have to chicken out. And then when that happens, you have to pay three times the original amount of the dare."
Users won't send dares out that they aren't willing to do themselves.
"This is a very key component of what we are doing and why it's so unique," Dasher said. "No one else to our knowledge has created an application with that psychology of its use so embedded in the actual activity that people are doing."
The team also relies on user moderation to control the level of dares to prevent people from pushing the envelope, much like a forum where people can report and flag users or dares and the system takes action.
As a result, the dares on the platform—no matter how bizarre some can be—are all in good fun.
"We see people in all walks of life doing this," Dasher said, revealing that some videos have the power to go viral on the platform with people doing dares not even for the money but just because they are fun. (This is based on its beta testing that has seen more than a million transactions.)
Before long, users were making the connection to the Double Dog app and the movie Nerve, which is essentially one big game of truth or dare without the truth. This app is the same, "which strikes a chord with some people."
Check it out for free for iOS and Android—we double dog dare you.
