Bermudian entrepreneur Donte Hunt is preparing to launch what he believes is a “unique and revolutionary” phone app game that will be Bermuda’s first free lottery.

Players of Memorwin will see an image or video from an advertiser for a set amount of time, and then be challenged to answer questions about it once it has vanished. Correct answers will give the player the chance to win a prize draw.

Mr Hunt came up with the idea and did graphic design and a small amount of computer coding to demonstrate the concept of the game. A commercial version has now been created by developers.

The Bermuda launch of Memorwin, “the memory game app that pays”, is very close. If it is a success, Mr Hunt has ambitions to extend it into Canada and the US.

The idea for the game started by chance two years ago.

“My wife was playing an online game and ads were popping up. You had to look at them and wait for 30 seconds before getting on to the next level,” said Mr Hunte, who is a former MP.

Online ads are regarded as a nuisance by many people, said Mr Hunt. “They say only one out of every 1,000 people who visit a website actually view the ads. The performance is pitiful.”

He wondered if there was a way to have digital ads appear without them being ignored and considered a nuisance.

An innovative solution presented itself, again by chance, when he tried an online memory game his daughter was playing.

“I found myself memorising the pictures, and afterwards I thought, ‘You know what, it doesn’t matter what the image or picture was’.”

With help from his wife he tweaked a few ideas and the result was Memorwin.

Mr Hunt believes it is the only example of an online game where an individual’s main focus is specifically directed at an advert. He said the incentive is there, because the person knows they can potentially win a cash prize.

Memorwin will have three types of draw. The game draw will allow all players who have answered questions correctly on a specific game to be entered into a draw to win a prize.

There will be a super draw with one winner, with all players eligible, and finally there is a super draw for the top-scoring players.

Mr Hunt said that, similar to a lottery, prize money will vary depending on the number of games played.

“The more people who enter, the higher the cash prize.”

The money comes from the advertisers, who pay to have their advert used in a game. The game host, or advertiser, budgets for how much they will pay for a set number of games being played using their picture or video.

Mr Hunt said it was a fairer way for online advertising to work, explaining that the company with a product or service gets the exposure it wants, the advertising agency that secures the guaranteed audience placement gets paid, and the end-user, the viewer who looks at the advert as they play the memory game, has opportunities to win cash.

“We are allowing the ordinary person to have a chance of getting a piece of the pie,” said Mr Hunt.

To get the game off the ground, a Facebook page has been created. Once enough people have shown an interest and “liked” the page, the game will go live.

“We have to prove that we have a following,” said Mr Hunt.

People who “like” the Memorwin Facebook page will automatically get updates on when the game launches, announcements of weekly and monthly cash prize winners, special cash prize offers and new app news and developments.

The plan is to launch Memorwin by Christmas, although it could be much sooner if the business is able to demonstrate to advertisers, through the number of Facebook “likes” it has secured, that a good-sized captive audience is willing and waiting to play the game.

For more information visit www.memorwin.com or the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/memorwin.game