Location-based (GPS) games use your real position as game input — the map outside is the playing field and where you walk decides what you can do. Over the past decade the idea split into several distinct genres, and it is worth knowing which one you are actually looking for.
Catching and completing a collection tied to places and time. Pokémon GO is the best known. Strong early, repetitive later.
A fight for control of points or land between camps of players. Ingress opened this branch and Kokume belongs to it — with the difference that territory is not only held but also built up.
Character progression, gear and combat tied to position. Typically Orna. Closer to a classic RPG than to map strategy.
Kokume belongs to the territory branch but adds a layer most location-based games do not have — an economy and construction.
| Aspect | other location-based games | Kokume |
|---|---|---|
| What position does | Decides what you can catch or attack | Decides where you can claim territory and build |
| What persists between sessions | Usually nothing — progress pauses | Buildings keep producing, but territory can be attacked |
| Who you play against | Often against the game content | Against other players across three factions |
| Rural coverage | Depends on a database of points of interest | Regions cover the whole landscape, villages included |
A game that uses the player’s real position as input. The real-world map is the playing surface and where the player physically stands determines what they can do — from catching creatures to claiming territory.
Pokémon GO in the collection branch, Ingress in the territory and faction branch, Orna among map RPGs. Kokume belongs to the territory branch and adds building and an economy to it.
Usually not. Kokume runs on Android 7.0 and newer, needs GPS and an internet connection, and can also be tried in an ordinary web browser.
Only partly — movement is the point. In Kokume you can manage the economy and plan construction without leaving home, but new territory and attacks require physical presence.
A free location-based strategy game — on Android or straight in your web browser, no sign-up needed to look around.