Adam Heier loves disc golf, and he figured that the way to play it year-round in Wisconsin would be on his mobile device.

The UW-Madison graduate had been designing software for accounting and financial service companies when he began working on the prototype for Disc Golf Unchained. This was the first mobile game for Local Route Labs, which he founded in 2011.

“I became very passionate about the creation of Disc Golf Unchained and knew that I had to find my entrepreneurial spirit when the video game started to become a reality,” Heier said.

The next step was finding the right partners. In 2013, Heier met Tyler Krucas in a recreational kickball league where they bonded over disc golf. After showing Krucas the prototype for Disc Golf Unchained, Krucas was eager to join and helped find ways to bring the game to life.

“Although it became a learning experience for both of us, I knew we had the right team to bring Unchained to the masses,” Heier said.

Shortly after Krucas was brought on, CMO Matt Nelson joined. He helped the team grow by getting Local Route Labs acquainted with local gaming and startup communities.

For example, the business was recently a part of Madworks Accelerator, a mentorship program for startup companies in the Madison area. Participating in the program helped the team prepare for launching version 1.0 of Disc Golf Unchained, according to Nelson.

“Disc golf is currently one of the fastest growing sports in the world,” Nelson said. “We’re excited for the opportunity to introduce new people to the sport.”

Disc Golf Unchained is free to download, and currently 2,000-3,000 individuals are playing each day.

Local Route Labs also has Just Shovelin’ and ShovelTime! in development. The team agreed that incorporating shoveling into a video game would be a fun way to take something that many individuals don’t particularly like and make it into a game.

Income is generated through in-app purchases and incentivized ads through Disc Golf Unchained. Also, users have the option to donate to Local Route Labs through the app or on its website, though donations are not the primary source of revenue.

While money is important, Local Route Labs’ value is placed into customer relations.

“We have found that our ongoing patron campaign allows users to go above and beyond in showing their support for our work,” Krucas said. “The dialog we have with (users) is just as–if not more–important to us as any monetary benefit we receive.”

In the future, Local Route Labs plans to include more social and interactive aspects to their games, such as course designers and virtual reality experiences.

“Our core strength is the quality of our game and our fans, who not only love playing our game but are excited to participate it in its development,” Nelson said.