Winnipeg Rocks: New game combines geocaching with geology sort of

With their eyes to the bushes looking for striking colours, people around the city are playing a new game showcasing how Winnipeg rocks.

The art-rock game combines the fun of hide-and-seekwith the technology and community of geocaching it's kind of like Pokemon Go, but with rocks.

• The Pokemon Go phenomenon, explained by a millennial
• Winnipeggers try to 'catch 'em all' as Pokemon Go app takes over city

Lorna Kroeker started the Facebook page Winnipeg Rocks about a month ago after a friend told her how the game was popping up in other places in North America.

"It really is just the joy of painting a rock, knowing that somebody out there will find some joy in finding it," she said. "I love that it's something people of all ages can do."

The game is very simple:paint a rock, making sure to put Winnipeg Rocks on the back, and hide it in the community. When you find a rock, take a picture and post it to the Facebook groupthen you can either keep the rock or hide it again for another person to find.

"I really had no idea if anything would come of it but I figured I'll paint a few rocks, put them out there and hopefully bring a few smiles," Kroeker said.

The group has already picked up 85 members who are taking part in the city-wide game. They are posting pictures of the rocks they've hidden and the ones they've found.

But Kroeker has yet to find one.

"I've been hiding rocks. My husband found one that I hid, but it wasn't where I hid it," she said with a laugh.

While out biking the trails at Lagimodire-Gaboury Park in St. Boniface on Thursday, Marco Freynet,19, spotted something off the side of the path.

"I saw this golden, like, gem-rock-looking thing on the ground and thought for sure this is a Winnipeg rock," he said.

He had only recently learned about the group so he wanted to check if the rocks had made their way into his neighbourhood.

When he flipped it over, there on the back was"Winnipeg Rocks" and the rules to the game. So he snapped a photo before hiding it again.

"[Now] somebody else can experience the same joy that I had when I found it," he said.

"I thought that was a really cool feeling. It's a sense of community."