The Red Dot Game

The Red Dot Game is a location sensitive augmented reality game that can be integrated into educational, engagement or team building activities or just enjoyed as a fun experience in its own right. It differs significantly from other mobile games in that it involves a group of players each with their own phone playing in an outdoor area with space to run and play.

The goal of play is to chase down the red dots and collect them before anyone else does. You then get to devise your own rules on top of this e.g. play as individuals, or as a team by adding up scores at the end of play. Create other rules e.g. first person to collect 5 dots.

Setting up a game requires a bit of preparation. All phones involved in a single game must be part of the same WiFi network. We recommend that you set up one device as a hotspot, and allow everyone else to connect to this (no Internet access is required for play).

All phones must have their GPS switched on. We recommend that you check that your GPS has found its location before starting the game. This can be checked with any application that reports GPS position.

Firstly, one phone will act as a server coordinating game play and controlling aspects of the game. Start the game, and select server mode for this device. Stand in the middle of the play area and, using an estimate of the free space around you, choose the appropriate radius value from the drop down list.

Everyone else can start the application and select client mode. If GPS and Wifi are working correctly, they should see a representation of the play area (green region) with their position marked (black dot). Red dots will be scattered over the area. Catch them! Run!