Pandemic Project Gives iPhone Users New Game

Scorch Injector is the fun, fast-paced medical action game with a food-lover's twist. Play as the hero with the hot sauce to destroy the BLAND and restore the patient and planet’s good taste. Available for iPhone in the Apple App Store. 

Larsen creates Scorch Injector app to fight frustration  
 

At the start of the pandemic, Matt Larsen was looking for a job. Today, the Lakewood native launched his own. 

Larsen created Scorch Injector, the iPhone game billed as a stress-relieving boredom buster to spice up 2021.  

Larsen said, “The pandemic has pushed every parent to their breaking point. I wanted to give people a positive resource to release their stress and frustration. So I taught myself to code.” 

Scorch Injector is the fun, fast-paced medical action game with a food-lover's twist. Play as the hero with the hot sauce to destroy the BLAND and restore the patient and planet’s good taste. 

“Being able to shoot BLANDs with your food injector is cathartic,” Larsen said. “As we wait for an end to the pandemic, game play helps fight frustration, relieve stress, and release tension.” 

Scorch Injector utilizes an innovative approach to gameplay, using motion control as virtual reality to immerse players in the world. Players become ANDOUILLE, launched into the patient to defeat the BLAND by shooting hot sauce at all copies found while navigating the body’s digestive tract. Players move their device to find where the BLAND is hiding and tap to destroy.  

“It’s virtual reality without the reality,” Larsen said. “I relied on my expertise in tech support for the foundation, boosted by an online class I took this summer. But it was my skills as an artist and an improviser that supported the programming, turning the imaginary into the real.” 

Larsen built a draft of the idea on App Wednesday, a concept he and his wife, Brandi Larsen, created to give him uninterrupted focus time away from the kids. The entire family has been home together since March. 

“Any good piece of art is a collaboration. Brandi saw the initial design and thought to make it a medical action game and I thought of adding Cajun flavoring to the recipe. I knew Scorch Injector hit the right level of fun when the kids begged to play.” 

“This is an escape from the pandemic. Games inject the spice we miss,” Larsen said. “In truth, each of us can make 2021 less bland than 2020. Wear a mask, practice social distancing, get the vaccine when it becomes available to you, and find ways to relax and care for yourself.” 

Scorch Injector is available now for iPhone in the Apple app store for $0.99. 

LKWD CAST LLC is a development studio dedicated to creating apps to make your life better, based in Lakewood, Ohio. Matt Larsen is the company’s founder. 

Brandi Larsen is a Lakewood-based writer, speaker, and coach building a more inclusive publishing landscape. She helped create NYT bestsellers and earned Emmy nominations. Her talks about publishing, leadership, and grief inspire audiences from Zoom to Harvard. She serves as the board president for Literary Cleveland and writes books and essays. Scorch Injector is a COVID collaboration close to her heart. BrandiLarsen.com

Brandi Larsen

Brandi Larsen is the Lakewood-based writer, speaker, and coach building a more inclusive publishing landscape. She helped create NYT bestsellers and earned Emmy nominations. Her talks about publishing, leadership, and grief inspire audiences from Zoom to Harvard. She serves as the board president for Literary Cleveland and writes books and essays. Scorch Injector is the COVID collaboration close to her heart. BrandiLarsen.com 

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Volume 17, Issue 5, Posted 3:04 PM, 03.17.2021