There was a significant Israeli presence at this year’s TechCrunch Disrupt NY. I met with a few companies at their pavilion, and most of the apps I saw were well developed and highly focused to solve a specific problem. Qmerce nicely fits into this Israeli approach.
Qmerce lets you create customized games for Facebook and also for plain old websites. You don’t have to be a game designer or a graduate of, say, the NYU Game Center, or even the least bit technical. The game templates are supplied by Qmerce, and you can select from race car, mazes, and, yes, cupcakes contests.
The demographics, of course, trend a little younger for these kind of activities.
Game makers get to configure the game’s look by selecting icons and sound effects, and there is some opportunity in these games to upload your own graphics for branding purposes. You’re given the opportunity to invite Facebook friends, and once the game is active, Qmerce keeps track of scores with an online leader board.
I was shmoozing with Qmerce’s Founder and CEO, Moti Cohen, at his booth as he was demoing the app. The games have 16-bit retro feel about them. Qmerce reminded me a little bit of FanGager, another company with Israeli roots. But Qmerce is more purely a gaming application with customer engagement as a secondary possibility. In other words, there isn’t in-your-face marketing within the games.
Still, it does have marketing possibilities, and I would be very appealing to SMBs, schools, and non-profits. And I shouldn’t forget the very powerful force of Facebook users, who can make apps like this quite popular.
Qmerce is currently in Beta.