Most people likely first played this childhood game in the schoolyard: rock-paper-scissors.

It's still a popular way to settle a bet or resolve some sort of a conflict.

But a Coquitlam video game designer has brought the pastime into the world of smartphones, by designing an iPhone app based on a Korean version of rock-paper-scissors.

Colin Sullivan is the creator behind Settle This!, a new iPhone app. And he's taken the spot where he first learned to play the game around the world.

He grew up in Coquitlam and attended Eagle Ridge Elementary as a youngster.

Sullivan, who has a background in industrial sales and marketing, remembered the times he spent toiling at the school, particularly on the all-weather field.

So he paid tribute to that time in the only way he knew how. Sullivan made the field the default background in his game.

"It seemed like such a cool idea - this is where you're going to start in the game," he told The NOW, noting his days on the school grounds were such a formative time in his life.

"There is something oddly likable about these gravel fields because it's a childhood thing."

He essentially took a picture of the field this past summer, digitized the image and added chalk and a puzzle.

"I think it looks great as a background in the game," Sullivan said.

The producer and principal game designer for Evolved Software got the idea for the game during his time at university, playing a similar Korean strategy game called Muk-Chi-Ba.

He'd been searching for an electronic version of the game for some time, but never found one that satisfied.

That was until the iPhone came along.

He got to work and developed Settle This!

In September, the game was launched and quickly garnered attention.

It was featured as the No. 1 new strategy app in Canada just after its release, and quickly moved into the top 14 per cent of all apps.

"This game is already the best version of rock, paper and scissor of any type in the app store," Sullivan said.

The game sells for $1.99. There is one more Tri-Cities connection to the game that has now gone worldwide.

Christopher Leitch, aka Lake Fader, who did all the games music and some of the sound effects, was also raised in Coquitlam.

Though no one outside of the area would even know his elementary school serves as the backdrop for his game, Sullivan hopes the school will appreciate the ode to the place where he spent so much time growing up.

jdeutsch@thenownews.com

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