The Dating Game Goes Mobile With “The Game”

You enjoy dating.

You enjoy playing games.

Therefore, it stands to reason that you would enjoy playing games about dating, especially if you can do it with your mobile phone.

Angry Birds is out, ladies and gentlemen, and The Game is in.

The Game is a new mobile app for iPhone and Android that promises to inject a little fun back into your love life. Online dating has changed the world, but scrolling through endless profiles on eHarmony or OkCupid gets boring. Enter The Game, which hopes to make the experience of using technology to meet your match a little less formal and a lot more conversational.

Starting is as simple as downloading the app to your device and signing in with your Facebook account. Once you're logged on, you're presented with three potential partners selected by the app based on the demographic and geographic information found in your Facebook profiles. You're immediately encouraged to interact with someone who could turn out to be your next Saturday night date by answering the ice-breaking multiple choice questions that come along with each match.

The more interactions you engage in with other players, the more points you earn. Points can later be redeemed for digital gifts or compliments. Players must continue to interact with new people in order to remain in the game - those who stop conversing with other players risk being kicked out. Those who continue to meet new people and earn more points are rewarded by getting one new potential partner each day. As players become more familiar with each other, they have the option of taking their conversation offline or meeting in person.

The Game creates a safe environment in which to meet people by using Facebook Connect to validate that users are who they say they are. Players are also never given access to each other's' personal information, and are required to have at least 50 Facebook friends (to prove that they have adequate social abilities) before playing the game.

"Our mission at The Game is to make dating fun again," says David Semerad, founder and CEO of The Game. "Dating should be enjoyable, there is no need for it to involve long forms and paperwork and create stress for people who already have busy, interesting lives. With The Game, we wanted to change the online dating model, and inject a large dose of playfulness and engagement."

Addictive Facebook games? Please. Farmville is so 2011. It's all about The Game in 2012.