Location-based mobile gaming coming to UK train stations

Quno is a web-based service for rail travelers that will be launching later this year – and it has announced that it will be integrating mobile gaming into the train system. With location-based mobile games developer SCVNGR, passengers will be able to take part in challenges and earn points while waiting for their train.

What’s the story?

There are two companies to look at here. The first is Quno.com – an online search and booking service for UK rail. It’s still in private beta, but the service it will be offering is very desirable. It makes booking rail tickets as easy as booking air tickets. You simply input your travel time and starting/finishing destination, and Quno will take care of all the in-between business. Instead of having to book every individual step of the journey, Quno will present you with a fully booked journey across all rail lines.

Then you’ve got SCVNGR. This a location-based mobile game with a very expressive tag-line: “Go places. Do challenges. Earn points!” That about sums it up. Much like services like FourSquare, it allows you to check-in at a location. But once you’re there, SCVNGR will present you with challenges to be completed in your locale. Companies that partner with SCVNGR (of which there are about 650 at the moment) can create the challenges. So in that way it’s like a kind of advertising – a local cafe can create a challenge that involves doing something in their premises. Once you’ve done the challenge, you earn points. Several challenges in different locations can be strung together in what are called “Treks”; a mobile scavenger hunt that takes you on a tour. You can compare your points against other players – and you can earn rewards for your high points score.

What are they doing together?

SCVNGR is creating a series of gaming challenges specifically for Quno, based in eight rail stations placed along the length and breadth of the UK: London Waterloo, Paddington, Liverpool Street and Euston; Bristol Temple Meads, Birmingham New Street, Manchester Piccadilly and Edinburgh. Each one of these stations has a set of challenges and games created for it – and they are collectively known as the Quno Challenge. All of the Quno Challenges wil be accessed through an app from Quno, or through the “Treks” tab on SCVNGR.

What we think?

I honestly believe that this represents a part of the future of mobile devices. And in a way, it’s a future that is already here. Through services like SCVNGR, FourSquare and shopkick, retailers and brands can actively reward consumers for visiting certain locations and behaving in certain ways. I suppose you could view this as a sinister development if you wanted; as brands and retailers gain even more power over the public. But I really don’t see it like that. This isn’t a brain-washing ray – it’s just an added layer of incentives for traveling, seeing and doing. People will still go to the same shops they used to, but these services offer them a good reason to think about going somewhere else for a change. I love the idea of spending a lazy Satruday whisking around a city, chasing down challenges and completing a Trek.