XEOPlay’s beautiful iOS game Tilt World strives to make a real-world impact

XEOPlay CEO Nicole Lazzaro has a lofty goal: She wants people to have fun playing a game but also translate that fun into solving real-world problems.

Enter Tilt World, a beautiful iOS game. The app’s main character, Flip, is on a mission to end climate change in the game and in the real world. As players progress, their actions are mirrored in a real-world campaign to plant one million trees in Madagascar through XEOPlay partner WeForest.org. It’s the seemingly perfect combo for gamers who want to make a positive impact on the environment.

Above: XEOPlay CEO Nicole Lazzaro

“XEOPlay’s mission is to improve the quality of our lives through play,” Lazzaro told VentureBeat via e-mail. “We do this through playsourcing, which means using fun as a source of human motivation to help people change themselves and change their world.”

And the gameplay is as unique as the app’s environmental goals. Using the accelerometer on the iPhone or iPod touch, users simply “tilt” the device back and forth to help Flip on his journey.

Tilt World will later include downloadable adventure packs that address topics ranging from clean water to planting trees. After Tilt World, XEOPlay will create other games that focus on a real-life impact. Ideally, these future games will also bridge social connections and encourage others to participate.

“Tilt World is our first contribution in what we hope to be a long series of playsourced games that make the world a better place,” Lazzaro said. “We look forward to continuing our adventure of unlocking human potential through the power of play.”

In an investor panel following the demonstration, Matrix Partners general partner Dana Stalder said he was impressed with the game-play of Tilt World, but not convinced that consumers would respond to the social good hook. “Do consumers care enough?,” he questioned.

Oakland, Calif.-based XEOPlay is self-funded and has four employees. “Being a self-financed game developer is challenging, however the limited resources mean that we have to focus like laser beams on finding the fun,” Lazzaro said.

Check out more photos of Tilt World below:

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