PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Player of the Week: Derek Barker (eigerman)

As Munzee has grown over the years, the game has evolved in so many more ways than any of the co-founders could have imagined. We’ve certainly had our fair share of growing pains, but in its essence Munzee has tried to stick to its core goal of getting people out into the world. No one knows this better than those players who have been with us since the beginning. This week’s Player of the Week is Derek Barker (eigerman).

Who are you?
Derek Barker – eigerman

Where in the world do you live?
I live in Eccleshill, Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK.

How long have you played Munzee?
Started in September 2012.

How did you find Munzee?
I started playing another game in May 2012 and kept finding QR codes in the containers, but I had no idea what they were as I didn’t have a smartphone at the time. This went on for several months until my son-in-law was out with me one day. He had an iPhone and looked up the details of the QR code. As a result, I joined Munzee, ordered a smartphone, and the rest is history as they say. If I remember correctly, my first day out Munzeeing was also a double point weekend, bearing in mind that there were very few munzees deployed in our area at that time. Needless to say, the fun had started.

What do you most enjoy about Munzee?
It’s a fun and easy game to play and suitable for all ages. I really like being in the outdoors and have made many new friends whilst playing Munzee. It’s great to go to events and meet players from other parts of the country.

What is on your wish list?
I would love to visit some of the big virtual fields in Europe.

Tell us about yourself!
I was born and raised in Yorkshire. I am married to Lesley, and we have 2 children, Clare and Andy who are both married now, and 4 grandchildren. My eldest grandson, Jack, is also a keen Munzee player. I worked in the communication industry for 25 years and then spent 10 years with a computer supply company. I retired early due to ill health, and during my recovery period, I realised that I need to get back outdoors for some much needed exercise. As a result, I started caching, but Munzee soon followed and has remained a firm favourite.

Other hobbies include:
Walking or anything to do with the outdoors, reading mountaineering stories, and model railways.

Any last words?
I would like to say a big thank you to my fellow players for this nomination. We have an amazing team in our local group – Yorkshire Munzee Hunters. I look forward to seeing our group grow and can’t wait for our next event.

eigerman also included some socials, so cap away!

Player of the Week: Attila and Csaba Fodor (Attis)

As Munzee has grown over the years, the game has evolved in so many more ways than any of the co-founders could have imagined. We’ve certainly had our fair share of growing pains, but in its essence Munzee has tried to stick to its core goal of getting people out into the world. No one knows this better than those players who have been with us since the beginning. This week’s Player of the Week is a father and son duo of Attila and Csaba Fodor (Attis).

Who are you?
We are Attila and Csaba, son and father, and we play Munzee under the name “Attis” which is a nickname for Attila. (Note: For the remainder of the interview, they are using the designators: CS for Csaba and A for Attila.)

Where in the world do you live?
CS: We live in a residential area of Budapest, Hungary.
A: Look on the map for the Surprise Car Garden made by us. It is near our house.

How long have you played Munzee?
CS: The account was made for Attila in November 2013.

How did you find Munzee?
A: My mom – she is theacher – was at seminary where she found out about Munzee and a few other applications. So, in our family, she has the oldest Munzee account. A few days later, she registered my account with the username “Attis”.
CS: At the beginning, my wife and son were playing together, and I was laughing from a distance. It was so funny watching them search for munzees and seeing people look at them awkwardly. After a while, when Attila wanted to play more and more and my wife didn’t have much time for playing, I had to go with him as he was only 10 years old at the time and I couldn’t let him go alone. Slowly, I got used to it and then started liking it, too. Seeking Munzees wasn’t strange to me anymore.
A: I was searching the map all the time, and when something new appeared (for example, the Aquamarines), I called my dad and asked him to cap them when he drove home from his office.
CS: Now, we play every day. We have a capture streak of over 580 days. We’re addicted to the game.

What do you most enjoy about Munzee?
A: I mostly like the food feeling when I cap a new special munzee or when we earn new badges.
CS: I like Munzee for many reasons. Spending a lot of time with my son, moving, walking a lot, meeting new people from all around the world. We like to travel (of course, not only for Munzee). We have captured and deployed in about 20 countries. And also, however Munzee is a game, and like in most games, there is a competition side to it. I like to compete.

What is on your wish list?
A: To visit MHQ, have as many badges as possible, visit as many Virtual Gardens as we can, and to be in the Top 100 players in the world.
CS: Yes, to visit MHQ is a dream which will become a reality soon. We already have airplane tickets to Dallas for Lone Star Bash. Then, to achieve the Top 10 players in the Globetrotters section (with the most physical deploys by country). It’s a pity that, while we were playing Munzee already in 2013, we were not as active at the time. We were in the Bahamas, the US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Island, Saint Marrten and Malta, England, and Bulgaria. We don’t have physical deploys in those countries (just 1-2 captures), so we have to go back eventually.

Staff Note: It was wonderful to meet you both at Lone Star Bash!

Tell us about yourself!
A: I’m almost 13 now, so I still have a long way in school. I like football (or soccer as you call in the US), racing go-karts, music, and traveling. And I like learning 😉 (This interview will probably be read by my teachers, too, so… you know.) I started high school in September at one of the best schools in Hungary (ranked at 5th in the country).
CS: I’m 45, a husband (I’ve loved my wife, Erika, since ’88 when we were 16), and a father of two. Besides my sone, Attis, we have a daughter named Csenge who, unfortunately, doesn’t like to munzee, but she does help us with Eventzee as a model. I work in the meat business as a salesman, and I travel a lot. I like soccer. I played for 12 years when I was a kid, and I like rock music.

Any last words?
Munzee – Building bridges between people.

Attis also included some socials, so cap away!

Player of the Week: David Smith (djsmith)

As Munzee has grown over the years, the game has evolved in so many more ways than any of the co-founders could have imagined. We’ve certainly had our fair share of growing pains, but in its essence Munzee has tried to stick to its core goal of getting people out into the world. No one knows this better than those players who have been with us since the beginning. This week’s Player of the Week is David Smith (djsmith).

Who are you?
My name is David Smith, Munzee name djsmith (a lot of thought went into that).

Where in the world do you live?
I come from Lake Macquarie, North of Sydney and South of Newcastle AUSTRALIA. It has good weather all year round which is great for munzeeing.

How long have you played Munzee?
I have just completed my first year of munzeeing, and it has gone from capping one or two to being in a clan (Hunter Munzee Hunters). It is a group of local players who aim to push ourselves further each month to achieve higher levels. By having local players, we have helped grow our area quickly, making it more fun.

How did you find Munzee?
A year ago, my son’s cub scouts group had a father day (night) at Rathmines, and we were all instructed to load this funny named “Munzee” app on our phones before arriving. The leader, who had only played Munzee for a week or so, had put out 10 munzees and instructed us (SORT OF) on what to do. We went out into the dark to find them, and two hours later, we had won, and I was very interested. A couple of weeks later, I was in Sydney and decided to cap a couple, and “bisygisy” tracked me down and showed me a few things like turning on the filters. Wow, did Sydney look a whole lot different! (Thanks for your help!) A couple of months later, I was in Sydney again and was tracked down by “GD”. This time, he talked me into joining the clan he was in, and from there on out, I was hooked. I would also like to thank “czechroo” for his help and guidance in the game.

What do you most enjoy about Munzee?
I love meeting other players, listening to their stories, and hopefully learning new things. I love playing the game and working out strategies with the clan. I go out of my way to help other Munzee players when I can, especially new players, as others have done for me. We have a great clan in Newcastle with terrific people in it. We are trying new things all the time. For example, we held a Birthday Event which turned out to be an interesting one with players coming from Victoria. Unfortunately, with the time difference between the USA and Australia, I got the date wrong, so we had a real find the munzee without a map. All went down well and everyone had a good time. We have also tried creating a garden which was fun. You can check that out here.

What is on your wish list?

1. All filters on by default. I have helped a lot of new players, and not one of them has had them on or know about them. Their eyes just popped out of their heads when they see the area with them on.
2. I would like to see a new leaderboard with badges, of course. The leaderboard would be for capping and deploying, but no CapOns. Badges for daily, month, and maybe yearly, but not overall. The idea is not to take away from the top players who have acheived a lot in the game but to allow new players to try competing with the top players in capping/deploying on a daily to monthly basis. As people would try to catch the top players, the game would grow.

Tell us about yourself!
I am an office fitout contractor, and I do a lot of traveling around the state for work (and Munzee). I have a wonderful family with two boys that also play Munzee.

Other hobbies include:
Hmmm Eventzee.

Any last words?
I am working on how to get the Victorian Australia Day event next year. There is a big rumour that Rob is coming down under, so it will be the biggest event Australia has ever had. Rob, are you really coming down under????

Thank you for nominating me for POTW. I was very shocked and humbled by the nomination. Looking forward to meeting other players on my Munzee journey!

djsmith also included some socials, so cap away!