Location-based games use the player's real position as part of the gameplay. The real-world map becomes the game world, and your current location determines which actions are available. Today, this principle is used by collection games, RPGs and strategy games alike.
Catching creatures and completing collections tied to specific places and times. Pokémon GO is the best-known example.
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 here 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, and if the character is what you are after, that is where you belong.
Kokume belongs to the territorial strategy category but adds elements uncommon in location-based games - construction, a resource economy and tower defense combat.
| What's compared | 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 you physically stand determines what you can do - from catching creatures to claiming territory.
Pokémon GO represents collection games, Ingress focuses on faction-based territorial conflict, and Orna is a map-based RPG. Kokume belongs to territorial strategy games and adds construction and economy.
Usually not. Kokume runs on Android 7.0 and newer and requires GPS and an internet connection. You can also try it in a mobile 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. Work around that and it stops being a location-based game.
A free location-based strategy game - on Android or straight in your web browser. Have a look around the map before you commit to anything.