PlayThru hopes to kill text captchas with game-based authentication
![](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/638aZqMQ0LUrt2JVQxlh5Q--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTcwNTtoPTM4OQ--/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/VtvRAc8p5XYBb3VSm9ZOmw--~B/aD0yMjU7dz00MDg7YXBwaWQ9eXRhY2h5b24-/https://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2012/05/screen-shot-2012-05-03-at-12.56.28-pm.png)
At their worst, captchas are impossible to decipher; at their best, they're... fun? A startup called Are You a Human has developed PlayThru, an alternative to text-based authentication. Instead of requiring the user to type some blurry, nonsensical word, PlayThru has them play a mini-game, such as dragging and dropping a car into an open parking spot. The startup says this method is more secure than word captchas -- since automated bots have a harder time solving these image-based puzzles -- and more fun, because users generally have a better time when their ability to identify letters isn't called into question. PlayThru has been in beta for several months and is currently available as a free download. On May 21st, the solution will officially launch on both PCs and smartphones. Click through to the source link to try out the captcha alternative for yourself.