A location-based game called Treasure is described in a paper called Picking Pockets on the Lawn was just presented at UBICOMP 2005. It was co-written by Louise Barkhaus, a post-doc at the Glasgow University that was an exceptional Student Volunteer Chair at CHI 2005.

Playing Treasure involves movement in and out of a wi-fi network, using PDAs to pick up virtual ‘coins’ that may be scattered outside network coverage. Coins have to be uploaded to a server to gain game points, and players can collaborate with teammates to double the points given for an upload. Players can also steal coins from opponents. As they move around, players’ PDAs sample network signal strength and update coverage maps.

Relevance: Similiar to the Live Action Scotland Yard game, I had blogged about earlier,this game takes place in an urban setting. In Treasure, some paired teams played once, others twice, and some played three times.

The ability to steal from other players is not a concept I am aware of in location-based activities. It is interesting from their findings that 2nd and 3rd time players were prone to pickpocket more often.

Would the strategies employed during game play differ on a university campus that is extensively covered with wi-fi such as my university? As participants were recruited in pairs, this suggest team familiarity prior to game play. What finding would you expect with strangers?

Technorati tags:
 , , , , ,