[Just an idea] TagWorld

[Cazzz]

Just an idea I like to share. Just give your opinion if you think it would be fun or not. So here comes nothing :P

TagWorld.
Since in today's world everybody got a cellphone with camera. And the cellphones these day get better each day I came up with this idea while waiting for the metro.
Wouldn't it be cool to make a real life game of tag and find? A player of the game you could place a tag in the real world. This gets send to a central server with help of your cellphone. Your tag could be a image and the amount of the placed tags could be limited.
So far for the tag part. When you are in find mode your goal is to find the most tags. How? you turn on the tag-find application on your cellphone. The cellphone receives the coördinates of the tags in your radius but they are only visible trough the lens of the camera (this would require some 3d overlay... could this be possible on cellphones?). When a tag is shot (picture is taken) the result is send to a server and the player gets points for the tag. This could be based on rarity of the tag, visibility etc.

I think this would be a perfect waiting-for-something game. Ofcourse there a few bottlenecks like:
the cellphone capabilities
the network bandwith
the playerbase. It's only fun when enough tags have been placed

[Nils Pipenbrinck]

something like that exists in the asian world (at least in japan) for years. it's a mobile multiplayer game where the players "collect" virtual things that appear all over the isle.

If an item appears you have to be some meters near it to get it, so if you're after a rare item you can actually see other players running and searching for it. These guys even trade their virtual "items" for real money.

[Cazzz]

Ow great the Japenese beat me : ( :P
Do you happend to know the name of it or any more information (sites, articles?), Nils?

Still as both european citizens, do you think such a game can work out in the 'western' world? since not always game concepts from Japan work out here.

[Ed Mack]

Doesn't the sandbox on most phones stop you from using any of the useful features from a custom application?

[Cazzz]

Well that could be true. I'm totaly unaware of the excact specs or capabilities of the modern mobile phones. But lets dont get to technical.
I rather focus on the game design part of my idea. Some questions I would like to see awnsered are:

- Do people want to play the game of tag and find?
- Do people want to pay for the game or could it be financed by a sponsor company?
- When played, what kind of troubles could emerge?
- How to keep it interresting in the long term?

[ray648]

Theres another game that already exists thats quite similar to the tag finding part of your idea but using gps units. Its known as geocaching. The basic idea is that a cache (a box containing a log book and possibly some other items) is hidden somewhere and the coordinates for it are posted online for others to go and find. If you find it you sign the book, and possibly take an item from the box, and also leave an item of your own for the next person. Google for it, there seems to be a suprisingly large following.

[TheNut]

These are truly bizarre games =P

- Do people want to play the game of tag and find?
I don't play any games on my cellphone. To low budget =)

- Do people want to pay for the game or could it be financed by a sponsor company?
That's probably the biggest catch. Cell phone + Internet use = $$$. If you could subsidize those costs somehow, then it may stand a chance.

- When played, what kind of troubles could emerge?
Extensive EMF radiation exposure :skull: :skull: :skull:

- How to keep it interesting in the long term?
Provide tournaments with actual prizes.