Trying available GPS games

I’m giving some of the gps-based games a whirl.  Maybe it’ll be a bit healthier than the usual pc games I play.

(it looks like all of these are playable on Windows Mobile, so I’m just noting the iPhone app availability as that’s what I have)

1. GPS Mission
   Free, iPhone app, user-created content, mostly Euro-based (Deutsche), some US.
   There are two levels of play, missions and gold collecting.
   Gold are map points you must get within fairly close proximity to while running the app on your phone.  Seems about 7 meters or so does the trick.  For each successful collection you are awarded a few points or ‘gold’.  Once collected the map point disappears.  New map points spawn fairly quickly nearby (maybe 10mins or so).  Here in Alexandria VA there is a small cluster of gold near Old Town, and nothing else for miles.
   Missions are larger scale quests with a specific goal.  I have yet to play one as there’s not one nearby.
   Users can create missions.
   The points awarded for completing missions is significantly higher than that for merely wandering around the wasteland collecting gold.So far this one seems pretty well done.  There aren’t many users in DC, but the app just came out in December and let’s face it, most people avoid the outdoors until right about now anyway (mid-March).
2. CipherCities
   Free, no iPhone app, user-created content, Austraila-based
   Zero content in the US
   Ciphercities is designed to be played by everyone, even without mobile internet access or a gps device.
3. Virtualpunk
   Free, no iPhone app, in beta testing (March 2009), Euro-based?
   “Virtualpunk is the first world wide location based mmorpg for mobile phones.”  So there are mobs, resources, portals, and gear.    Sounds pretty good to me.
   While there is no iPhone app, there is a java wap available for those platforms that can use such ultra-futuristic technology   –damn you Apple  </ strokes iPhone lovingly murmurring, “there there, it’s all right, you’re still my precious…”>
   Looks interesting, though I’ll have to go check and see if there’s a way to get java waps running on an iphone…
4. Whereigo
   Free, no iPhone app, in beta testing (March 2009), US-based?
   From the folks at Geocaching.com comes this realworld gps gaming site. It’s entirely Windows-centric, having only software for PocketPC and a game builder for Windows.  Being the only US-based site I found, I’ll have to give it a try, but it looks like I won’t be able to use it out in the field.

I see a lot of potential in this format.  It could be just a game or a way to explore new places or to interact with friends in a new way.

Ideas:
– Timelapse series from multiple users:  have players collect an image from the same spot aiming at the same target.  Upload and process the images to match each other, then make a timelapse movie out of it.   Very Dada!
– Restaurant sampling or specific dish hunting over several weeks or months..  have the goal be to eat at various places and write miniature reviews.   Maybe even take pics of the same dish…?
– Phenology collection, it’s not much of a stretch to make this kind of note-taking, picture collecting activitiy more game-like..  all you have to do is add some kind of scoring system.  It may be of little interest to the plant geeks that already have phenology logs, but the gaming aspect would appeal to a different crowd, bringing new people into the fold.  Even better, researchers could design missions to focus observations on specific, critical needs.
– Birding, just like the phenology idea

We’re getting closer and closer to fully blanketing the real world with our collective knowledge, available in real time.

..time for dinner.Technorati Tags: gps, geocaching, gps games, ideas, flesh this out