Mission: Pic turns mobile photography into a game

If you ever felt like your photos were worth bragging about, then you might want to pick up Mission: Pic for free on iOS.

It was made by just a couple of developers who hope that the app will turn mobile photography into a competitive sport. In that sense, it’s another attempt at gamification — or using game mechanics for non-game applications.

With Mission: Pic, the developers issue a new mission each day. Players take photos that satisfy the assignment, and then all of the players vote on who did the best job. The result is an ever-evolving leaderboard of the best photos.

And why not? If you think of Instagram as a photo app with a social layer, then Mission: Pic is a photo app with a gaming layer (or meta game). It uses a Tinder style swipe-to-vote user interface. You can vote a picture up, down, or just pass on it.

If today’s mission assignment is “metal,” players could submit a close-up photo of an aluminum can or a well-framed photo of the crowd at an AC/DC concert.

The app was created by two developers and a part-time helper with the goal of getting people outside, interacting with strangers, and changing their perspective through creativity and play. Mission: Pic rewards activity with achievements and rewards.

“We shoot for missions that can be completed any day, anywhere, by anyone, but nothing gets us more excited than hearing from players who say they spend all day looking a little closer at the world trying to find the perfect picture,” said Brett Rounsaville, co-creator of Mission: Pic, in an email.

Read more: http://venturebeat.com/2015/04/06/mission-pic-turns-mobile-photography-into-a-game/