TechLife Columbus: The Columbus Dispatch : OSU grads turn cornhole into iPhone app

The Columbus Dispatch : OSU grads turn cornhole into iPhone app

Monday, August 24, 2009 3:02 AM

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Cornhole is a game most likely to be played on a front lawn. Or in a park. Somewhere with grass, at least, a couple of friends and maybe a beer or two.

But what about in an old Western town? Perhaps a graveyard? Or, if you're feeling adventurous, a pirate ship?

While these seem like unlikely places to gather to toss some beanbags, two local developers made it possible -- on your iPhone.

Jon Myers and Chuck Hootman, both Columbus-based Ohio State University graduates, created the iPhone app Cornhole All-Stars. It allows users to play the Ohio-rooted game in four locations with characters who match their territory.

"Its appeal is that it's a social game," Hootman said. "And with the game, it can be something you do to pass time or it can be a competitive thing with friends."

Cornhole All-Stars is the first product out of JUFTi Games, Myers and Hootman's new iPhone application-development firm. Both still have "day jobs": Hootman is co-owner of Tip Top Kitchen and Cocktails and a bike messenger, and Myers is a founder of DOmedia, a database of alternative media opportunities.

They have the same goal for the games they create: that they are casual and can have multiple players.

The game of cornhole fits both of those to a tee.

The first documented games were in Cincinnati, according to the American Cornhole Association. It has since taken on a variety of names: beanbag toss, bags, tailgate toss and more. But whatever it's called, the objective remains the same: Toss a beanbag into a hole on a slanted platform.

Mike Whitton, president of the association based in California, said he thinks the app will generate interest in the lawn game.

"I have no doubt that the iPhone game will appeal to both current players and people that have never played," Whitton said. "And that will lead to new enthusiasts."

Cornhole All-Stars isn't the only app of its kind. There are at least three other cornhole games in the Apple store.

Although the iPhone game lacks actual bags of corn, its creators and developers took care to make the game as realistic as possible.

"We really studied the physics of the game," Myers said.

Even the toss can feel like you have a bag in hand. Myers and Hootman took a page out of Nintendo Wii-like technology, where you hold onto the phone and simulate a toss. (Just don't let go of your iPhone.) For the more discreet, you can also toss with a flick of your finger on the screen.

This proved to be a challenge for the developers at Tracer Media, a local design and animation firm. Developer Brian Dittmer created a test application to record the data received by the iPhone when it was miming a throw. It worked well -- except for one thing.

"When we tested it out, everyone was right-handed," Dittmer said. "So when a left-handed person finally tried it, it didn't work."

Myers and Hootman also played the lawn version of the game to find out where the bags landed when you missed or what it looked like if one bag hit another. John Geiger, CEO of Tracer Media, Dittmer and other developers translated these onto the iPhone screen using complex animation and design programs.

"The bags looked like flying pillows at first," Geiger said. "But then you gradually add layers and 3-D technology to make it as realistic as possible."

Whether you're faux-throwing or flicking your finger, it's the outlandish characters that make Cornhole All-Stars stand out.

There's Sam Spittoon, an outlaw with a Yosemite Sam moustache; Bucketfoot Bill, a pirate in need of dental work; Ms. Peculiar, whose green radioactive glow makes her blend right into the graveyard; and Amazing Carl, the Everyman who looks like he never left college.

Bill Schwappacher, owner of Holi Moli Media in Rochester, N.Y., did the majority of the illustrations for the game. He said about 10 other environments and characters didn't make the game, including a moonscape.

Hootman said the characters were developed after many "caffeine-induced brainstorm sessions." Each character lives in a matching environment, and users can pick where and with whom they want to play.

Creating these characters was a tedious process. They went from thoughts to sketches on a storyboard to wire-frame digital outlines. Geiger said one of the more difficult parts of the process wasn't the designing but weeding through all the ideas and making creative decisions.

"It was hard because at some you just have to shut off the tap and finish the game," Geiger said.

All in all, the process took about five months. Once they submitted the game to Apple, it took about two weeks for approval. Developers have to pay a $100 fee to be able to submit to the Apple app store, and once their game is in the store, Apple takes 30 percent of the profit. The Cornhole All-Star game costs 99 cents.

The release of the game was celebrated with an Aug. 6 launch party, appropriately at the Santa Maria Downtown.

Myers and Hootman are close to releasing their next game, though they're tight-lipped on what it is.