Friskies Hackathon Offers Big Money For Cat Game Developers

If you're a cat person, you'll think this is great and if you aren't, you'll probably think this is really weird. Purina Friskies cat food has issued a challenge for game developers to create the next great game for cats. Seriously, Purina is looking for developers to build game apps specifically aimed at cats.

There have already been some game apps for cats released, one of them had virtual fish that swim around and change direction when the cat hits the virtual fish with a paw. Friskies has announced another game specifically aimed at cats called Happy Wings that is available for download. This game features a hummingbird, moth, and a life-size dragonfly that fly around the screen.

Each time the cat touches one of those flying creatures with a paw, a point is scored. After a certain amount of points, the creatures begin the move more quickly making it more challenging for the cat. For its Friskies Hackathon, Purina is offering up prizes for teams of developers to create applications and games for our feline friends.

The contest will take place March 23 and 24th in California. The competition will have up to 75 programmers working in teams of up to five during the event. The grand prize winner will earn $15,000, second place will win $3000, and third place gets $2000. The grand prizewinner may also see their feline focused app offered by Friskies as part of its cat gaming portfolio.

[via Gamesforcats]