The App House Forum

CHICAGO, February 7th, 2011 – Chicago Booth MBA candidates, Jennifer Kim and Jeb Ory, are responding to the challenge issued by Groupon co-founders, serial entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists Brad Keywell and Eric Lefkofsky. The professors, who are also the founders of Innerworkings, Echo Global, and MediaBank, repeatedly find success in disrupting traditional business practices through technology. The professors challenged the students to create value out of a toy. Whoever creates the most value in a two-week period “wins.”

While the winning team will have the opportunity to receive a “big introduction” facilitated by Keywell and Lefkofsky, Ory and Kim are excited about the opportunity to engage the public at large to help solve a problem that Ory’s mobile applications development and publishing business, The App House, faces.

The App House developed and published fan-favorite puzzle adventure game Simon Graham and the Extraordinary Timepiece, which has received critical acclaim as having started the puzzle-adventure genre on the iPhone. Now it is in the final stages of development for a fun, educational mobile application called “Earn Your Allowance (EYA).” The game, however, is still incomplete. The App House needs help to find the right “avatar,” or main character, to tie the game together.

In this exciting, new, nothing-else-like-it game, children are incentivized to answer grade appropriate math questions (K thru 4th grade) that are posed in a fun manner. Once they have answered enough questions correctly, they can redeem their allowance by passing the device to their parent, who then reviews the progress and approves the allowance.

“Earn Your Allowance is a fabulous concept; and we are huge believers in the power of mobile technology to make educational games really come to life. We felt this challenge from Brad and Eric was the perfect opportunity to open up our game development to our fans across the world,” Ory said. “We need to identify a main character for the EYA franchise that will be as iconic as Mario or Sonic the Hedgehog is. We’ve seen some great concepts already but we think the best idea could still be out there.”

Kim appreciates how the use of crowdsourcing disrupts traditional product development processes.
“We believe this to be a win-win situation. It’s a great creative outlet for various communities be it appreneurs, designers, or aspiring artists to have an opportunity to display their work. Crowdsourcing helps generate a diverse array of ideas we may have overlooked had we taken the traditional product development route.”

The App House will be accepting submissions for unique, royalty free artwork and will be facilitating polling on their Facebook Fan Page, www.facebook.com/theapphouse. Submissions and polling will close at 9am on Friday, February 11th, and the winner will be announced by Friday. February 18th. The winner will see their artwork memorialized in the app, receive a listing in the credits page, and have Kim and Ory’s unending gratitude. More details are available on their fanpage.

About The App House: The App House is a Chicago, IL based mobile software applications development and publishing business dedicated to making apps happen. The App House helps appreneurs to conceptualize, develop, and launch mobile software applications. Visit www.theapphouse.com to learn how you can partner with The App House.

CHICAGO, December 23, 2010 – The App House announced today the launch of 7th Heaven, an entertaining trivia game designed to educate people about Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, available for the iPhone and iTouch!

7th Heaven allows you to compete against your friends or simply quiz yourself, with questions and answers about three major monotheistic religions. The game seeks to build religious tolerance and understanding by allowing people to learn about others’ religious beliefs in a fun format. The questions were composed by theologians in each respective religion to ensure accuracy.

The game is a perfect way to open lines of communication between people of different faith backgrounds to discuss similarities and differences in religions. 7th Heaven can also be a valuable tool to help people junior high school age and up learn in fun way!

• 100 questions and answers in each of 3 religious categories
• 1 to 10 players, who can play individually or in teams, with optional time limit per question
• Choose number of correct questions needed to win the game
• Educational tool to help religious tolerance
• Great ice-breaker to start more serious religious discussions
• Future versions planned with more questions and additional religions

7th Heaven was originally released as a board game in 2007. Upon release, it was acclaimed as helping to stimulate religious discussions between players. Julia Shearson, executive director of the Cleveland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said of the original board game, “It’s a very enjoyable game, and I think it can bring people together.”

The game will be available in the next two weeks at the Apple iTunes store for $0.99. A limited number of promotional codes will be made available for reviewing purposes. If you are interested, please e-mail Michael Cates at Michael@theapphouse.com.

About The App House: The App House is a Chicago, IL based mobile software applications development and publishing business committed to making apps happen. The App House helps appreneurs to conceptualize, develop, and launch mobile software applications. Visit www.theapphouse.com to learn about other titles from The App House—and how you too can participate in the app marketplace. Find us: Facebook Fan Page and Twitter at @theapphouse.com

Contact
Michael Cates

CHICAGO, IL. December 20, 2010 – The App House announced today the launch of Drink Deck Chicago for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Drink Deck offers Chicagoland residents $520 of discounts at some of the hottest and hippest bars and restaurants in Chicago. Download it today from the iTunes App Store here for $19.99 and recoup the cost of the app after redeeming just two cards.

• Drink Deck Chicago, everyone’s favorite set of playing cards that offers discounts at the hottest
spots in Chicago, is now available in the iTunes App Store. Download to your iPhone or iTouch today!
• Drink Deck Chicago is better than other daily deal options because the discounts never expire!
Buy one and go out tonight.
• Just in time for the holiday season. Gift an app today!
• Get $10 off your bill (minimum $30 purchase) at 52 of Chicago’s hippest hangouts.
• Take the guesswork out of finding new places to go out. All locations are vetted by the Drink
Deck staff, so you can trust what you are getting when you visit a new hot spot.
• Experience 14 different bar/ restaurant genres–something for everyone’s mood!
• Once you download Drink Deck Chicago, you will be eligible to receive periodic updates from
Drink Deck, including exclusive specials to your favorite bars.

“Going out can be a pain with so many options! It’s trial and error unless you find the right guide. The problem with many of the free nightlife apps is that they represent every bar in the city, making it hard for people to find quality spots. Plus, those apps and the deal of the day concepts are either not tied to discounts or tied to discounts that expire. Enter Drink Deck! 52 quality spots, each offering $10 off a $30 bar tab with no expiration. It’s a bar crawlin’ travel guide in your pocket,” Will Glass, CEO and Founder of Drink Deck, said.

Drink Deck is available on the iTunes App Store. The app only costs $19.99, which can be recouped by redeeming just two cards. A limited number of Drink Deck Chicago downloads will be available for (thirsty) members of the media; if interested, please email Michael Cates at michael (at) theapphouse (dot) com.

About The App House: The App House is a Chicago, IL based mobile software applications development and publishing business committed to making apps happen. The App House helps appreneurs to conceptualize, develop, and launch mobile software applications. Visit www.theapphouse.com to learn about other titles from The App House—and how you too can participate in the app marketplace.

Links
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter @drinkdeck
Visit Drink Deck on the web
Contact
Michael Cates

If you’re in the area, and you’re a fan of Simon Graham…you’ll want to stop by the U.K. Fan Appreciation Party on Sunday, September 19th in London. Walk up to Jeb or Kilton and tell them how much you like Simon Graham and join the celebration.
 
We’ll post the details of the event here soon. We hope to see you there. Thanks for playing!

If you have an iPad, you’ll want to check out the new version of Simon Graham and the Extraordinary Timepiece Book I. The pictures, puzzles, and story lines are all in HD. The story moves along like you’re reading a detective story on the iPad. The Lite version for iPad will be released within 2 weeks, and the full version will be available at the start of August. Get your iPad ready for a beautiful historical adventure!

Ok, folks. Now you can get Simon Graham and the Extraordinary Timepiece for free. That’s right, free. It comes with all of Chapter 1, so you can enjoy the first part of Simon’s quest. If you haven’t yet made the switch to become a Simon player, what are you waiting for? Go grab it now in iTunes!

Need help while helping Simon?

 
Here are some common questions and their answers:
 
1. What happens if I accidentally tap the New Game button instead of Continue?

Clicking the New Game button on the Main Menu takes you to the Prologue story screen and begins a new game. However, if you immediately press the Home button on your device to quit the app, your old game will not be overwritten. Re-launch Simon Graham and click the Continue button to continue the old game.

 
2. I launched Simon Graham with my iPod music playing, and now I can’t hear the game music.

When Simon Graham is launched while iPod music is playing, the game music is automatically disabled. Even if the iPod music is later stopped, the Simon Graham music will continue to be disabled until you turn it back on. To hear it, first stop the iPod music. Then, from the Main Menu, click the Options button. On the Options screen, enable music by moving the Music switch to On. Please note that the “click” sound used with buttons and other elements is always enabled, even if Music is switched Off. To make the game completely silent, use the Mute switch on your device.

Here’s another little peek at Simon Graham. This guy’s nasty.
 
The Solicitor, AKA “The Man in Black”
 
The Man in Black, our story’s villain, has identified himself as a solicitor (lawyer) from London, trying to track down Miss Elizabeth Graham (Simon’s grandmother) on a matter of importance. He was also spotted near the scene of a suspicious house fire, which authorities now believe was a case of arson. As our story continues, Simon comes to believe that the Man in Black is following him…
 

The Solicitor

I would like to introduce you to Simon Graham. Here’s a little sneak-peek of our young adventurer.
 
Ten-year-old Simon Graham, the hero of our story, was born into a changing world. Horse-drawn carriages are giving way to motor cars. Electricity is spreading and telephones have become common. Simon has lived in the same small town his entire life, raised by his paternal grandmother Elizabeth after his mother died in childbirth and his father ran off. As our story begins, Simon has found a small key on a chain in his knapsack at school. He decides to ask his grandmother about it when he gets home…
 

Simon Graham, Age 10

Simon Graham and the Extraordinary Timepiece Book I is coming at the end of next week. This gorgeous game has been loved by everyone in beta test. Seriously – I had to pry my phone out of people’s hands. Perhaps if the house was burning down, they would have stopped playing? That’s a Simon Graham story reference, by the way.
 
If any of you are Joseph Campbell fans, you may recognize the parallels between Simon and the classic hero. It’s not accidental that we intuitively feel a kinship with adventurers such as Simon. Our life journey, after all, is the very reason mythology came into being. It still represents us all very well.
 
When Jeremy Maher and I began working on the game, we knew we wanted to take players deep into a magical story. Shortly after we began, Jeremy just exploded with creativity and I watched him construct this compelling tale. I, myself, have enjoyed watching what will become of Simon as he makes his way through the world to find his missing grandmother. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it, too.
 
Get the game in the App Store a week from Friday, and get ready to be charmed and challenged!
 
Click here to visit the Simon Graham website…
 
Click here to read more on The App House website…