‘Immersion’ is almost a cursed word for games. At all times, your game must be striving to have the player more immersed, more invested in your game to the point that it feels like there’s no other reality but the one you’ve constructed. That’s difficult though. What if you turned actual reality into your game instead?
That’s what GPS games have strived to do, and in many regards have succeeded in. What greater immersion is there than adding tangible real-world locations into a game of your creation? Plenty, though not all, GPS games utilise some degree of Augmented Reality to portray their game in the real world as well, and here are some that we think do it best.
By merit of many GPS-based games being mobile, it means many of them have also been discontinued as well.
10 Pokemon Go
Pokémon GO
Augmented Reality Platform(s) iOS , Android Released July 6, 2016 Developer(s) Niantic , The Pokemon Company
Getting the obvious out of the way, Pokemon Go translated a gaming phenomenon into a new genre, the greatest potential region the series could ever achieve — the real world. How many times have you wished you could actually encounter a Pokemon in your life, right in front of you, and turn it into your best friend?
Pokemon Go brought that dream into reality, granting the wishes of people the world over. No wonder then that it became an overnight success. Even amidst many pitfalls that the game has suffered, the brand power of Pokemon means it has never come to failing.
9 Geocaching
Though the geocaching we’re referring to is the actual GPS-based game, Geocaching, the title is itself named after the recreational outdoor activity, geocaching. In short, geocaching is the act of hiding a small digital cache with a GPS tracker and then uploading it for others to find.
While the activity itself is, well, just an activity, many companies, namely Geocaching themselves, run it like a business, offering more advanced rules, tools, and other advantages. By nature of the game being worldwide and hard to monitor, it really is a game you’ll never know what to expect out of.
Geocaching can also be dangerous by merit of its unregulated nature, so please do play with caution.
8 Orna
By itself, Orna is a fairly traditional RPG. It has your dungeon-crawling, hordes of monsters, plenty of fantastical elements, and over 50 classes to choose from. That’s all lovely, though doesn’t quite sound strikingly unique. That’s where the GPS comes in.
Orna uses your actual location to determine your actions. While the majority of the game’s actions can be done wherever. journeying around your actual area opens up new activities. Coming across real-world landmarks lets you claim them too, and you can battle other players you come across. Plus, it’s all free.
7 BotFighters
While BotFighters is no longer a game you can actively play, it’s also the likely reason why many of the GPS games that exist today are even around. BotFighters, first launched in Sweden in 2001, was one of the first GPS-based games in existence, though functioned quite differently from modern games.
Being made for the phones of the time, it was handled through texting, and cost money for each text as a result. The information you were given was based on your actual geo-location though, giving you active updates on any other players in your vicinity.
6 Pikmin Bloom
Pikmin Bloom
AdventureAugmented Reality Platform(s) Android , iOS Released October 26, 2021 Developer(s) Niantic
While GPS games have been made by plenty of different companies, the comparative success of Pokemon Go to the competition means Niantic has more funds and experience with GPS to simply create more and more. As a result, Pikmin Bloom entered the market, the first Pikmin game on a non-Nintendo Console.
Like Pokemon Go, Pikmin Bloom uses the real world for the game. The goals of the game are much more casual than others of the genre though. You grow your Pikmin from Seedlings, pick the flowers on their head, and plant them in the world around it. The goal, if you want to call it that, is to plant these flowers until the whole world is blooming with them.
5 Turf
Turf has a name that is quite a bit more self-explanatory than you might think. Having first started (and still most popular) in Sweden, Turf has you travel to real-world locations and claim them as your own. Turf is a strictly competitive game though, and holding your territory is the aim of the game.
When you go to a Zone marked within the game, you can claim it. The longer you hold a zone, the more points you get. Nice and simple. The game is broken up into rounds, with whoever gained the most points at the end of each monthly round crowned the winner.
4 The Walk
The walk is a slightly more unusual GPS game in that it was commissioned by the NHS and the Department of Health in the UK. That gives the game away a bit in that it is very much geared towards getting you out and walking, though it’s a pretty effective means of doing so.
The game is all about unlocking extra episodes of the story, done by walking in the real world to emulate the actions of the protagonist. Each episode has extra secrets for you to uncover as well, incentivising you to walk as much as you can. There’s not much else to the game, but there’s not meant to be. It’s free and a small kick to get you walking.
3 Monster Hunter Now
Monster Hunter Now
Augmented Reality Platform(s) Android , iOS Released September 14, 2023 Developer(s) Niantic , Capcom
Another of Niantic’s forays into GPS and AR gaming, Monster Hunter Now is the latest of their creations. While it’s far from the first Monster Hunter game on mobile, it’s the first that’s been readily made for an international audience. Who doesn’t like walking out the door and being met by a Rathalos?
Monster Hunter Now is quite a bit more grindy than the main games, which is really saying something, though it must still be commended for bringing these iconic monsters to a mobile platform in a format that mostly works. However, you may want to avoid that Teostra when you’re only walking to the shop.
2 Minecraft Earth
It’s impossible to envision the world before Minecraft. It has fundamentally changed not only the gaming landscape but also most media. From films to toys, Minecraft is more than that simple crafting game anymore. And Minecraft Earth remains one of the most ambitious Minecraft and GPS games to this day.
The intent of Minecraft Earth was to generate the whole planet as a place for you to build. And it was exactly that. You could set down Buildplates anywhere in the world you physically were and build them through AR. Those buildings would remain for anyone in the world to see. It was wildly ambitious, and quite short-lived.
Minecraft Earth was shut down during the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic, with that being the stated reason for its discontinuation.
1 Dragon Quest Walk
Dragon Quest Walk
Augmented Reality Platform(s) Android , iOS Released September 12, 2019 Developer COLOPL
It’s hard to overstate just how popular Dragon Quest is within Japan. While its run in North America was called Dragon Warrior for the majority of its life, and it didn’t even hit Europe until Dragon Quest 8, the GPS game Dragon Quest Walk is the second most profitable Geo-location game in the world despite only being available in Japan. It’s huge.
Like many other GPS games, Dragon Quest Walk lets you encounter monsters and complete quests as you walk, though also lets you set up your own home base and bring trinkets back to decorate it. It’s a quite unique experience that translates Dragon Quest quite well to mobile.
