Meet the Entrepreneurs
The Gardener November 2013
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Mobile Innovation
the gardener, nako games
Game apps: an exciting pathway for young innovators Narine Yeghiazaryan, Founder, Armenia
CHALLENGE The market for 2D mobile action games like the Angry Birds series (a popular action game with over 1.7 billion downloads around the world) has grown significantly in the last couple of years. That is why Narine and her team set their minds and efforts on creating a similar action game, but with an Armenian touch to increase the visibility of the country’s rich culture, history, and sights. The app targets domestic users, Armenian diaspora, and others.
CONTACT INFORMATION Yerevan, Armenia
narine@nakogames.com
www.mlabeca.com/eng/mobile_ applications/windows-phone/thegardener/ /NaKoGames
BUSINESS MODEL NaKo Games’ revenue model is based on the number of users engaged in the applications and not on direct sales. Instead, the revenue comes from the sales of advertising space to companies that want to showcase their products or services to the market of game users that download and play the application.
“GAMING APPS ARE A GOOD WAY TO MOTIVATE AND ENGAGE YOUNG PEOPLE IN DEVELOPMENT AND MOBILE TECHNOLOGY.”
IDEA Narine and her team came up with the idea for The Gardener in December 2012 when they participated in the Hackathon [YAN] contest. This competition inspired them to think of the different ways they could focus their work on young people. It was then that they hit on mobile game apps, since these were the most downloaded applications. Inspired by Angry Birds, Narine and her team created The Gardener. Instead of birds, their main characters were worms, and instead of fixed targets, theirs moved for added difficulty. They also included Armenian traditional items, such as Mount Ararat and apricots.
“CREATING ARMENIAN GAMES IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE SUCCESS WORLDWIDE.”
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