The thrilling iPad finals!

A couple days ago we described the MashedIn Game that our guys created for the Google I/O Conference. The goal was to connect with other players at the conference, either through your social networks or by using your smartphones to scan each others’ game-generated QR codes. The prize for the first-place finisher was an iPad.

By the end of the first day no-one had taken a strong lead in the contest. But on Thursday afternoon we were amused to learn that someone named Dion Larson had used the free printers at the conference to create a flyer with his QR code, which he taped up all over the Moscone Center:

This was kind of sneaky, because although anyone who scanned the flyer got 5 points and was entered into the iPad race, Dion was also getting 5 points for every scan. He quickly racked up a huge lead.

But the game wasn’t over! At 3:20, San Jose developer Hrag Chanchanian tweeted the following:

And the race was on. In the final minutes before the game wrapped, Ryan and Shawn emailed back and forth as they watched Hrag’s late surge:

5:57 PM Ryan: He just took first place with 3 minutes left!!

5:58 PM Shawn: and just lost it again!!!

5:59 PM Shawn: and got it back!!! it’s like watching the Cup final :-)

6:03 PM Ryan: Wow. That was awesome!

Here’s the final score:

Congratulations to Hrag, and kudos for the sneaky second-place effort by Dion.