The iPhone has all the ingredients necessary to build the first popular location-based game that combines the real world with fantasy — a scenario long dreamt of by gamers. A handful of games like Parallel Kingdom have gotten some traction, but they have yet to really catch on on a large scale. And while Foursquare has gotten quite a bit of attention, particularly in tech circles, its gameplay elements are very rudimentary. Now a new game called gpsAssassin may have struck gold by fusing location and the popular campus game Assassins with the text-based games that have become immensely popular on social networks, Twitter, and the iPhone.
Founder Nicholas Holland says that he’s had some difficulty describing the game, largely because it looks very much iMob, Mafia Wars, and similar games that don’t rely on your location when you play them. And while gpsAssassin may share some of the same mechanics with these — it’s primarily text based with leveling, attack/armor ratings, and other key RPG elements — its location features turn it into a different beast entirely.
After picking a nickname, the game presents you list of possible actions, the most important of which is “Scan for targets”. This will bring up a list of any players within a five mile radius (anyone within a two mile radius is shown under a list of ’short range’ targets). After tapping on someone’s nickname, you enter Attack mode, where you choose from a list of actions.
This is where the game’s real fun kicks in: you can choose from a list of available attacks created by other users, which range from silly (’Throw Nail Polish” or “Robotic Kitty”) to more conventional forms of violence. Better yet, you can get creative and think up your own attack, which is especially fun when you personally know the person you’re attacking. Your target will then be informed that you’ve attacked them with whatever weapon you choose, and depending on your strength they’ll find out who emerged as the victor.
This is all, of course, dependent on where you are physically located. If your favorite victim picks up shop and drives across town then you won’t be able to attack them with your ‘Gospel of Chuck Norris’ or ‘Mullet of Fury’. Holland says that gamers have been known to actually change their driving routes so that they can get in their attack on an unsuspecting victim and get out of dodge before they have a chance at retaliation. He also says that he’s seen neighboring offices band together to wage war against a cross-town competitor. Clearly, there’s plenty of room for friendly (or not so friendly) rivalries to emerge.
While most people will probably spend most of their time thinking of especially infuriating (and hilarious) attacks, gamers can further boost their stats by fighting against non-player characters. And the game offers virtual goods that you can use to boost your stats and win/loss percentage without the time investment, which is where the game will make most of its money.
The application has been available in beta since February but Holland staggered its release by initially pricing it at $5.00, then $.99. Now that it’s ready for mass consumption, gpsAssassin is available for free, though there are a handful of premium versions that come with more of the game’s virtual currency.
direct appsto.re URL: http://appsto.re/gpsassassin
Congrats to Nich and Jaxn for making on to Tech Crunch!! Now stop reading comments and go play the game!
Oh cool. Thanks for pointing this out. I downloaded it. It looks pretty cool. The interface isn’t my favorite though.
Very cool… this is a safer version of those water gun assassin games being played out there. Looks like a fun app.
Good idea, poor UX.
Has anyone here actually tried PLAYING the game? I just did for a couple hours, and it’s really dumb. Basically it’s an arms race between weapon power and armor power, and you’re basically incented to buy “money” from them to up your killing/defense power. You don’t really do anything else.
Agreed that’s it’s still too basic, but I think most of the fun comes from playing with people you know.
We had to keep it basic
After watching a lot of non-gamers play it, making it much more complicated really kept ‘normal’ people from playing it.
Dragon X (on the Nintendo DS) is a good example of a complex location based game. Its awesome, but won’t be played by non-gamers.
http://go5d.com is still in early stages, but has potential.
I really hope someone with anger management problems plays this game, and then when a stranger kills them in the game, they go nutso, use the GPS to track that person down, and then actually hurts them irl.
Then we’ll get all these op-ed pieces in the news creating a moral panic about smartphones and social apps. hahaha
That is why we don’t actually show any locations
5 square miles is a really big area to track someone down.
Not if you live in Montana… just gotta drive over to the next farm.
We played a similar game in high school by exchanging ID cards and tracking people down in between and shooting them in the hall ways
This movie from 1982 was pretty cool and was the inspiration for us at the time:
http://www.imdb...itle/tt0084756/
My guess is Valley will be most player populated area in the world
Interesting…not a gamer, so it’s all “new” stuff to ruminate over…
Cheers…
Been playing this game for a few months. the beauty of the game play is its simplicity combined with “social” interaction. This is where Assassins goes well beyond Ninjas/Mobsters/Vampires in that there can be real interaction between two people. It was fairly simple to go “Professional” without paying any money for the upgrade.
Have to agree with the comments above that the “basicness” of the game is key to its broad appeal. I’m not a gamer, but I do play gpsAssassin occasionally. It’s the kind of thing I can pop into and out of throughout a day if I like, and not have to spend heavy amounts of time there.
Thanks for the write-up!
I lose 5 points of IQ every time I come online. I’m virtually a vegetable by now. “In-game” attacks on real people? What could be stupider?
Umm, yes, that is the definition of a multiplayer game.
This game has been a blast to play. If you try it out, use the Twitter hash tag “#gpsAssassin” to tell everyone about your attacks and kills. Pro players like to post screenshots to further rub it in their victims’ faces.
http://twitter....=%23gpsAssassin
I’ve played this game – it is not fun
Whow … nice reviews! I’ll buy it! http://www.uque...5823099#reviews
Screenshot of co creator Nick Holland getting pwnd (by me, weapon “Boomstick”) – http://imgur.com/Wk7Wj.jpg
This is why it’s fun.
I’m a gamer, but I don’t find this game too basic at all because I’m not looking for a big-ass, time-consuming, strategy-heavy game to play on my freaking phone. I use one of my six gaming platforms at home for those games.
gpsAssassins is great if you have a long commute or any kind of regular downtime in your day. Kill bots over and over to build up money; there’s no need to buy extra unless you’re just impatient. I’ve made more then $1 million without having to sacrifice armor or weapons at all.
As someone who commutes 80 miles a day (in a carpool; don’t worry, I’m not killing while driving), this game has changed my life. Goodbye boring long ride times, hello taking road rage out on bots and those unlucky Nashvillians playing around me!
I love this game. also my wife, who is not a gamer, plays more than i do. Thanks for making a great game.
StomyAbyss
Why in the hell do we need a game called “Assassins: Kill Your Neighbor” when a kid just got beat to death for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. This is disgusting and infuriating to me.
Seems like a case of someone sitting behind a computer too much and disconnected from the reality that what we say and do matters.
Hey Reb,
We agree – the name is harsh! However, the actual gameplay isn’t morbid at all. Its based on the college game that many have played as a great mixer for freshmen.
We were tasked with the chore of 1) Making it clear that we’re modeling the game after Assassin, the college game of joke-social-assassination and 2) Drawing attention to the location aspect (thus: Kill Your Neighbor).
The name “Text Messages: Communicate with those around you” didn’t really inspire a lot of people to play
I see a lot of hype by the developers, a few negative comments by people who have actually played the game, and an acknowledgment by the author that it’s probably not ready for prime time. Waste of my time.
What about all the non-developers who play the game that are leaving positive comments? Not everyone on here that has left a positive review is a developer. True, there are a few negative comments from people who have played the game, but there are more positive ones.
You know what’s great, though? If you don’t like the game, you don’t have to play it! So if you think it’s a waste of your time, don’t worry about it. Easy as pie.
Okay, I’m back because I’m still furious.
Hey, I’ve got a great idea. What about an iPhone app game called “Psychos: Kill Your Mother”. Won’t that be cool? Then we can chase mom all over the house til we catch her in the closet and we’ll then . . . oh games over.
Wait til your game shows up on the iPhone of a gun who just shot up a local gym.
Okay, I’m done. Ne’r to return.
How did you know the name of our next game? J/K
I don’t think we have a single gun in the game. If someone showed up at a gym and killed everyone with Dirty Diapers, Lazy Husbands, and Nagging Wives – THEN we’d be in some real trouble
heres what i want and will pay for:
sim tower for iphone
drug wars for iphone
why doest anyone make these dangit
I have been playing the game for about 4 months or so and until now have never been one really to play games, I guess that is why I like this game so much. My wife hates the game, only because I play it all the freakin time! The cool thing is all of the interaction between real people, I mean 24/7. The game is all in good fun and I hate to see that it rubbed someone the wrong way, because if you got a chance to play it you would see what a great game it truly is. (AKA Cmurder)
It’s absurd to get angry and claim a game like this would lead to murder…it’s far more likely that something like Google Latitude would lead to murder from some bizarre psychosexual stalking thing.
And even then, I find it highly unlikely that the application itself is to blame. It’s logically incoherent to claim that because your location is available to others that it somehow makes you more vulnerable to murdering psychopaths.
This whole notion of location aware services putting lives in danger is just silly.