Mobile game discovery platform Heyzap has come a long way since its first foray into the mobile space, and today the company hopes to shake things up again with a new update to their Android app.
For the uninitiated, Heyzap allows players to check-in to their favorite games, and discover new ones by sharing and connecting with other players. Players can also win badges after hitting certain milestones, and can try to become the “Boss” of any given game by checking in enough times.
For version 3.0, the team revamped their app’s design to put a new Play tab at the center of the action. Tapping it brings up the full list of games installed on your phone ranked by their usage. If you’re a diehard Fruit Ninja fanatic for example, you’ll find the game right at the top while less worthy titles like Uncle Jim’s Pig Roundup (not a real game, but a guy can hope) settle towards the bottom.
Pressing and holding a game’s icon brings you into a separate info page where you can connect with other people playing the game and see who has managed to land the coveted “Boss” spot. If you happen to tap on an unowned game while browsing around, you’re taken to a similar info page complete with download link from the Android Market.
The ranked list is a conceptually simple tweak, but it’s one that makes it loads easier for users to manage their game libraries. Instead of scrolling through your entire app drawer looking for that one special game to play, Heyzap figures out what it is and places it front and center.
The new design coupled with Heyzap’s ability to connect to the app market for quick downloads makes it clear that Heyzap wants to be your one-stop shop for mobile gaming. Company co-founder Jude Gomila would probably agree with me: he casually mentioned to me that he hopes Heyzap will become the “Instagram of games.”
Android users can snag the app here (or update if they already have it), but iOS gamers will have to wait a few more weeks until they get to share in the fun.