Phone Tag

Room116 points us towards an article in the WSJ which highlights one of the cooler mobile games called PhoneTag, developed by LivePlanet. It’s an urban capture-the-flag game that will be available on Amp’d mobile.

Here’s how it will work: Amp’d Mobile users will be able to invite a circle of friends to join in a game of PhoneTag by sending text invitations to their cellphones, or to participate in a game with strangers. When a game starts, players will be given a target–another player– that appears on their cellphones screens as a dot on a virtual map. The game can be played on almost any territory, whether a college campus or a city.

At the same time hunters are pursuing their quarry, they themselves are being hunted by other players. When players get close to their prey, typically within a few yards, they virtually “tag” them hitting a button labeled “capture” on their cellphones. LivePlanet also plans to sell sponsorships that allow, say, Starbucks to turn its cafes into “safe havens” that let players temporarily cloak themselves on their opponents’ maps while they’re enjoying a latte.

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