This encyclopedia tries to be as complete as possible in the field of location-based games. Ever since location-based services integrated in mobile devices hit the mainstream market (some time around 2008), GPS games and apps crept from obscurity into public awareness. But even though there were some successes, often short-lived, a lot of the apps remained ‘niche’. We try to cover both the experimental projects and the huge hits.
Did we miss something? Mail to info@dasbox.be!
Last updated in February 2016.
Go to: AB C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
7scenes
- Developer: 7scenes
- Country: Netherlands
- Release year: 2011
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: alive
7scenes is a mobile storytelling platform to create location-based, story-driven tours and games. Multiple teams possible. Outdoor and indoor features, using GPS and QR-codes. Mainly used in the NetherCountrys and Belgium.
Tags: tour, scavenger hunt, qr, creator
A
A Machine to See With
- Developer: Blast Theory
- Country: UK
- Release year: 2010
- Platform:
- Status: discontinued
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD26y4ncDe4
A storytelling game created specifically for Canadian city Banff. Local players got messages on their mobile phones and could respond in a specific way, branching the story.
http://civictripod.com/games/a-machine-to-see-with/
Tags: storytelling, location-specific, art
A Tour of Atwater
- Developer: University of Alberta
- Country: Canada
- Release year: 2010
- Platform:
- Status: discontinued
Part of the fAR-Play location-based software platform, developed at the University of Alberta. Makes use of augmented reality and QR codes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far-Play
Tags: storytelling, location-specific, QR, AR
ActionBound
- Developer: ActionBound
- Country: Germany
- Release year: 2012
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: alive
Scavenger hunt and tour creator. A lot of public ‘bounds’ (tours) available, most of them in Germany. Clean browser overview of played bounds.
Tags: tour, scavenger hunt, QR
Advocates of Light
- Developer: Gbanga
- Country: Switzerland
- Release year:
- Platform: iOS, Android, PC/Mac
- Status: to be released, uncertain
Upcoming (?) tower defense game using the real-world map as in-game floor. Players need to defend a lighthouse in the middle of a sector. If one real-world sector is completed, you can move to another.
https://gbanga.com/gameography/advocates-of-light/ https://advocatesoflight.gbanga.com/
Tags: tour, scavenger hunt, QR
Android Hunt
- Developer:
- Country:
- Release year: 2011
- Platform: Android
- Status: dead
According to the description, androids attacked you in an open world superimposed on the real world. You could team up with other players.
http://android-hunt.soft112.com/
Tags: MMO, RPG, more info needed
B
Beacon Escape
- Developer: Locomatrix
- Country: UK
- Release year: 2015
- Platform:
- Status: unknown
One of the location-based games proposed on the Locomatrix website.
Tags: more info needed
Big Game Huntr
- Developer: Mobile Radicals
- Country: UK
- Release year: 2009
- Platform:
- Status: unknown
https://www.youtube.com/embed/X1KjOQqsiwc
Part game, part platform to create a location-based scenario anywhere they like. Early routing app, using pictures and nearby positioning.
http://www.mobileradicals.com/big-game-huntr/
Tag: tour, discovery, creator
BotFighters
- Developer: It's Alive!
- Country: Sweden
- Release year: 2001
- Platform: Nokia, old cellphones
- Status: discontinued
One of the earliest mobile location-based games. Players needed to find and destroy other human players, represented as bot fighters. The game was continuous and was played out through SMS.
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2002/aug/15/electronicgoods.games
Tag: MMO, action, sms, ancient
Bumble Bee
- Developer: Gbanga
- Country: Switzerland
- Release year: 2013
- Platform: iOS
- Status: alive
Control a bumblebee. Navigate with the device’s compass and accelerometer to move in the virtual world. 2-player multiplayer, played in a 5x5m ‘real’ space.
https://gbanga.com/gameography/bumble-bee/
Tags: action, small space
Bunker Buster
- Developer: Project Zebra
- Country: UK
- Release year: 2012
- Platform: iOS
- Status: dead (2014)
Build armies to destroy other players’ armies and defend your turf. The game used Foursquare venues as locations to defend.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Zebra
Tags: MMO, strategy, area control, foursquare
C
Campus Mysteries
- Developer: University of Alberta
- Country: Canada
- Release year: 2010
- Platform:
- Status: discontinued
Part of the fAR-Play software platform, developed at the University of Alberta. Makes use of augmented reality and QR codes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far-Play
Tags: storytelling, location-specific, QR, AR
Can You See Me Now?
- Developer: Blast Theory
- Country: UK
- Release year: 2003
- Platform:
- Status: discontinued
https://vimeo.com/5489402
Early location-based game in which 100 players could play online against members of Blast Theory, who were running around on the streets. They could hear the real-life players’ audio responses via recorded walkie-talkie streams.
http://www.blasttheory.co.uk/projects/can-you-see-me-now/
Tags: action, art, ancient
Cashsquare - Business trading game
- Developer: Cashsquare
- Country: Russia
- Release year: 2013
- Platform: iOS
- Status: alive
Selling itself as a ‘location-based Monopoly’, this game allows you to buy Foursquare real estate and let visitors pay rent.
Tags: MMO, strategy, area control, foursquare
City Domination
- Developer: Mob In Life
- Country: France
- Release year: 2012
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: dying
Popular MMO strategy game, splitting up the world in ‘zones’. In-app purchase system. The game’s support is on the decline.
https://www.facebook.com/CityDomination
Tags: MMO, strategy, area control
City Hunters
- Developer:
- Country: US
- Release year: 2007
- Platform: Nokia
- Status: discontinued
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=164rviZdVow
University project. Original game where two players with a GPS connection need to shoot each other, but buildings might get in the way.
Tags: action, GPS
CityHunters
- Developer: CityHunters
- Country: Germany
- Release year: 2009
- Platform: iOS
- Status: alive
City rally game with multiple options, only available for CityHunters events.
Tags: scavenger hunt, treasure hunt, tour
City Jam
- Developer: La mosca
- Country: Belgium
- Release year: 2014
- Platform: Android
- Status: dead
Bookable game for schools to raise awaress of the dangers of traffic. Students needed to form a band by picking up instruments and gathering fans. The location-based phases were interspersed with motion-based minigames.
Tags: serious game, action, collection, motion
City King
- Developer: Funton
- Country: US
- Release year: 2012
- Platform: iOS
- Status: dead
Original MMO with a colorful art style. You needed to battle for territory in a beat-em up style action scene, unlike most other ‘capture territory’ location-based games. You could also meet up and work together. Got decent reviews at the time.
http://www.148apps.com/reviews/city-king-review/
Tags: MMO, area control, social, action
Codecrackers
- Developer: La mosca
- Country: Belgium
- Release year: 2009 / 2013
- Platform: Symbian / Android
- Status: alive
Treasure hunt app with a twist. Pick up hints that lead you to a secret location. Steal hints from others. You can only play a ‘guided’ version of this game.
http://lamoscagames.com/games/codecrackers/
Tags: treasure hunt
CodeRunner
- Developer: RocketChicken Interactive
- Country: Canada
- Release year: 2012
- Platform: iOS
- Status: alive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6cK0r9rVyo
Immersive location-based single-player game. You need to complete objectives and spy on virtual characters at real locations. Make puzzles for other agents to solve.
http://www.coderunnergame.com/
Tags: single player, spy, storytelling, sports
Colors
- Developer: Indie Studios
- Country: Sweden
- Release year: 2006
- Platform: Gizmondo
- Status: cancelled, possibly revived
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlgPCgCxG1w
Touted as the ‘first GPS video game’, Colors was never officially released, since the company behind the short-lived Gizmondo system went bankrupt. There are plans to re-release the game in the near future, however. Gameplay was GTA-style, but used your real-life location and movements to determine the world layout and your attack patterns.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colors_(video_game)
Tags: action, single-player, cancelled, ancient
Comics Arts Capture Challenge
- Developer: University of Alberta
- Country: Canada
- Release year: 2010
- Platform:
- Status: discontinued
Part of the fAR-Play software platform, developed at the University of Alberta. Makes use of augmented reality and QR codes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far-Play
Tags: storytelling, location-specific, QR, AR
Commons
- Developer:
- Country: US
- Release year:
- Platform:
- Status: discontinued
This app aimed to engage people in acts of kindness and to help them solve (social) problems in the city.
http://civictripod.com/games/commons/
Tags: location-specific, serious game, social
CYA Claim Your Area
- Developer: Conny Svahn
- Country: Sweden
- Release year:
- Platform: Android, Facebook
- Status: discontinued (2012)
Strategy game which combined both Android and Facebook interfaces. You needed to deploy and move droids to harvest areas. Some actions could only be done if you were there, others did not require your location. Still on the Play Store, but won’t boot.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=wOd.View
Tags: MMO, strategy, area control
D
DarkCity 2029
- Developer: Jihad Games
- Country: UK
- Release year: 2011
- Platform: Android, Facebook
- Status: dead (2012)
Hardcore MMO game where it was all about planting and defusing explosives. In-app purchases and decent art for a small-scale location-based game.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1260886
Tags: MMO, strategy
Day Of The Figurines
- Developer: Blast Theory
- Country: UK
- Release year: 2005
- Platform:
- Status: discontinued
https://vimeo.com/5490913
One-time, story-driven SMS game which featured a model city with figurines. Players needed to find out why they were in the game. They also had to choose their own figurine, which moved around the model time during their own play time.
http://www.blasttheory.co.uk/projects/day-of-the-figurines/
Tags: one-time, art, SMS, ancient
De Spion
- Developer: La mosca
- Country: Belgium
- Release year: 2014
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: alive
Belgian location-based action game in which a WWI spy has to do sabotage actions at various locations in Kortrijk, while remaining unseen by the German police.
http://www.kortrijkbezet14-18.be/stadsspel
Tags: action, location-specific, hunt
Dimension
- Developer: Erik Melkersson
- Country: Sweden
- Release year: 2014
- Platform: Android
- Status: discontinued (2014)
One-man homecrafts project with unknown gameplay. “A geolocation multiuser online game. Explore and build your world in other dimensions but still on your real location”.
http://someapk.com/Dimension-Dimension_Erik%20Melkersson.html
Tags: MMO, strategy
Dokobots
- Developer: Dokogeo, inc.
- Country: US
- Release year: 2010
- Platform: iOS
- Status: discontinued (2013)
Location-based multiplayer game in which you receive a Dokobot. You can give it a name and function. It then keeps a photo journal of your surroundings, using your camera and an overlay image of the robot. You can get new bots by walking around, however. Then you’ll drop your old robot. This game had to shut down because it violated the Privacy Act and collected the information of children under 13.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2380748,00.asp http://www.bna.com/mobile-app-developer-n17179880410/
Tags: MMO, collection, social, discovery
E
eevoo
- Developer: eelusion
- Country: Germany
- Release year: 2012
- Platform: iOS
- Status: discontinued
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYpl8hSc-s8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scFVFoDVKuQ
Eevoo was an ambitious game, layering its high quality graphics on a ‘real world’ map. The game offered AR functionality. Slick presentation, but ultimately abandoned.
Tags: MMO, builder, AR
eevoo II
- Developer: eelusion
- Country: Germany
- Release year: 2013
- Platform: iOS
- Status: alive, uncertain
Just like its predecessor, eevoo II is a building game layered on top of a GPS map. It offers location-based missions and a more streamlined AR mode.
Tags: MMO, builder, AR
Endgame: Proving Ground / The Calling
- Developer: Niantic Labs
- Country: US
- Release year: 2015
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: beta
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3hsKPYGA5A
A more story-driven Ingress, even more focused on the real world. It accompanies the book Endgame: The Calling, the first in a trilogy. People help one of the 12 ancient societies by defending Keypoints. Both AI and player opponents battle against you. The game has some RPG elements, like upgrading throughout equipment. If you can ‘solve’ the story in each of the books, you can win $500,000. The first has been solved, unlocking the second book in the series: Sky Key.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endgame:_Proving_Ground
Tags: MMO, treasure hunt, strategy, storytelling, AR
Enklave
- Developer: Enklave
- Country: Romania
- Release year:
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: in production, funding unsuccessful
https://ksr-video.imgix.net/assets/003/041/494/c74970a94fec23449fd1600411e739f1_h264_high.mp4
This upcoming Ingress clone puts you in one of 3 factions who attempt to capture all territory in the real world. Contrary to Ingress, you battle other players directly, create a ‘home base’ and have some building options. It is uncertain whether this location-based game will be released.
http://www.enklave-mobile.com/ https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/enklave/enklave-mobile-augmented-reality-game
Tags: MMO, area control, strategy, discovery
Eventzee
- Developer: Munzee, inc.
- Country: US
- Release year: 2015
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: alive
From the creators of Munzee, this GPS game creator has generally the same features as the others, but has one advantage: it can use its Munzee codes and interface as gameplay elements. It can hardly be called the most popular kid in school, though.
Tags: scavenger hunt, qr, creator
Explosive Chickens
- Developer: La mosca
- Country: Belgium
- Release year: 2012
- Platform: Android
- Status: alive
Location-based action game in which players run around a field with a tablet. They need to pick up eggs. With these eggs, they have to shoot down angry explosive chickens. This game was made to encourage cooperation among vulnerable children.
http://www.stafort.be/en/content/explosive-chickens
Tags: action, small space, serious game
F
Flykk: Contact / Big Adventures / ...
- Developer: Future Industries
- Country: Estonia
- Release year: 2015
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: beta, support stopped (2015)
Short-lived platform for location-based tours and experiences, focusing on storytelling and social interaction. In order to make a story, you need to be invited, but this feature seems to be abandoned.
Tags: storytelling, tour
foursqWAR
- Developer: Project Zebra
- Country: UK
- Release year: 2010
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: unknown
Like all Project Zebra games, the app uses Foursquare locations in a city to determine buildings in the war zone. You need to attack and defend them. Very similar to Bunker Buster.
http://thenextweb.com/apps/2010/12/07/foursqwar-turns-foursquare-into-a-turf-war/
Tags: MMO, area control, strategy, foursquare
Free Londons Monsters / Magic Monstervision Machine
- Developer: Mobile Radicals
- Country: UK
- Release year: 2009
- Platform: Android
- Status: unknown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9t9aNRcdfU
Early experimental app that combines GPS coordinates with simple augmented reality. Got a visual upgrade as Magic Monstervision Machine.
Tags: AR, discovery, experiment
Friendly Fire
- Developer: Red Robot Labs
- Country: US
- Release year: 2013
- Platform: Android
- Status: alive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CzatyBWvCQ
Friendly Fire uses real streets to map in-game roads. Along these roads, you can build towers and fortifications to defend yourself from attacks. Neat, colorful art style and relatively high production values. Got great reviews until support was stopped shortly, only to be ‘revived’ again.
http://redrobot.com/games/friendly-fire/
Tags: strategy, tower defense, action
G
Gbanga Famiglia
- Developer: Gbanga
- Country: Switzerland
- Release year: 2010
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: discontinued (2014)
An early example of a well-executed ‘mafia’ MMO GPS game. Received a Best Outdoor Game award.
https://gbanga.com/gameography/famiglia/ http://www.srf.ch/play/tv/einstein/video/mafia-game-erobert-zuerich?id=85c9ea9b-82dd-4ac1-a2f9-140caf6edc1d
Tags: MMO, strategy, area control
Geko Smak
- Developer: Garmin
- Country: US
- Release year: 2004
- Platform: Garmin Geko 201
- Status: discontinued
Cute, simple game for the Garmin Geko 201 GPS device. The players needs to ‘smack’ as many geckos as possible by walking around. In fact, it’s a GPS version of whack-a-mole.
http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/olaf/puzzlemint/gps/geko201.html
Tags: GPS, action, small space, ancient
Gent Undercover
- Developer: La mosca
- Country: Belgium
- Release year: 2013
- Platform: Android
- Status: alive
https://vimeo.com/61511536
GPS city game in Ghent. Solve missions in the historical and arts quarter in the city using tools like a scanner and a radar tracker.
https://itunes.apple.com/be/app/gent-undercover/id605771967
Tags: tours, routing, location-specific
Gentrification: The Game!
- Developer: Atmosphere Industries
- Country: Canada
- Release year: 2010
- Platform:
- Status: unknown
Transmedia game used to transform the neighborhood. Has been featured on events and festivals. Teams need to collect properties, but need to negotiate with other teams.
http://atmosphereindustries.com/gentrification/
Tags: location-specific, serious game, social
GeoBoxes
- Developer: Ministry of Software Ltd.
- Country: UK
- Release year: 2012
- Platform: iOS
- Status: support discontinued (2013)
Social multiplayer GPS game in which you needed to claim ‘boxes’, rectangular areas evenly divided across the globe. You could create a ‘clan’ for your family or friends and assign a color to your clan. The game was never really popular.
Tags: MMO, area control
Geocrash
- Developer: Locomatrix
- Country: UK
- Release year: 2015
- Platform: iOS
- Status: unknown
Treasure-hunt style game aimed at children. You need to sign up to ‘get a game for free’ and receive a handbook. Game scenarios are upcoming, but info is sparse.
Tags: treasure hunt, children
Geodashing
- Developer: GPSgames.org
- Country: US
- Release year: 2001
- Platform: GPS, browser
- Status: alive
A form of geocaching in which you first select a randomly positioned ‘dashpoint’ on a map, and then try to visit it in the real world using a GPS. Players need to report their visit with a photograph or a detailed description. Dashpoints change and expire after a set time. The website started in 2001 and is still active after 15 years (!).
http://geodashing.gpsgames.org/
Tags: browser, GPS, discovery, geocaching, ancient
GeoEmpires
- Developer: GeoEmpires
- Country: US
- Release year: 2010
- Platform: GPS, browser
- Status: dead (2014)
Medieval-style ‘capture territories’ game using a player’s GPS location. You can take over any square in the world and expand your kingdom.
Tags: MMO, area control, strategy
GeoLotto
- Developer: Geo24
- Country: UK
- Release year: 2008
- Platform: browser
- Status: alive
British lottery construction in which the UK is divided in squares, and you need to guess which square has treasure. No real treasure is buried, sadly.
https://www.bootypirates.com/geolotto
Tags: lottery, treasure hunt
Giselle Ever After
- Developer: University of Alberta
- Country: Canada
- Release year: 2010
- Platform:
- Status: discontinued
Part of the fAR-Play software platform, developed at the University of Alberta. Makes use of augmented reality and QR codes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far-Play
Tags: storytelling, location-specific, QR, AR
Global Outbreak
- Developer: Red Robot Labs
- Country: US
- Release year: 2014
- Platform:
- Status: alive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEUpzWQx9Ps
Slick crossover between a mission-based top-down shooter and a tactical RTS game. The location-awareness aspect is minimal, though. As a reviewer notes: “Even though the game is supposed to offer some sort of real-world interaction that bases things on a player’s real-life location, I hardly see any evidence of it, nor did I care”.
http://redrobot.com/games/global-outbreak/
Tags: MMO, strategy, action
GoCrossCampus
- Developer: GXStudios
- Country: US
- Release year: 2007
- Platform: browser
- Status: discontinued (2010)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbH7M9oinNk
Risk-like game, developed by Yale students. Long-time rival of Turf, a way-too-similar game developed at Yale. The game was not truly ‘location-based’, but rather used real locations as a virtual battleground.
Tags: MMO, area control, strategy, browser, location-specific
Goosechase
- Developer: GooseChase
- Country: US
- Release year: 2011
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: alive
Your standard Treasure and Scavenger Hunt app. Has an elaborate news feed and the option to post captions to your missions.
Tags: treasure hunt, scavenger hunt, creator
Gowalla
- Developer: Gowalla, inc.
- Country: US
- Release year: 2007
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: dead (2012)
Foursquare clone, but with ‘items’ as a unique feature. You could acquire, drop and swap items at spots. Later updates downplayed the role of these items. You could also link spots to make ‘trips’. Facebook acquired the app and shut it down almost immediately.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gowalla
Tags: social
GPS Mission
- Developer: Orbster
- Country: Germany
- Release year: 2008
- Platform: iOS, Android, Windows Phone
- Status: dead (2012)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TohZfmFpznE
Early mission-based GPS game in which players (or teams) needed to pick up gold along with solving riddles and complete challenges. A browser-based creator was available.
http://civictripod.com/games/gps-mission/
Tags: tour, scavenger hunt, creator
GPS Tycoon Game
- Developer: Rasiel Suarez
- Country: Germany
- Release year: 2014
- Platform: Android
- Status: dying
Another indie GPS game where it’s all about controlling areas and earning money. The latest version got bad reviews because of login issues.
https://www.facebook.com/gpstycoon https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gpstycoon
Tags: MMO, area control, strategy
Gross. Stadt. Jagd.
- Developer: Gbanga, JEFF
- Country: Switzerland
- Release year: 2014
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: discontinued
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYhbiExE670
Huge one-time chase game in Zurich as a promotion for Mercedes. Participants needed to escape a car with a certain ‘kill radius’. The last man standing won the car.
https://www.gross-stadt-jagd.ch/ https://gbanga.com/2015/05/12/city-wide-tag-game-with-gross-stadt-jagd-app/
Tags: location-specific, action, one-time, promo
H
Hadur
- Developer: Synthesis-NET
- Country: Hungary
- Release year: 2012
- Platform: iOS, Android, Windows Phone
- Status: dying
The title is Hungarian for ‘warlord’. No wonder that this Turf-like GPS game has been developed in Hungary. It still has some players in Budapest, but it’s more or less dead in all other places in the world. Major downside: you have to check in manually at every place.
Tags: MMO, area control, strategy
Huntzz
- Developer: Huntzz
- Country: UK
- Release year: 2011
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: alive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp5kWIJ1BFY
Visually distinct treasure and scavenger hunt app, also used for city tours. You can create your own huntzz in the app using a guide on the website. The developers can also create a hunt for you.
Tags: scavenger hunt, treasure hunt, tour, creator
I
Indeterminate Hikes +
- Developer: EcoArtTech
- Country: US
- Release year: 2012
- Platform: iOS, Android, Windows
- Status: dying
According to its description, Indeterminate Hikes + “re-appropriates smartphones, which are generally used for rapid communication and consumerism, and turns them into tools of environmental imagination and meditative wonder, renewing awareness of biological, cultural, and media ecologies and slowing participants down at the same time”. In short: it makes you do things in the city you would normally only do out in the country. A deliciously hipster approach to GPS walking apps.
http://www.ecoarttech.net/recenthikes/ https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.ecoarttech.ihplus
Tags: tour, arty, discovery, social
Ingress
- Developer: Niantic
- Country: US
- Release year: 2012
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: alive
Reigning king of the location-based MMOs. Two factions, the Enlightened and the Resitance, battle for Earth’s future. They do this by capturing portals and linking them together (creating fields). More than 7 million players are registered, and a large chunk of them still plays the game regularly (even on Antarctica). Partly because of its complex back story and extensive fanservice (events all over the world, special badges), Ingress spawned an entire subculture of travel-crazy ‘frogs’ and ‘smurfs’ who get together to concoct meticulously organized attack plans.
Tags: MMO, strategy, area control, discovery, storytelling, social
Invisible Buildings
- Developer: Locomatrix
- Country: UK
- Release year: 2015
- Platform: iOS
- Status: unknown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUtOA_5fRTI
Small-scale GPS game aimed at children and meant to be played at a museum or archeological site. Players need to stake out an area and dig up certain objects.
Tags: action, small space, treasure hunt, children
Itography
- Developer: Itography
- Country: US
- Release year: 2011
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: dying
Original variation on the location-based MMO theme. People can pick up items on Foursquare venues all over the world and drop them off somewhere else, much like traveling pants. A website keeps track of travel distances and the number of owners. These items are as random as it can get, but are part of a collection that you can complete. Nowadays, the game’s active population is approaching zero.
Tags: MMO, collection, tracking, discovery, foursquare
iTycoon
- Developer: iTycoon
- Country: US
- Release year: 2011
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: never released
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roFJGMMzx6M
Has this game ever existed, or did it remain in the conceptual phase?
Tags: MMO, area control, strategy
J
K
Konugo
- Developer: Larry Aasen
- Country: US
- Release year: 2013
- Platform: iOS
- Status: discontinued (2015)
“Foursquare meets Monopoly”. Indeed, checking in gives you points and the opportunity to buy the property. Unlike Monopoly, it didn’t take long before the game was abandoned.
Tags: MMO, strategy, area control, foursquare
L
Countrylord / Countrylord: Tycoon
- Developer: Reality Games
- Country: UK
- Release year: 2012
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: alive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6V-9Mikgzs
Typical property-buying GPS game tied to check-in locations. You get money if someone checks in at a property you own. Got renamed as Landlord Tycoon, and still has its fair share of users.
http://www.Countrylordgame.com/
Tag: MMO, strategy, area control, foursquare
Let’s Attack
- Developer: Box of Robots / Red Robot Labs
- Country: US
- Release year:
- Platform: iOS
- Status: in production
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IausG9qxDvM
Real-time strategy / tower defense hybrid game, to be played on a real-world map. It’s unclear whether the attack units will strictly follow the map, or if you really need to move out to play the game. Last game update was in 2014 – let’s hope Let’s Attack will make it to the App Store.
http://redrobot.com/games/lets-attack/
Tags: RTS, tower defense, single player
LevelHead
- Developer: Julian Oliver
- Country: New Zealand
- Release year: 2008
- Platform: Linux desktop, custom
- Status: unknown
Unique ‘space-based’ puzzle game using physical objects and augmented reality. Players must navigate a nameless man through plastic cubes. In order to do this, they have to tilt and rotate the cubes or connect them together. The project uses a camera and desktop monitor, but could possibly be remade for mobile phones. Created by artist Julian Oliver.
https://julianoliver.com/levelhead/
Tags: kleine ruimte, puzzel, AR, locatiespecifiek
Life Is Crime
- Developer: Red Robot Labs
- Country: US
- Release year: 2011
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: discontinued (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO8GZU6aXqs
Fairly hardcore location-based role-playing game where players are gangsters trying to control a virtual city placed on a real world game map. Split up in gangs, people could fight each other. The game featured a live chat and was heavily customizable.
http://redrobot.com/games/life-is-crime/
Tags: MMO, RPG, strategy
Life Is Magic
- Developer: Red Robot Labs
- Country: US
- Release year: 2012
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: discontinued (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxKYWM7fdKo
Even more ambitious than Life Is Crime, this RPG superimposed a whole fantasy world on real-world maps. The game had impressive graphics and an original combat style with spells.
http://redrobot.com/games/life-is-magic/
Tag: MMO, RPG, strategy
Loquiz
- Developer: Loquiz
- Country: EstCountry
- Release year: 2010
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: alive
Location-based game creator with a lot of options and flexibility. With the web-based interface, you can create treasure hunts, scavenger hunts, quizzes, tours, and hybrid games. On top of that, it offers an extensive question and mission database. The app itself looks a little plain, though.
Tags: creator, treasure hunt, scavenger hunt, tour
M
MapAttack
- Developer: Geoloqi / Esri (remake)
- Country: US
- Release year: 2011
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: in production
Pac-Man-like GPS game developed by Geoloqi, who was developing a geolocation software platform at the time. After Geoloqi was acquired by Esri, they are remaking it once more (MapAttack was in fact already a remake of PacManhattan).
http://civictripod.com/games/mapattack/ http://mapattack.org/
Tags: pac-man, action
MapDash
- Developer: Flock and Swarm
- Country: Canada
- Release year: 2013
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: alive
Scavenger hunt app, free for personal use. Professionals can use the extensive Mapdash-teams creator. Includes custom skinning for events.
Tags: creator, scavenger hunt, tour
Meatspace Invasion
- Developer: Mekensleep / C4M
- Country: France
- Release year:
- Platform:
- Status: discontinued (2012)
https://vimeo.com/45257467
Original game concept in which players needed to run to get energy. They could then use this energy as a weapon to kill monsters (who slowly wandered into the city). Killing monsters upped a player’s rank and unlocked more weapons. Although the game concept and design looked promising, the game was discontinued after a year and a half. Won the Best Real World Award.
https://www.facebook.com/meatspaceinvasion/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye40_UXBkA0
Tags: RTS, MMO, action, co-op
MegaBits
- Developer: AlphaLab
- Country: US
- Release year: 2015
- Platform: iOS
- Status: dead (2015)
Pokémon/Monster Hunter-inspired (some would say: plagiarizing) app where you can catch monsters ‘in the real world’. Your location, weather conditions and time affected the game world and its monsters (MegaBits). You needed to walk around for random encounters with MegaBits. Website went offline after a few months.
Tags: RPG, collection, social
Memory Race
- Developer: Garmin
- Country: US
- Release year: 2004
- Platform: Garmin Geko 202
- Status: discontinued
Simple GPS memory game. To turn around tiles you needed to walk to it. Not only memory was the key, but speed as well.
http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/olaf/puzzlemint/gps/geko201.html
Tags: GPS, puzzle, small space, ancient
Merchant
- Developer: Oberon Interactive BV / Chillingo Ltd.
- Country: Netherlands / UK
- Release year: 2010 / 2014 (remake)
- Platform: iOS
- Status: alive
Establish a virtual settlement where you live in the real world, and create trade routes to places where others live. This Dutch innovative GPS game got revived in 2014 (images below) and is getting an Android version.
http://www.iphoned.nl/apps/aankondiging-merchant/ https://www.facebook.com/merchantthegame/
Tags: MMO, city builder, strategy, discovery
Merchant Kingdom / My Kingdom
- Developer: Oberon Interactive BV / Chillingo Ltd.
- Country: Netherlands / UK
- Release year: 2011
- Platform: iOS
- Status: dying
After Merchant and before the Merchant remake, Merchant Kingdom was Oberon’s flagship location-based strategy game. Players needed to create empires, choose their ruling style, trade commodities and explore the world. Nowadays, they stopped support to focus on the Merchant remake, and support for the game is dwindling.
http://www.merchantkingdomgame.com/ https://www.facebook.com/merchantkingdom
Tags: MMO, city builder, strategy, discovery
MobHunt
- Developer: Mobile Radicals
- Country: UK
- Release year:
- Platform:
- Status: dead
Mobile treasure hunt.
Mogi
- Developer: Newt Games
- Country: France
- Release year: 2003
- Platform: KDDI
- Status: dead
Multiplayer collection game launched in Tokyo. Mogi more or less ‘randomizes’ trips, since you need to visit places off the beaten track to collect items.
http://thefeaturearchives.com/100501.html
Tags: MMO, collection, location-specific, ancient
Monopoly City Streets
- Developer: Tribal DDB / Hasbro
- Country: US
- Release year: 2009
- Platform: browser
- Status: discontinued (2009)
Ambitious rendition of the board game on the real world. Although Google maps were used for the visual style, OpenStreetMaps was the backbone of the game’s maps. The game only lasted for three months, but it was ridiculously popular. Quote from an avid player: “I haven’t left my flat for 4 days. I’m sitting in my uinderpants. But I own more of New York than Trump. It’s sad. I know. But I rock.”
http://gizmodo.com/5354503/google-maps-giant-game-of-monopoly-begins-tomorrow http://monopolyhq.com/2009/12/breaking-news-the-game-ends-in-one-week/
Tags: MMO, city builder, area control, one-time
Munzee
- Developer: Munzee
- Country: US
- Release year: 2011
- Platform: iOS, Android, Windows Phone
- Status: alive
Fairly popular, geocaching-like concept where players need to find hidden QR codes in the public space, called ‘munzees’. Creating your own Munzees is encouraged. Effects from a scanned munzee vary – there are Business Munzees, for instance, where stores can reward their valued customers if they scan the Munzee. As of early 2016, there are 4 million Munzees in almost all countries in the world.
Tags: discovery, collection, scavenger hunt, QR
MyTown / MyTown 2 / MyTown 2: Getaways
- Developer: Booyah
- Country: US
- Release year: 2009 / 2011 / 2012
- Platform: iOS
- Status: discontinued (2014)
Virtual property-buying game MyTown used a Foursquare-like checkin system, and was bigger than Foursquare at a certain point (and reached more than 3 million registered users). Players could buy real-world buildings and earn money for every check-in. Multiple players could own the same building, though. The MyTown series was discontinued after Booyah went bankrupt.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MyTown_(video_game)
Tags: city builder, foursquare
N
NavBall
- Developer: The Saints
- Country: Netherlands
- Release year: 2007
- Platform: Symbian
- Status: discontinued
Early experimental GPS game played by 2 teams of 11 players in the city of Amsterdam. It’s essentially a city-sized soccer game with a virtual ball. Players needed to run towards the ‘ball’ and they would kick it away from them.
https://navball.wordpress.com/
Tags: GPS, action, sports, location-specific
Nibbons
- Developer: Garmin
- Country: US
- Release year: 2004
- Platform: Geko 201
- Status: discontinued
GPS version of Snake. Walk around to pick up the numbered goodies, but don’t bump into your ‘tail’!
http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/olaf/puzzlemint/gps/geko201.html
Tags: GPS, action, small space, ancient
No Zombies Allowed
- Developer: Booyah
- Country: US
- Release year: 2012
- Platform: iOS
- Status: discontinued (2013)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWtE2PbOu_8
Short-lived side-scrolling city builder with the twist that your city occasionally gets invaded by zombies. Resources to fend them off can be found in real-world locations. Defunct since Booyah went bankrupt.
http://nozombiesallowed.wikia.com/wiki/Home
Tags: city builder, action, sidescrolling
O
Ojoo
- Developer: Games with Attitude
- Country: Belgium
- Release year: 2014
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: alive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHWOyv320H8
Freemium location-based tour and treasure hunt creator. Highly customizable. You can also freely play existing tours.
Tags: creator, tours, treasure hunt
Operation Freddy
- Developer: La mosca
- Country: Belgium
- Release year: 2012
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: alive
Multiplayer scavenger hunt app. Optionally, a game master can be hired to rate the missions and follow the game. Teams can battle against each other to get bonus points (in an earlier version, they could shoot each other).
http://lamoscagames.com/games/operation-freddy/
Tags: scavenger hunt
Outbout
- Developer: Planetboard
- Country: Finland
- Release year:
- Platform: iOS
- Status: never released (2013)
This GPS battle game was announced but never released.
Tags: action
Outcatch
- Developer: Planetboard
- Country: Finland
- Release year: 2013
- Platform: iOS
- Status: alive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3Wq5QALbww&feature=youtu.be
Treasure hunt app borrowing its terminology from geocaching and ‘inspired by an old Finnish board game called Great Star of Africa‘. You can hide or seek caches. It divides the world in squares to visualize your distance to a cache.
Tags: treasure hunt, creator
Own This World
- Developer: Big Nerds in Disguise
- Country: Canada
- Release year: 2010
- Platform: iOS, Android, Windows Phone
- Status: discontinued (2014)
Capture territories and try to become the world’s leader in terms of virtual color-coded territories!
https://www.facebook.com/ownthisworld
Tags: MMO, area control, tracking
P
PAC-LAN
- Developer: Mobile Radicals
- Country: UK
- Release year: 2005
- Platform:
- Status: dead
Old real-life Pac-Man game using beacons.
Tags: pac-man, action, ancient
Pacmanhattan
- Developer: NYU
- Country: US
- Release year: 2004
- Platform: browser, custom
- Status: dead
The original location-based game in the streets of Manhattan. One player has to run around and eat dots while trying to outsmart his pursuers. Made with custom technology and funny costumes.
Tags: pac-man, action, ancient
PacMap
- Developer:
- Country:
- Release year: 2011
- Platform: Android
- Status: unknown
Another version of real-life Pac-Man. Not much is known about this one.
http://www.androidfreeware.net/download-pacmap.html
Tags: pac-man
Parallel Kingdom
- Developer: PerBlue
- Country: US
- Release year: 2011
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: support discontinued (2014)
Once hugely popular, this medieval-themed strategy game required players to walk around in the real world to collect resources and fight virtual enemies.
http://www.parallelkingdom.com/
Tags: MMO, strategy, city builder
Parallel Mafia
- Developer: PerBlue
- Country: US
- Release year: 2012
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: support discontinued (2014)
More focused on area control than Parallel Kingdom, but with a similar concept: players walk around on a real-life map to fight virtual enemies (and other players!)
Tags: MMO, strategy, area control
Parallel Zombies
- Developer: PerBlue
- Country: US
- Release year: 2012
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: dead
More action-based than Parallel Kingdom and Parallel Mafia.
https://www.facebook.com/ParallelZombies/
Tags: MMO, strategy, action
Pioneering Edmonton
- Developer: University of Alberta
- Country: Canada
- Release year: 2010
- Platform:
- Status: dead
Tags:
Playground Maker
- Developer:
- Country: France
- Release year: 2010
- Platform:
- Status: discontinued
App that let you create missions in the real world.
http://civictripod.com/games/playground-maker/
Tags: creator
Please Stay Calm
- Developer: Massive Damage
- Country: Canada
- Release year: 2011
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: alive
Hardcore MMORPG about monsters and zombies overrunning the world.
Tags: MMO, RPG, storytelling
Pokémon GO
- Developer: Niantic Labs
- Country: US
- Release year: 2016
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: alive
Upcoming Pokémon game as a collaboration between Niantic, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company, in which players can capture and battle Pokémon in the real world. An optional wristband notifies a player if a Pokémon is nearby.
http://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-video-games/pokemon-go/
Tags: MMO, RPG, discovery, collection
PotaToss
- Developer: Saborstudio
- Country: Costa Rica
- Release year: 2012
- Platform: iOS
- Status: discontinued (2013)
Angry Birds-style game from Costa Rica, with a location-based gimmick: The level’s backdrops are based on the country or city you’re currently in.
Tags: action
Q
QONQR
- Developer: QONQR
- Country: US
- Release year: 2012
- Platform: iOS, Windows Phone
- Status: alive; qommnd offline
Relatively popular location-based multiplayer strategy game. The story and premise is strikingly similar to that of Ingress: three factions battle against each other to either stop or facilitate an AI called QONQR. “3 million battle zones in 250 countries”, even though there are less than 200 countries in the world.
Tags: MMO, area control, strategy
QONQR Blue
- Developer: QONQR
- Country: US
- Release year:
- Platform:
- Status: in production
Tags: MMO, area control, strategy
R
Repudo
- Developer: Repudo
- Country: Netherlands
- Release year: 2011
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: support discontinued (2013)
Repudo allows you to drop and pick up multimedia ‘messages’ all over the world. These could be used for a location-based game, or for a campaign created by a company or institution.
Tags: MMO, discovery, social
Rescue Rush
- Developer: Supermono Studios / Red Robot Labs
- Country: US
- Release year: 2013
- Platform: Android
- Status: support discontinued (2015)
A pac-man like game with levels based on map tiles around the world. If you complete a ‘map tile’, an adjacent one is unlocked. That way, the game offers over a million potential levels.
http://www.supermono-studios.com/rescue-rush/
Tags: Pac-Man, action
RiderState
- Developer: RiderState
- Country: Spain
- Release year: 2014
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: discontinued (2015)
https://vimeo.com/92719727
Spanish MMO area control game designed specifically for bicycles. Featured on the Bilbao International Bike Exhibition.
Tags: sports, MMO, area control, strategy, tracking
Rise and Fall
- Developer: Gbanga
- Country: Switzerland
- Release year:
- Platform:
- Status: on hold (failed indiegogo campaign)
Follow-up to Gbanga Famiglia. After an unsuccessful Kickstarter campaign, the location-based game was put on hold.
https://gbanga.com/gameography/rise-and-fall/
Tags:
S
Scavify
- Developer: Asbury Mobile
- Country: US
- Release year: 2014
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: alive
Sleek app specifically designed for scavenger hunts. There is a heavy emphasis on the social aspect (photostream, likes, messages).
Tags: scavenger hunt, social, creator
Scramboo/Playmaker
- Developer: Maha Ventures
- Country: UK
- Release year: 2011
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: alive
Treasure and scavenger hunt creator, accompanied with a simple location-based app.
Tags: scavenger hunt, treasure hunt, creator
SCVNGR
- Developer: SCVNGR
- Country: US
- Release year: 2009
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: discontinued (2012)
Popular tour and scavenger hunt creator, using check-ins. You can chat with your friends and earn location-based promotional items if you complete certain challenges in the proximity of a participating real-world shop or venue.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCVNGR
Tags: scavenger hunt, social, creator
Serendipitor
- Developer: Mark Shepard
- Country: US
- Release year: 2011
- Platform: iOS
- Status: discontinued
This GPS navigator is also an art project: it deliberately does not choose the fastest or shortest route but instead takes a longer, alternative route towards your goal. Alon. Op je route krijg je dan poëtische of compleet van de pot gerukte opdrachten voorgeschoteld.
Tags: routing, storytelling, discovery
Shadow Cities
- Developer: Grey Area
- Country: Finland
- Release year: 2010
- Platform: iOS
- Status: dead (2013)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMBvInCvEjM
A predecessor to Ingress with fairly similar gameplay. Some even go as far as saying that Ingress has plagiarized Shadow Cities. The game is more focused on short-term campaigns that determine a weekly winner.
http://shadowcities.wikia.com/wiki/Shadow_Cities_Wiki
Tags: MMO, strategy, area control
Shadow Wars
- Developer: Massive Damage
- Country: Canada
- Release year: 2013
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: dead
Action RPG game in which the world is built up using data from your own location.
Tags: strategy, action
Situationist
- Developer: Benrik / Turned On Digital
- Country: UK
- Release year: 2011
- Platform: iOS
- Status: banned from store
Scavenger hunt game focusing on ‘truth-or-dare’ style tasks. From the creators of Wreck this Journal.
Tags: social
SlashWars
- Developer: SlashingTeam
- Country: France
- Release year: 2008
- Platform:
- Status: canceled after beta
Obscure location-based action game prototype.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Knqa5yw_FIU&list=PL90DCF0F89567CD02&index=2
Tags: action
Social Scavenger
- Developer: Mandown Group
- Country: Canada
- Release year: 2014
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: alive
Fairly standard scavenger hunt and touring app. You can download ‘sticker packs’ (AR overlays) on their web site.
http://www.socialscavenger.com/
Tags: creator, scavenger hunt, tours, AR
Spy Am I
- Developer: Going AFK Games
- Country: Canada
- Release year: 2011
- Platform: iOS
- Status: canceled after beta
Spy game mixed with a location-based checkin game. Never officially released.
http://going-afk-games.pr.co/29471-spy-am-i-the-future-of-social-gaming-on-mobile
Tags: MMO, area control
Squack
- Developer: Tomasz Cernecki
- Country: Canada
- Release year: 2014
- Platform: iOS
- Status: dead
In the location-based app Squack, people needed to walk to a certain tile (representing a piece of the world) in order to color it red. That way, you could slowly cover the whole world and track your journeys.
http://geoawesomeness.com/squack-must-have-tracking-app-for-every-geogeek/
Tags: tracking
Strut
- Developer: Thickpolicy LLC
- Country: US
- Release year: 2013
- Platform: iOS
- Status: alive
The inverse of Squack: unlock tiles of the world by visiting them. This app is much more popular than Squack, and still alive.
Tags: discovery, tracking
T
Takeover
- Developer:
- Country:
- Release year:
- Platform: Android
- Status: unknown
http://m.downloadatoz.com/apps/com.tabdev.takeover,511975.html
TF3 Battle Zone
- Developer: Project Zebra
- Country: UK
- Release year: 2011
- Platform: iOS
- Status: dead (2014)
Promotional game for Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon. Very similar to Project Zebra’s other location-based game Bunker Buster.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Zebra
Tags: MMO, area control, strategy, promo
The Great Country Grab
- Developer: TGLG / Deep Plaid Games
- Country: US
- Release year: 2009
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: support discontinued
Old-fashioned area control GPS game with a weird sense of humor. Every piece of land has a certain value that may change. Buy and sell land.
http://thegreatCountrygrab.com/
Tags: MMO, area control, strategy
The Intelliphone Challenge
- Developer: University of Alberta
- Country: Canada
- Release year: 2010
- Platform:
- Status: dead
Location-based, interactive tours.
http://interactives.artsrn.ualberta.ca/?page_id=436
Tags: tour, treasure hunt
The Journey / The Journey II
- Developer: Andreas Jakl
- Country: Austria
- Release year: 2004
- Platform: Symbian
- Status: support discontinued
One of the oldest known location-based games, The Journey is a story-driven adventure with some LBG aspects. The game is meticulously documented by its creator on the website.
http://journey.andreasjakl.com/
Tags: adventure, storytelling, ancient
The Target
- Developer: La mosca
- Country: Belgium
- Release year: 2007 / 2012 / 2015
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: alive
Location-based cop vs. gangster game. A gangster tries to commit crimes in the city. Police teams try to stop him. Since 2015 available on the App and Play Store.
https://dasbox.be/boxen/super-cops
Tags: action, hunt
The Walk
- Developer: Six to Start
- Country: UK
- Release year: 2014
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: alive
Created for people who prefer walking instead of running, this narrative-driven follow-up to Zombies, Run! was created with the support of the National Health Service.
Tags: sports, storytelling
They Howl
- Developer: Mobile Radicals
- Country: UK
- Release year:
- Platform:
- Status: unknown
Thought Hub
- Developer: University of Alberta
- Country: Canada
- Release year: 2010
- Platform:
- Status: dead
Tiny Tycoons (TapCity 1 & 2)
- Developer: The Tap Lab
- Country: US
- Release year: 2012
- Platform: iOS
- Status: discontinued
You can buy anything in the world, ranging from property in your own neighborhood to world famous landmarks.
http://thetaplab.com/press/sheet.php?p=tiny_tycoons
Tags: city builder
Tourality
- Developer: creative workline
- Country: Germany
- Release year: 2010
- Platform: iOS, Android, Symbian, Blackberry
- Status: support discontinued
App designed for city rallies and speedruns around the city. Depending on the tour, players needed to visit all indicated spots as fast as possible, or visit them in any order to ‘flip’ them in their team color. Other game modes were available.
http://www.tourality.com/how-to-play/challenges/
Tags: discovery, tours, scavenger hunt, creator
TrailHit - return of the light
- Developer: F5 tbl.
- Country:
- Release year: 2011
- Platform: Android
- Status: support discontinued (2014)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8AtZXwszpc
GPS game with a weird sense of production design and a vague story. The game is centered around discovery and encourages the player to walk around and find ‘scrolls’.
http://trailhit.com/ https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.f5tbl.trailhit
Tags: discovery, storytelling
TreasureMachine
- Developer: Unwired Factory
- Country: Denmark
- Release year: 2001
- Platform:
- Status: discontinued
Antieke schattenjacht ‘app’ met sms’jes.
Tags: treasure hunt, ancient
Tripventure: Inspector Tripton / Fall of the Wall / ...
- Developer: Sprylab Technologies
- Country: Germany
- Release year: 2012
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: discontinued
Location-specific tours laced with riddles and questions.
Tags: tours
Troovie
- Developer: Troovie
- Country: Netherlands
- Release year: 2014
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: alive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34y-pgycdkY
Dutch location-based app aimed at children. In a colorful style and two distinct themes, children go on a short treasure hunt-like tour, using AR overlays, a compass, and more. Parents can lay out a tour at specific places, but they cannot change the content.
Tags: tours, children, AR, creator
Turf
- Developer: Andrimon
- Country: Sweden
- Release year: 2010
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: alive
Six years after its release, this game is still fairly popular in its home country, Sweden. Players need to check-in and control a ‘turf’ (a small zone, indicated in yellow or red on the map).
Tags: MMO, area control
Turf Geography Club
- Developer: Michael Tseng
- Country: US
- Release year: 2012
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: discontinued (2013)
Beautifully crafted check-in game with vintage pixel art and colorful characters. Got funded by Kickstarter and other means, but was discontinued because ‘the game didn’t get enough traction’, according to the creator.
http://pando.com/2013/02/21/gaming-app-developers-beware-heres-why-turf-geography-club-failed/
Tags: MMO, area control, discovery
Turf Wars
- Developer: MeanFreePath
- Country: US
- Release year: 2009
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: alive
Also known as GPS War. Still alive and kicking after so many years, this location-based game offers the simplicity that some similar apps sometimes forget.
Tags: MMO, area control, strategy
U
Uncle Roy All Around You
- Developer: Blast Theory
- Country: UK
- Release year: 2003
- Platform:
- Status: alive
Players in the city have to meet Uncle Roy in 60 minutes. Meanwhile, online players have to navigate through the city virtually. This game did not use GPS technology, but PDAs without GPS: the game “infers players’ positions based on which part of the map they are looking at on their PDA”
http://www.blasttheory.co.uk/projects/uncle-roy-all-around-you/
Tags: ancient, storytelling, art, social
V
Virtua Maze
- Developer: Garmin
- Country: US
- Release year: 2004
- Platform: Geko 201
- Status: discontinued
In this simple GPS game, you need to walk to the goals without bumping into the walls.
http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/olaf/puzzlemint/gps/geko201.html
Tags: GPS, action
W
Wend
- Developer: alternabus
- Country: US
- Release year: 2014
- Platform: iOS
- Status: beta
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev69PcY1ljg
Interface for building action-oriented location-based games and GPS city games. Still in beta.
Tags: creator, actions/events
Wherigo
- Developer: Groundspeak
- Country: US
- Release year: 2008
- Platform: GPS receivers, iOS, Android
- Status: beta
System to create and load GPS-based adventure games and treasure hunts on a GPS or smartphone.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wherigo
Tags: geocaching, storytelling, tours
Wifi Army
- Developer: W2Pi Entertainment
- Country: US
- Release year: 2008
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: dead
https://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=BE&v=_8M-jUr23qc
In this location-based first-person shooter you needed to shoot down others who were nearby for points.
http://gizmodo.com/336152/wifi-army-game-under-development-for-android-seems-awkward
Tags: FPS, MMO
X
X-Fire
- Developer: It’s Alive!
- Country: Sweden
- Release year: 2001
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: discontinued
GPS shooting game made as a promotion stunt for Swedish paintball game show X-Fire.
Tags: ancient, tv show, promo
Y
Z
Zombie Zone
- Developer: Mob In Life
- Country: France
- Release year: 2015
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: alive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kSbxqJzLvU
Strategical builder with zombies, superimposed on a map of where you live.
https://itunes.apple.com/fr/app/zombie-zone-world-domination/id992470375
Tags: MMO, strategy, exploration
Zombies ate my Campus
- Developer: University of Alberta
- Country: Canada
- Release year: 2010
- Platform:
- Status: dead
Zombie-themed, RPG-influenced tour around the campus.
https://shanericzu.wordpress.com/zombies-ate-my-campus/
Tags: tour
Zombies, Run! / Zombies, Run! 2 / Zombies, Run! 3
- Developer: Six to Start
- Country: UK
- Release year: 2012 / 2013 / 2014
- Platform: iOS, Android
- Status: alive
Popular running app series in which you are chased by a virtual zombie horde. As you run further, the narrative continues, and you pick up goodies along the way.
https://www.zombiesrungame.com/
Tags: sports, storytelling
ZoneMaster
- Developer: Unwired Factory
- Country: Denemarken
- Release year: 2001
- Platform:
- Status: discontinued
One of the earliest ‘area control’ type games.
Tags: ancient, area control