Messenger Library on Friend Magnet

This is another great example of the Windows Live Messenger Library in action. Friendmagnet.com.au is an online game built by ninemsn (the Australian MSN joint venture). The game is pretty much one of those prize machines that you would find at a carnival or bowling alley. First you select an online friend to play with. Then you’d test your luck or ‘skill’ by trying to pick up a jar with a magnet. Each jar contains a different prize which changes each day. And the best part is that if you win a prize, your friend gets the prize too! There’s a catch though; you can’t just play with the same friend. After a certain amount of tries, you have to select a new online friend to play with. So the more online friends you have, the more times you can play. Don’t have enough friends? You can always add and invite friends from Facebook, Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo! Each friend you add will score you 2,500 tokens and at the end of the game, the players with the most tokens can win a prize ranging from $10,000 to a Plasma TV.

While you’re playing the game you can also chat with your friends or change your personal message. This is a great way to use the Windows Live Messenger Library. What we also wanted to highlight was that FriendMagnet has been really successful in getting new users to add more friends. Not only does the Messenger Library enable IM, but it also provides a method for users to add friends to their buddy list. In fact, we haven’t seen many developers taking advantage of this functionality like FriendMagnet has. I think all developers should consider leveraging this capability.For more information on how to add contacts, refer to our documentation. If you can find a way to engage and connect people, then your application will be of tremendous value to your users.

We’re always looking to showcase new applications, feel free to contact us!

Darren Louie
Program Manager
Windows Live Contacts and Messenger Platform