Living in Peru : your everyday companion

By Bruno Ortiz Bisso
El Comercio

Chicha music, a highway loaded with taxis, ticos and combis, and a loud voice that ocassionally screams “Pisa, pisa!” (Step on it! Step on it!) That atmosphere, so common for any limeño, has been turned into a fun game that, in few days, has become a sensation, mainly amongst Peruvian users on Facebook. It’s called Crazy Combi, a new version of the popular game Crazy Taxi, created by a Peruvian company called Inventarte. It was launched on June 24th, and, in twelve days had surpassed the 350,000 user mark.

“Avance al Fondo”

The game is simple: you’re a combi driver who must avoid the other vehicles on the road (either dodging them or jumping over them), and to gain points you have to try to make it to the next bus stop before the time runs out.

According to the points you make you get ranked at certain levels, going from “Pollito de Galpón” to “Tigre de Alfombra”, then “Tiburón de Acequia”, until finally reaching the 10th level, “Golden Combi Driver.”

“Crazy Combi” has reached such success that its creators were forced to make changes in less than two weeks: now there are various combi models, you can choose between two musical themes and you can choose your route. To be able to play, you just need to have a Facebook account and enter http://apps.facebook.com/crazycombi/.

Immediate response

“We realized that at lunchtime the people at the office would spend some time playing the different games that are currently popular on Facebook. They’re just time-killers but they let you release some stress. That was when we decided we would make one for this social networking site,” explains Javier Albarracín, director of Inventarte.

While they looked for inspiration, they discovered that someone at the company played Crazy Taxi, where a taxi would dodge other cars in its way. The simple concept of the game appealed to them, but something was missing.

They then contacted the company that developed Crazy Taxi and got a license to create their own version.

“It became the company project. This game included everyone’s participation, from the design, the concept and the new details,” adds Albarracín

 Crazy Combi was uploaded onto Facebook on June 24th. Initially they intended to reach 50 thousand users, but surprisingly, five days later they had passed 120 thousand.

Coming up

“The next step is to take this application exactly as it is and with the right name for the iPhone. We're still missing some things, but I'm sure we're going to do it,” assures Albarracín.

But if you can't wait and you're ready to step on the virtual accelerator, become the latest bus driver on Crazy Combi.

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Heeeey i cant believe you won this its unbelievable and i think you deserve a medel            xx.

Funny and awesome

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