Ottawa man creates online game to bridge the social divide

An Ottawa man has created a game where people with differences come together to solve puzzles and answer questions.

Kyle MacDonald is the founder of Paired Game, which is a weekly mobile game meant to bridge the social divide among people in the capital, across Canada and the U.S.

The game takes place every Friday at 8 p.m. He told CTV Morning Live Thursday subscribers get a push notification to start the game, noting that they get different options every week.

“So, we’ve actually got our game ready to start. I understand you’re a pescatarian, I’m a carnivore. So let’s do our selections,” he said while showing how the game works. “And now we’ve got three puzzles that we’ve got to solve.”

He notes that the puzzles are based on the theme.

“So, in this case we have the pescatarian, carnivore theme,” he said.

Ottawa’s innovator says he came up with the idea after reading a lot of comments on social media and noticing that people with different opinions don’t necessarily like each other. He wanted to bridge the gap to make people more accepting.

The game is easy to play, where people can do it while they’re on the go, such as in the grocery store, or wherever they may be, he says, noting that it takes only two minutes.

Before the it starts, it asks players to choose a category that applies most to them, such as whether they live in a rural or urban area. From there, the game automatically pairs them with a stranger who picked the opposite category. Once they are paired together, they must work cooperatively to solve three turn-based puzzles in-real time. The pair that finishes the puzzles fastest splits $100. 

“Once the game is over, you get disconnected,” he added.

He adds that in the future, people might be able to have a brief chat with their partner.

For more information, visit pairedgame.ca.