Lake Land College (LLC) has a new mobile app running around this semester. Goosechase has been used at multiple events this fall semester including the Opening Day kick-off event on Aug. 19 and student Welcome Day on Aug. 24. This app is here to act as an activity to get people involved in events and incentivize attending future Student Activity Board (SAB) events. However, where did this new app come from?

According to IT Instructor Scott Rhine, also known as the High Priest of Goosechase, the app was first used by LLC back in 2017 at an annual computer competition to occupy high school participants while the judges finished scoring. The high schoolers seemed to like the app since Rhine brought it back for the competition in the following years. Eventually, Rhine saw an opportunity to get a campus license using a one-time budget request.

Rhine stated, “My task that I gave myself was, I’ve got a year to show everybody what this is like. To show what is possible.” With this new task, Rhine was notified that for the faculty and staff Opening Day kick-off that they needed an ice breaker or interactive event. Rhine responded, “I have Goosechase!” 

The app is quite diverse and can be used in other aspects other than just to make events interactive. However, according to Rhine, “I think Student Life will end up using it probably just as much as anyone else.” Considering the possibilities Rhine mentioned that Goosechase can be a tour of campus, learn about a program or virtual open houses. The app is a style of treasure hunt and tour mixed into a single app.

The app works by one person creating a task to complete. These tasks can be questions that are fill-in-the-blank, multiple choice, take a specified photo and go to a specified location. Completing a task awards points to players. Rhine called these tasks “gamification” which is the idea of making something feel like a game to encourage completion, in this case tasks to earn points. 

Goosechase has a unique ability to create a way for people who miss events, to virtually experience the event. Rhine gave the example of if someone missed the event, the person could make it to campus on a different day and play a Goosechase of the event that could take them around campus. There could be a video of a student ambassador explaining the exact same thing they would say during the event. This ability to reach more people and bring in anyone with a phone to tour campus could help raise enrollment and add engagement on campus.

According to Rhine, Goosechase is not a one-and-done type of thing. The app can have its activities saved and used however many times that it is needed. Rhine described the app as a hammer that you can build whatever you want with. Rhine explained, “When people say, ‘Oh I’ve already done Goosechase’ you already used a hammer…but a hammer doesn’t just build one thing a hammer can build whatever.” This idea of having an app that someone can mold into anything they want encourages its use even further.

Rhine, with his new “hammer”, is attempting to spread the good word of Goosechase to all of LLC. He has done well so far by getting Student Life involved, as well as the cosmetology department, human resources, the library and career services. With all of these possible applications Rhine, as its missionary, should not worry about getting funding to keep Goosechase running here on campus.