Student developers hope new mobile game will help revitalize downtown Calgary

Bringing more life back to downtown Calgary could be a bit of a challenge after two years of so many people working from the comfort of thier homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, some talented local tech students have come up with a new mobile game to help with the rebound.

Students from InceptionU, a tech training educational institution, have developed a Pokémon Go style game called ‘Rabbit Hole’.

“It’s very ‘Alice in Wonderland’ — you go down the rabbit hole, have a new experience, a new adventure and see what you can find,” student developer, Tristen Leitch said.

“There are definitely similarities to Pokémon Go, as you go from checkpoint to checkpoint.”

But Leitch and the four other students on his team are bringing a more Calgary-specific dimension to ‘Rabbit Hole’, related in part to their own experiences discovering the city.

“I am from Toronto and I felt like Calgary was a really cool place,” student developer, Hannah Lo said. “I wanted to learn more about it and so I came up with this app idea where people can go to different locations and learn about all the different history.”

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The game takes players to 12 spots around the city.

“We start you off at the Calgary Tower and then we bring you to Olympic plaza,” student developer, John Hrycyk said.

“It gets people who don’t ever spend any time (downtown) to come and check it out, figure out what it’s like, and with that, that’ll bring some vibrancy back.”

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The tech veteran guiding the students said they’ve got good timing with this project.

“Due to the pandemic, the downtown core has become pretty quiet,” InceptionU technical facilitator, Al Del Degan said.

“It’s one of those things that families can do, groups of friends can do.”

For now, it’s a school project, not widely available, but those involved in developing ‘Rabbit Hole’ are hoping if they can get it out there as an app — there’d be a pretty big appetite for it.

“This thing is endless,” Del Degan addedd.  “It could be in any city, anywhere in the world.”