Contact No Mixed gender Yes Venue Earth | Team members 1+ Type Outdoor | |
Equipment GPS receiver, Tablet or Smart phone | ||
Wherigo is a GPS location-aware software platform created by Groundspeak and initially released in January 2008. A simple description is a mix between an adventure game and a geocache search.
Contents
Authors can develop self-enclosed story files (called "cartridges") that are read by the Wherigo player software, installed on either a GPS unit or smartphone. The player and story take advantage of the location information provided by the GPS to trigger in-game events, such as using a virtual object or interacting with characters. Completing an adventure can require reaching different locations and solving puzzles.
Cartridges are coded in Lua. Lua may be used directly, but a builder application is usually used.
Official
The Wherigo site offers a builder application and a database of adventures free for download, though the builder has remained in its Alpha version since its last release in May 2008. The official player is only available for Pocket PC. A built-in player is available on Garmin Colorado and Oregon GPS models.
Unofficial
The Wherigo Foundation was organized in December 2012. The group is composed of all Wherigo application developers who, up until that time, had been acting and developing separately. Their goal is to provide a consistent Wherigo experience across platforms, connect Wherigo applications via an API, and add modern features to the Wherigo platform. While Groundspeak is aware of this project, the company has yet to take a position.