Location based gaming has been on the horizon ever since GPS devices hit the mainstream. Geocaching has been popular with hikers and mountaineers for a while now with locations built into handheld GPS devices used for rambling. These primitive versions of location based gaming are all very well and most people will probably never have experienced them. They’re not what I would call a game, more of an activity.

Hit the read link for more on location-based gaming and Location Matrix.

GPS integration into cell phones however has enabled developers to think on a larger scale for location based gaming. Most people who have played 1st person shooters will be familiar with the ‘capture the flag’ concept. This kind of immediate virtual location grabbing and holding is something that is starting to bleed across into the real world using the new location power of mobile phones and their wireless data access capabilities. Currently there are a few geocaching applications for phones that create a giant virtual treasure hunt. It’s a great idea for exploring a place but it’s just the tip of the ice berg. 

For GPS equipped Java based phones there are many more gaming options currently available. For a good list of them check out In-Duce. One of the highlights has to be Location Matrix (video shown above) is a UK based game with a java based system that can either use the GPS built into your phone or a separate portable bluetooth GPS unit. Location Matrix looks like a lot of fun and quite well developed already allowing you to play on your own, with friends or with people across the globe in teams or in a free-for-all. There are a few built in game types but what is really special is the ability to create your own types of games and play them all together. Another fun location based game is the Pac Manhattan concept, a project on gaming and the real world by a team from the NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications graduate program. Pac Manhattan turned the gridscape of Manhattan into a real world Pac Man maze including Pac Man and the 5 ghosts trying to catch him. For information on when the next Pac Manhattan takes place and whether you can join in hit up the Pac Manhattan site.

Pac Manhattan - Real life Pac Man

One place I think location-based gaming could really catch on is connected games consoles. The PSP has a GPS addon that allows one to use it as a navigator leveraging it’s wifi connection for downloading information. The downfall with that system is the reliance on free or open wifi hotspots for data. On the face of it the iPhone 3G kited out with both a decent cell based data connection and a reasonable GPS it’s the perfect platform for really expanding the genera. One entry into the currently rather limited field on the iPhone is a glorified viral advert for the Terminator franchise; Ambush, a game based around tracking a person’s movement during their day online and letting online users set ‘traps’ for the people being tracked in an attempt to virtually neutralise them. It uses the story of Terminator versus humans to create a game around the survival of the human race or triumph of Skynet.

Another location aware game for the iPhone is Jetset: A game for airports. A game where you play a security officer searching passengers and generally making their lives miserable. The game however has a nice twist in that you can play whilst in the airport you are playing the virtual simulation of (100 are included) gaining you virtual collectables and extras. Not exactly true location based gaming but still a nice little game should you travel a lot through airports.

Location based gaming is currently in its infancy, but as GPS equipped cell phones and mobile devices become more powerful and ubiquitous I really think that it will be a new form of entertainment that captures the best of gaming with the outdoors. So keep your eyes peeled and your ears to the ground to check out the newest and funniest outdoor gaming experiences and you never know you might get a bit of exercise, call it the outdoor activity for the Wii generation.