The MOGA-game has been developed as a part of the Rotuaari research project in the University of Oulu. MOGA’s goal is to test how WiFi positioning works inside campus buildings and are end users willing to move from place to place during actual game play.

MOGA’s idea is an old one: capture the flag. The game is played in teams. The idea is to capture and defend virtual flag zones. Game is played with a mobile handheld device, in which player’s position and the flag zones are shown on the screen. Cooperation within a team is emphasized: players are forced to play as a team. Capturing flags is much faster, when it’s done as a team, but also flags situated nearby have effects. Players must also pay attention to the flags positions in their strategy and their affect to the game itself.

MOGA has been implemented but testing is still in progress. MOGA is a part of Heikki Tolonen’s Masters’ Thesis that concentrates in heuristic evaluation of location-aware mobile games (Heikki contact’s: heikki.tolonen (at) @ee.oulu.fi).

Tags: location awareness, Location Based Services, ubiquitous game, urban exploration