List of geolocation-based video games

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This is a list of geolocation-based video games, also known as location-based video games. The games on this list typically run on a mobile phone using GPS for geolocation. Some games on this list also have augmented reality features.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
TitlePlatformDeveloper/PublisherRelease dateNotes
BotFighters [1] SMS It's Alive Mobile Games AB!2001-03-14One of the first location-based games [2]
Worldseekers [3] iOS, Android, Windows PC Final Boss Editing's Games2025-04-29Demo Active. Currently in development. Game merges mobile location-gaming with PC deckbuilding.
Xyber Mech [4] SMS one2tribe2005-04-20Was available on Polish GSM network Plus GSM. Discontinued in 2009.
Sidewalk Squirrel [5] [6] Windows Mobile Sneaker Entertainment2005Discontinued
SpecTrek [7] [ unreliable source? ] [8] [ unreliable source? ] Android Games4All2009
Shadow Cities [9] [10] iOS Grey Area 2010Discontinued
Turf (video game) [11] [12] iOS, Android Andrimon2010-07-10
Munzee iOS, Android Freeze Tag, Inc. 2011Currently Active
Ingress & Ingress Prime [13] iOS, Android Niantic 2013-12-14Has augmented reality functionality and real-world events.
Colors [14] Gizmondo, iOS, Android [15] [ unreliable source? ] Indie Studios N/AGame was cancelled and later released separately
Business Tycoon iOS, Android BITLANTIS2015Real world resource mining
Pokémon Go [16] [ unreliable source? ] iOS, Android Niantic 2016-07-06Also has augmented reality functionality
Draconius GO [17] iOS, Android Elyland2017
Orna [18] iOS, Android Northern Forge Studios Inc2017Pixel art, classic MMORPG
Maguss [19] [20] [ unreliable source? ] iOS, Android Mawa2018-02Discontinued
Jurassic World Alive [21] [22] [23] iOS, Android Ludia 2018Discontinued
Ghostbusters World [24] iOS, Android NextAge2018Discontinued
The Walking Dead: Our World [25] iOS, Android Next Games2018Discontinued
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite [26] [27] iOS, Android Niantic, WB Games San Francisco 2019Discontinued
Dragon Quest Walk [28] [29] iOS, Android COLOPL, Square Enix 2019
Let's Hunt Monsters [30] [31] [32] [ unreliable source? ] iOS, Android TiMi Studio Group, Tencent Games 2019
Minecraft Earth [33] [34] iOS, Android Mojang Studios 2019Discontinued
Catan: World Explorers [35] [36] iOS, Android Niantic, Catan GmbH2020Discontinued
Blackout Age [37] iOS, Android Datastrophic Games2020Survival RPG, discontinued in 2024
Magic Streets [38] iOS, Android Build it Games2020Medieval, RPG
Pikmin Bloom [39] [40] iOS, Android Niantic 2021Collaboration with Nintendo
Monster Hunter Now iOS, Android Niantic, Capcom 2023
Melody World [41] Android Daniel Santer2024
Find.to [42] PWA Erik Lundmark2024
LootQuest iOS, Android Virtualcoma2024Story driven interactive RPG
Zombie Streets [43] iOS, Android Build it Games2024Post apocalypse, Zombie hunting

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Pokémon</i> Japanese media franchise

Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise consisting of video games, animated series and films, a trading card game, and other related media. The franchise takes place in a shared universe in which humans co-exist with creatures known as Pokémon, a large variety of species endowed with special powers. The franchise's target audience is children aged 5 to 12, but it is known to attract people of all ages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mobile game</span> Video game played on a mobile device

A mobile game is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any portable device, including from mobile phone, tablet, PDA to handheld game console, portable media player or graphing calculator, with and without network availability. The earliest known game on a mobile phone was a Tetris variant on the Hagenuk MT-2000 device from 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wikitude</span> Austrian mobile augmented reality technology provider

Wikitude was a mobile augmented reality (AR) technology provider based in Salzburg, Austria. Founded in 2008, Wikitude initially focused on providing location-based augmented reality experiences through the Wikitude World Browser App. In 2012, the company restructured its proposition by launching the Wikitude SDK, a development framework that uses image recognition and tracking, and geolocation technology.

<i>Ingress</i> (video game) Location-based augmented reality mobile game

Ingress is an augmented reality (AR) mobile game developed and published by Niantic for Android and iOS devices. The game was first released on December 14, 2013, for Android devices and then for iOS devices on July 14, 2014. The game is free-to-play, uses a freemium business model, and supports in-app purchases for additional in-game items. The mobile app has been downloaded more than 20 million times worldwide as of November 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Location-based game</span> Game which reacts to the players location

A location-based game is a type of game in which the gameplay evolves and progresses via a player's real world location. Location-based games must provide some mechanism to allow the player to report their location, usually with GPS. Many location-based video games are video games that run on a mobile phone, using its GPS capability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niantic, Inc.</span> Mobile app and video game development company

Niantic, Inc. is an American software development company based in San Francisco. Niantic is best known for developing the augmented reality mobile games Ingress and Pokémon Go. The company was formed as Niantic Labs in 2010 as an internal startup within Google. The company became an independent entity in October 2015 when Google restructured under Alphabet Inc. Niantic has additional offices in Bellevue, Los Angeles, Sunnyvale, Seattle, Lawrence, Tokyo, London, Hamburg, and Zürich.

<i>Pokémon Go</i> 2016 mobile game

Pokémon Go is a 2016 augmented reality (AR) mobile game, part of the Pokémon franchise, developed and published by Niantic in collaboration with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for iOS and Android devices. It uses mobile devices with GPS to locate, capture, train, and battle virtual Pokémon, which appear as if they are in the player's real-world location. The game is free-to-play; it uses a freemium business model combined with local advertising and supports in-app purchases for additional in-game items. The game launched with around 150 species of Pokémon, which had increased to around 870 by late 2024.

<i>Harry Potter: Wizards Unite</i> Defunct location-based augmented reality mobile game

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite was an augmented reality (AR) mobile game developed by Niantic and WB Games San Francisco, and published by Niantic, under license from Portkey Games. The game is based on the Harry Potter series and part of the Wizarding World media franchise, created by J. K. Rowling. Wizards Unite begins as the player creates their avatar and starts their journey at the player's real world location. The player character engages with the world by casting spells, discovering artefacts and facing known characters and beasts of the Wizarding World universe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nintendo mobile games</span> Overview of Nintendo mobile games

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portkey Games</span> Video game label

Portkey Games is a video game label owned by Warner Bros. Games founded in 2017 and dedicated to creating gaming experiences related to the Wizarding World. In the beginning, the company's primary focus was on publishing mobile games, but in 2023, they diversified by launching Hogwarts Legacy for both PC and consoles.

<i>Maguss</i> 2018 video game

Maguss was a free-to-play location-based mobile MMORPG with a fantasy theme for iOS and Android. The game offered players a wizarding experience, allowing them to cast spells by drawing glyphs, collect ingredients, brew various potions, battle magical creatures, and duel other players for glory and treasure. The game's shutdown was announced in April 2020.

Cluetivity is a geolocation-based and augmented reality (AR) software platform owned by Life Action Games GmbH. Founded in 2010 by a group of scavenger hunt and tech fans, Cluetivity offers both outdoor and indoor interactive games for iOS devices. The company is currently led by CEO Michael Schiemann.

Since its release in 2016, multiple real-life events and gatherings based on the augmented reality (AR) mobile game Pokémon Go have been held by its developer Niantic Labs outside of unofficial player gatherings. Typically, the events involve increased in-game rewards for participating players and are often held in cooperation with local organizations or governments.

<i>Catan: World Explorers</i> Location-based augmented reality mobile game

Catan: World Explorers was an augmented reality (AR) mobile game developed by Nerd Ninjas, and published by Niantic, based on the board game Settlers of Catan. It was announced in 2019, soft-launched in some countries the following year, and discontinued in November 2021.

<i>Lets Hunt Monsters</i> 2019 video game

Let's Hunt Monsters is a 2019 geolocation-based mobile game developed by TiMi Studio Group and published in China by Tencent. The game has an augmented reality mode, similar to other contemporaneous geolocation-based games. Let's Hunt Monsters has often been labelled a clone of Pokémon Go due to similarities. The game is centered around catching digital creatures based on Chinese mythology.

<i>Dragon Quest Walk</i> 2019 video game

Dragon Quest Walk is a geolocation-based role-playing video game developed by COLOPL and published by Square Enix for Android and iOS. It is a free-to-play entry in the Dragon Quest series and was released in Japan on 12 September 2019.

<i>Pikmin Bloom</i> 2021 mobile game

Pikmin Bloom is a 2021 augmented reality mobile game in the Pikmin series, developed and published by Niantic. Like Pokémon Go, it rewards players for spending time outside. The player's real-world movements are rewarded with items for Pikmin creatures. Its worldwide rollout began in late October 2021.

References

  1. ↑ Dodson, Sean (15 August 2002). "Ready, aim, text". The Guardian . Guardian News & Media Limited . Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  2. ↑ "Can You See Me Now? | Location Based Game". Blast Theory. Retrieved 2022-10-09.
  3. ↑ "Home". www.worldseekersgame.com. Retrieved 2024-10-21.
  4. ↑ "Polska też miała swoje Pokemon Go. Słyszeliście o grze Xyber Mech?". Eurogamer . Retrieved 2024-10-08.
  5. ↑ "Location Based Games Patent Application".
  6. ↑ "Sidewalk Squirrel Site Archive". Archived from the original on 2006-11-04.
  7. ↑ "SpecTrek - Android app on AppBrain". AppBrain. 2009-12-17. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  8. ↑ "SpecTrek - Apps on Google Play". play.google.com. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  9. ↑ Hill, David J. (2011-07-08). "Players Rule Their Real Neighborhoods with Shadow Cities, a Location-Based MMORPG for the iPhone (VIDEO)". Singularity Hub. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  10. ↑ "Shadow Cities finds that mobile gaming is surprisingly stationary – Old GigaOm". old.gigaom.com. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  11. ↑ Lundgren, Erik (2015-07-21). "Mobilspelet som håller dig aktiv". norran.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  12. ↑ "Hundratals deltagare väntas till "Turf-VM"". Barometern . 2016-05-17. Archived from the original on 2016-05-17. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  13. ↑ "Ingress Prime". Ingress Prime. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  14. ↑ Graham-Rowe, Duncan (2005-06-12). "Gamers turn cities into a battleground". New Scientist . Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  15. ↑ Freer, Carl (2015-11-30). "Carl Freer to Launch Colors for iOS and Google Play, the World's First GPS-Based, Open-World Shooter". Marketwire . Archived from the original on 2015-12-06. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  16. ↑ Osworth, A. E. (2016-07-09). "Pokémon Go Came Out In the US, Let's Catch 'Em All". Autostraddle . Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  17. ↑ "Welcome to Draconius GO!".
  18. ↑ "New Old RPGs for your mobile device".
  19. ↑ Conditt, Jessica (12 August 2016). "'Maguss,' the game that definitely isn't 'Harry Potter Go'". Engadget . Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  20. ↑ "Maguss - Wizarding MMORPG - app store revenue, download estimates, usage estimates and SDK data | Apptopia". apptopia.com. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  21. ↑ Bell, Karissa (2018-03-06). "Augmented reality dinosaurs are here thanks to 'Jurassic World Alive'". Mashable . Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  22. ↑ Reilly, Luke (2018-03-07). "Universal Announces Pokémon Go-Style Jurassic World Mobile Game". IGN. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  23. ↑ Takahashi, Dean (2018-03-07). "Ludia unveils Jurassic World Alive mobile game". VentureBeat . Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  24. ↑ "IGN: Ghostbusters World Announced". 23 February 2018.
  25. ↑ "THE WALKING DEAD: OUR WORLD COMING JULY 12TH FROM NEXT GAMES AND AMC".
  26. ↑ "NIANTIC, INC. AND WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP FOR HARRY POTTER: WIZARDS UNITE, AN AUGMENTED REALITY MOBILE GAME INSPIRED BY J.K. ROWLING'S WIZARDING WORLD". Niantic. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  27. ↑ Colby, Clifford (2021-08-08). "Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is Pokemon Go with magic wands - CNET". CNET . Archived from the original on 2021-08-08. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  28. ↑ Inc, Aetas. "「ドラゴンクエストウォーク」，ゲーム要素を紹介する企画「おさらい冒険記」がスタート。第1回は「スマホをもって、ぼうけんにでかけよう編」". 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-10-10.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  29. ↑ "『ドラゴンクエストウォーク』クエスト形式で進むゲームの流れを紹介。目的地を決めて歩んでいくのは、自分自身！ | ゲーム・エンタメ最新情報のファミ通.com". ファミ通.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  30. ↑ Ye, Josh (2019-04-24). "There's a Pokémon Go clone from Tencent that copies almost everything". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  31. ↑ Huang, Zheping (2019-04-13). "China now has game that merges Pokémon Go and CryptoKitties into one". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  32. ↑ "《一起来捉妖》亮相新文创生态大会-一起来捉妖官方网站-腾讯游戏". zhuoyao.qq.com. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  33. ↑ Hardawar, Devindra (17 May 2019). "'Minecraft Earth' makes the world your augmented reality playground". Engadget . Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  34. ↑ Campbell, Colin (2019-05-17). "Minecraft Earth is Microsoft's wild shot at the next Pokemon Go-style AR blockbuster". Polygon . Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  35. ↑ Forde, Matthew (2019-11-20). "Location-based Catan: World Explorers mobile game using Niantic's Real World Platform". Pocket Gamer . Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  36. ↑ Kumparak, Greg (2019-11-19). "Is this Niantic's next game?". TechCrunch . Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  37. ↑ "Blackout Age".
  38. ↑ "The medieval location based RPG".
  39. ↑ Stein, Scott. "Pikmin Bloom: How Niantic and Nintendo's new game mixes walking, memory and AR". CNET. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  40. ↑ "Nintendo teams with Pokemon Go studio Niantic on AR apps". The Business Times . 2021-03-23. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  41. ↑ "GPS-based Multiplayer Music & Rhythm Game".
  42. ↑ "Find.to is a location based game".
  43. ↑ "The location based Zombie survival game".
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