Foursquare is a location-based social "game" from Dodgeball (now defunct) co-creator Dennis Crowley. The service launched at the recent SWSX conference to much fanfare and was reviewed initially on TechCrunch. I haven't yet used the service and admit to not being that interested in the game dimension of it.
Here's the way it's pitched on the site, which also prompts people to download the iPhone app:
We're all about helping you find new ways to explore the city.
We'll help you meet up with your friends and let you earn points and unlock badges for discovering new places, doing new things and meeting new people.
However, recognizing the popularity of mobile gaming, this could be quite successful with the under-30-what-should-I-do-with-my-time? crowd. CNet has an interesting Q&A interview with Crowley:
What cities are seeing the most activity?
Crowley: The top seven in order are San Francisco, New York City, Seattle, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Portland (Ore.), and Chicago. (I'm) frustrated that New York is always in 2nd place; Dodgeball was the same way.
Any plans to incorporate another service like Yelp or CitySearch to make the app a reference tool as well? I know when I'm out and considering going somewhere nearby (in the local favorites section) it would be nice to do that without leaving the application. The 'nearby tips' section is a boon for that, but what about taking it a step further?
Crowley: You know, a lot of the city and tips stuff we're doing is a response to Yelp and CitySearch being frustrating products to use. I don't read reviews, but I do want people to recommend things to me. More specifically I want my friends to recommend things to me. That's what we're trying to explore with the Top 12 lists: how do you create actionable items that can be tied to rewards and accomplishments? I think both Naveen and I have big ideas about how to make this work, we're just so busy fixing bugs and making things run smoother and faster that we haven't had a chance to focus on it yet.
Again, I haven't used it. But it seems like a very clever and creative take on LBS and mobile social networking.
I've argued that most mobile-only social networks are going to get steamrolled by Facebook and MySpace. Hence the merger of Limbo and Brightkite. But Foursquare's game-like approach could turn out to be a differentiator and make it a survivor.