Over the years, Kalle and I have discussed on several occasions what constitutes a successful golf round. There are factors that we can't really affect like the weather, the course you are playing and the people you are playing with. However, the most important one of all is the score and the excitement the right game format can bring to a round. And that we can help you with! There are so many different game formats in golf that I most likely can’t even name them all. And most of the time people use only a handful of them. Making it easier to choose different game formats that can make your round more fun was one of the missions we had when we originally started developing GameBook. Today we offer over 20 different game formats for individual and team games.
In addition to already existing game formats we have also created two of our own. One of them is called Dublicate and the other is Erado – I strongly recommend that you test them both! Especially Erado has gathered a big group of fans and for some the love affair has gotten so serious that they refuse to play any other format. In Erado you are allowed to erase a predetermined number of scores (max 4) right after you’ve played a hole. Being able to get rid of a few bad scores relaxes your game and keeps up your good mood instead of letting the unlucky holes ruin the whole round. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about... And so do many others. I’ve even received an e-mail from a GameBook user explaining that he was already about to give up playing golf completely before he tried Erado. Our game format had helped him to reconnect with the game and find the joy of playing again. I must say that I felt very proud when reading that e-mail.
Many golfers tend to choose to play Stableford, which I have a hard time understanding. Don't you think it's quite boring? We actually developed Dublicate to liven up the good old Stableford. In Duplicate you receive a multiplier of either 1, 2 or 3 for each hole. As you might have guessed already, this means that your stableford points on that whole will be multiplied by the given number. The twist is that each player gets the same number of each of the multipliers during a round, but they vary from player to player on each whole. So, what seems like a not so important par 3 with standard stableford points for you, might end up being a game changer for your opponent with three times the points he would earn otherwise. Getting a hang of it?
Besides game formats, also all of the other features that GameBook offers today have been developed as a result of careful consideration and – I say this even though there is a risk that I am repeating myself – with the mission to make golf more fun. We don’t really do anything just for the sake of doing it or because everyone else is doing it. For us it is important that when we do decide to add something new to GameBook it is always top-quality and brings new value to the whole user experience.
It wasn’t until a year ago that we launched our GPS feature, which is a great example of the thought process that goes on behind our product development. Even though other apps already had GPS way before us and we had been asked for it numerous time, Kalle and I – as true golfers – felt that the GPS didn't work accurately enough yet to really help out on the course. So due to this, we wanted to wait for the technology to get good enough for us before releasing it to our users. I must admit that personally I still prefer using a laser rangefinder, however the feedback that we’ve been getting on our GPS has been great ever since it was launched.
Now that we are getting ready to launch the 3rd generation Golf GameBook, we once again have a couple of new features to introduce to you. Remember to check back here in a couple of days to follow along on the next chapter of our story!
– Mane
@MikkoManerus & @GolfGameBook on Twitter
