Entrepreneurial 11-year-old Peter Fitzgerald developed the game over a period of eight months, and within four weeks has already seen 10,000 users signing up to play.
“I saw a gap,” he said, “when I couldn’t find an interactive, multi-player game that featured pirates after watching Pirates of The Caribbean and series such as Hornblower on TV.”
Peter then set about designing a title that was aimed at ages 8-12 and set during the Napoleonic Wars.
It tasks players with building a fleet of warships to dominate the seas and battle against teams of other players online.
He wanted the game to be both educational and fun, but its appeal has proven more widespread than he originally thought.
“We spent a lot of time working on the details of ‘Buccaneers and Lobsters’ to ensure it’s as accurate as possible and to encourage teachers and parents to see the value of the game,” he said.
“We have asked older players what they think of the game and the feedback is good.
“We also have a growing following on Facebook from women, which is something I didn’t expect.”
His aim is to follow in his father’s footsteps, which won’t be easy – Peter’s dad, also called Peter, was the founder of medical diagnostics company Randox Laboratories.
He is also drawing inspiration from the success of US developer Zynga, whose virtual farming game Farmville has been a billion-dollar success.
‘Buccaneers and Lobsters’ is free to play for now, but as the original version is modified and more features are added, Peter says he will be “developing his business model further.”
“Access to the game is simple and it is constantly being improved,” he continued.
“We can’t say that Buccanneers and Lobsters will ever be finished. I need to continue updating it and adding to it if my players are going to keep coming back.”
Keystagetwo.com is a learning environment that enables children to learn effectively, while having fun.
We offer schools the chance to utilize our ‘edutainment’ system which involves class and individual prizes for pupils to aid in the improvement of grades, overall school OFSTED performance and a system that can be used in conjunction with whiteboard technology on a daily basis.
For the parent we offer the chance of additional tutoring at a fraction of the cost, using a system that your children will enjoy using. You will be able to track your child’s performance on homework and set your own tests for the holidays to aid your child’s ability to succeed.
www.buccaneersandlobsters.com
www.keystagetwo.com
