The creators of Wiki Golf today announced that Six Degrees of Separation could be put to the test as never before with their entertaining, enlightening iPhone application. Using the app, iPhone owners can now track the number of clicks between a random page or ‘tee’ and a target page or ‘hole,’ strengthening and mobilizing the game that users of Wikipedia have been enjoying for years.
“Instead of just clicking from link to link, you’re playing a constantly changing nine hole golf course,” explained Jake Silberg, one of the creators of the app. “People love Six Degrees because it takes place on the world’s greatest reservoir of information, so users learn interesting facts and discover relationships between articles while they enjoy themselves. Now, they’re using Six Degrees as part of the grander scheme of the game.”
“It’s a unique form of fun. You soon begin to make connections between incredibly different topics,” added Jesse Daugherty, a programmer for the app. “It’s great to play with friends because, suddenly, a path will appear in your mind to the target, and you rush to click there before them.”
The app has a number of features that distinguish it from any other Wikipedia-based games:
- It utilizes a creative golf format that turns a simple trick into a structured sport.
- It offers over 100 target holes each with assigned par values based on the number of articles that link to them to help you judge your results.
- It allows you to return to your game if you exit the app.
- It tracks your scores across an entire game as well as individual holes and offers a scoreboard showing your top efforts.
- 10% of all profits are donated to Wikipedia in appreciation of the work they’ve done to make knowledge open and easily accessible.
“I’ve played Six Degrees of Wikipedia online,” said gamer Brian Kaneshige after testing the app, “but now I can do it on the go, or anywhere that I’m bored. Plus, I get caught up in the golf aspect and don’t just feel like I’m clicking around.”
Ben Donald, another user of Wiki Golf, agreed, “I feel much more intellectually involved than I do when using mindless games. But I’m having a much better time than I do playing other critical thinking games.”
When asked whether they had proved Six Degrees of Separation, the two were unsure. “The Young and the Restless to Steve Jobs only took me a few clicks, but the Australian Communist Party to Mount Everest took me 9 or 10 links so I’ll have to keep trying,” Ben said.
