Toronto Startup Gamifies Instagram With New InstaMatch App

February 27, 2012

If you enjoyed playing memory card matching games as a kid, then you’ll want to check out the new InstaMatch App that launched last week. Created by Tiny Hearts, an award-winning app studio based in Toronto and maker of Pocket Zoo, InstaMatch takes photos from the popular iPhone app Instagram and provides a creative twist on the classic card-matching puzzle game.

“I recently became a dad for the first time and I realized that no one was using Instagram to create games. I saw a huge opportunity and decided to create a family-friendly game and brand,” says Robleh Jama, Founder at Tiny Hearts.

Users can play InstaMatch with their own Instagram photos, or use any of the over 500 million tagged photos on Instagram. There are different ways to play the game – making it accessible and fun for people of all ages to play. In InstaMatch mode, your goal is to match two similar photos of the same object, versus the classic game where you match duplicates of the same image. There are harder modes available – where users have to move cards for more difficulty.

Players can choose from five themes including: World Wonders, Cities, Nature, Food, and Animals. The game can be played by up to 2 players on the iPhone and 4 players on the iPad, and comes with added photo-discovery features and a scoring system with game center leader boards for those who like to compete.

InstaMatch also has social media features, allowing users to “Like” a photo with a double tap, or share their scorecard on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

Jama has some previous experience as an entrepreneur. While studying at York University, he launched a successful social network called Sneakerplay which he sold in 2009. Jama believes that there are many opportunities to tap into growing online photo sharing trends. “Once Pinterest puts out an API, things could get really interesting there,” he says.

To celebrate the launch of InstaMatch, the company is running a contest on their website. They’re giving away a few Gizmon iCA iPhone cases (also known as the Ultimate iPhone Camera Case) which turn your iPhone into a retro-looking camera.

The InstaMatch app is currently available for iPhone and iPad users on the iTunes App Store. Regular price is $1.99 but it is currently on sale for $0.99.