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Described as a “fun and safe virtual world for kids where they can chat, hang around, make new friends and play”, Hey Snails is the first product of Hey Snails Inc., a California-based company founded by Ex-Zynga Engineer and Social Games Evangelist, Redentor “Red” Quiambao and his partner, Harold Khan.
The People Behind Hey Snails
During his stint at Zynga, Red was part of the development team for such major hits, FarmVille, YoVille, The Pioneer Trail and Scramble. His coding skills were significant as well during Zynga’s early days when he helped develop timeless favorites such as Word Twist, Pathwords, and Challenge Sudoko. Harold, on the other hand, is a child at heart and a technology buff. His artistic hands demonstrate the best in illustration, graphic design, web design and photography. Now that they are both at Hey Snails, Red and Harold are betting their company’s future on kids.
“There is a huge, untapped potential waiting to be explored in the kids and young adults segment. Kids nowadays are technologically-savvy and naturally curious, yet not a lot of products in the market are suited to their needs. That puts us in a unique position to design a product that will help fill that gap” says Red, a father of three kids himself.
Safe and Kid-Friendly
Hey Snails is definitely poised for success, especially with the current phenomenal growth of social networks for kids. Everyone has heard about the success of virtual kids’ communities like Fantage, Everloop, and Disney’s Club Penguin. As the biggest kiddie social network of all, Club Penguin succeeded in reaching an amazing 1.8 million log-ins in a single day when it launched “Operation Blackout.” Clearly, there is a tribe of young folks out there who are eager to build their own virtual network of friends and more importantly, even more parents who want a safe social networking website for their kids.
NewZoo, an international market research firm, has released the Online Casual and Social Games Trend Report showing significant figures in the gaming habits of people in the United States. According to the report, people in the US spend 215 million hours on gaming everyday, 39% of which are attributed to online casual and social gaming. Some 87% of the 145 million US gamers aged between 10 and 65 play on casual websites and social networks. These staggering numbers present a great business opportunity for a company like Hey Snails Inc. The company takes up the challenge by combining casual gaming and social gaming under one category. Both Red and Harold have set out to carve a niche in a market that craves for a platform that does not differentiate between a parent-approved social network and a typical social network where just about everybody can login and socialize.
Ready, Get Set, Go!
Getting connected through Hey Snails is easy. A simple registration process that includes giving out the parent’s email address and completing a verification step is all that’s needed to start playing the game. Once done, kids can choose from among the seven lovely characters. If your kid is a little more playful, he can design his own character the graphics and animations are really cool enough for kids of all ages. Although primarily designed to be played by children 3 to 10 years of age, Hey Snails also appeals to kid-at-hearts parents who will surely find it enjoyable to play the game with their kids as well.
For the moment, kids can already create an account and start playing on laptops and desktops. New features and updates are being added almost on a daily basis. Kids and kids-at-heart can soon enjoy Hey Snails on mobile too once it rolls off the drawing board and becomes available for download.
Asked what is Hey Snails’ “secret sauce” that will make it a hit among the kids and young adults segment, Red laughingly replies: “My tech-savvy and brutally frank Quality Assurance (QA) Team aged ten, seven and six, who love playing the game and proudly calls me Dad.”
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contact[.]heysnails.com 
