A dare is an essential part of playground camaraderie. But the adoration of our peers isn’t exactly a compelling incentive as we grow older. A new app originally formed as a smart contracts platform is making dares fun again, and offering you cash for going through with crazy stunts.
Double Dog is an iOS and Android app that lets you create and post dares, in addition to letting you accept dares from friends and strangers. With each dare you create, you offer either cash or “bones,” the in-app currency, for those who complete the dare. You can then send the dare to friends or post it to the public through Dare Roulette.
Dare Roulette lets users see how many bones you’re offering, but not the details of the dare. But don’t worry, if the dare is too extreme, you can always turn it back on the darer with the Double Dare. When that happens, the darer has to perform the dare to earn double the bones or pay out three times the amount if they chicken out.
To confirm a dare has been completed, users post video or photo proof. If there’s any debate about the completion status of a dare, users can post it to the public for a final judgment. There, the public sees the text of the dare and the video or photo, voting on whether the dare was completed or not.
Double Dog was created by Austin Arnold, Rodrigo Carvalho and Theodore Dasher, who were looking to create a smart contracts platform and built up Double Dog as a proof of concept. But as a community started to grow around the app, which now boasts more than 100,000 users, the duo decided to pursue it as their main project. Now, a seven-person team is working to make dares fun, and lucrative.
It’s not just players who stand to make money; the company is using sponsored dares to build revenue. Currently, users can complete ice cream-related dares for a chance to win Halo Top ice cream as part of a sponsorship deal. Double Dog has also raised $300,000 from angel investors, but is now focused on refining the product.
The free app is available now on iOS and Android.
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