WallaBee - Interview with the developer of a fantastic app

Did you have any prior development or coding experience?

I had no prior experience with any coding languages before coming to work on WallaBee. However, WallaBee's story does not begin with me. Our app was originally coded and operated by an iOS developer, Ben Dodson. The app released in 2012 and was owned and operated by Ben until it was sold to Munzee (now Freeze Tag Inc.) in September 2015. Since 2015, we have had a handful of developers work on the backend and frontend aspects of WallaBee, but we have always maintained a small staff.

What was the most challenging aspect of developing mobile app?

The most challenging aspect of developing WallaBee today is dealing with scaling performance. One big draw to our app is the adrenaline rush our players get in finding a new item. All items in WallaBee are numbered, starting at #1 and counting up with each new item, so the lower numbered items are very desirable to our players. With that said, our gameplay creates moments in time where most of our player base hits the app at the same time, causing API calls to backup and database issues. Scaling our backend to handle this has not been an easy task, which we continue to work through even 5 years later.

_{Robbie McGuire}

Robbie has taken over the face of WallaBee. Starting as a player in January 2015, he began running almost every aspect of the game nearly a year later. From curing the dreaded Friend Bug to directing future sets, he strives toward making the community a better place, all with the future of mobile-based collecting in mind. When he isn't fiddling over something work-related, you can usually find him with his wife, daughter, and two dogs, catching up on life.

Name a few of your favorite apps and reason you love them.

We love geolocation apps. Anything that deals with expanding your knowledge of places nearby (or far) is interesting to our company. Personally, I love playing Niantic's Pokemon GO, for the geolocation aspects and my love of Pokémon. I also love our game Munzee, which is a real-world scavenger hunt game based on finding QR codes in the real world.

How long have you been working on this app?

I have been working on WallaBee since 2016, though I wasn't diving into code at that point. I was helping manage the community, support, and database.

What need of the user did you have in mind when developing this app?

Ben Dodson originally developed WallaBee to fill a void that another similar game had. It has since earned its own identity as a collecting game, which I do my best to preserve when developing it. The main need of our users in this game is for entertainment and a way to digitally collect things, without taking up physical space around them. Many players I've spoken with love collecting things in the real world and have expressed their love of this "digital collecting" platform we have created.

In what way do you think your app is better than similar apps on the market? Please describe in detail what innovation you think you bring and what you are proud of in your app.

I think WallaBee brings a lot to the table, in the fact that we are a geolocation collecting game. You can interact with places near you in the real world and find items or honeycombs (in-game currency) to help you complete sets. For example, you might find food-related items when interacting with a restaurant or grocery store. This has previously led to various brands working with us in order to drive traffic to their locations. We would love to continue this aspect of our game with new brands!

What are your future plans and expected features of the coming new versions of this app?

We're always thinking of how we can expand gameplay within WallaBee. We are really excited about the next update for WallaBee, which is currently planned to release in January 2021. This next update allows players to save multiple items variants (a heavily desired feature) and prestige items into a new type of item for their collection. The players should enjoy this next update very much!

Assuming new users of your app are reading this page. What do you want to ask them to do (contact you about X, Share the app, etc.)?

We would love for you to check out our app and share it with friends and family if you enjoy playing it. With years of items to collect, there's always something to do as a new user!