In the past, you could usually find Ryan Anderson on the road with his teammates in airports or buses playing Words With Friends or Draw Something on his phone, his competitive streak coming out. That is… until he made his own app this year.
Hide It! (Head to Head), a hidden-object interactive game, is the stretch four’s newest attraction. And just as Anderson joins a new team this season with the Hornets after spending the last three seasons knocking down threes with the Magic, he joins uncharted territory of NBA players who are also tech-savvy.
Like its predecessors Words With Friends and Draw Something, Hide It! (you can follow the app on Twitter) is meant to be played with and against friends, where the first person to find another person’s object in each scene wins; kind of like i-Spy.
When he was playing in both New Jersey and Orlando, Anderson’s long-time friend and roommate of four years came up with the idea for the app. Anderson couldn’t resist in dabbling in something outside of the basketball court.
“He made this dream come to life,” Anderson says. “I’m really excited to see where this is going to go. It has the ability to be a huge app. The game is far beyond anything I’ve imagined.”
Most high school players dream of being that exclusive .1 percent of guys who make it to the league, but an even smaller percentage dream of doing that, launching their own website (Anderson’s personal fan website – ryan33anderson.com – is expected to go live soon), and creating their own app simultaneously.
Growing up in El Dorado Hills (Calif.), Anderson only put down the remote controller when he had to lace up his shoes to go workout or play.
“I’m a huge N64 guy,” he says. “I loved GoldenEye 007 and Mario Kart 64, another classic one. That was my favorite gaming system.”
That love of technology helped spawn Hide It!, which is now available in Android and iOS, and has already received positive feedback from New Orleans players and staff.
“My trainers and a few of my teammates love it, Anderson says. “They’re having a blast. It’s fun sharing with them that I’m a part of that app.”
You can download the app here.
Have you tried the app? What do you think?
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