Turf (video game)

Turf
Developer(s) Andrimon
Director(s) Andreas Pantesjö
Simon Sikström
Platform(s) Android, iOS
Release date(s) 10th July 2010
Genre(s) massively multiplayer online, location based game

Turf is a location based augmented reality massively multiplayer online mobile game developed by Swedish company Andrimon. It was released on 10th July 2010 for Android, and later for iOS. The game was created by Andreas Pantesjö and Simon Sikström.[1]

The game is a combination of King of the Hill and digital orienteering. The goal is to collect points by taking over zones and try to keep them as long as possible in competition with other players. Zones are located all over the world, but with the highest concentration in countries with active competition, as in Sweden, Finland and Denmark. Zones are typically taken by foot or by bicycle, and Turf is by many players used as an exergame.[2][3][4] Playing Turf allows for people to find and discover new places.[5] It has also been compared with Ingress and Pokémon Go.[6]

The game is played in rounds that lasts for a month, but there are special events arranged when players gathers in a city to compete. A major event is called a Bonanza.[7][8]

Turf has more than 150,000 registered players and is free to play. A voluntary fee can be paid to get supporter status, which gives access to additional in-app statistics, but comes with no gameplay benefits.[9] It has been written about the game several times in various newspapers and there have been articles about it in both radio and television.[10] So far, most of them Swedish but there are newspaper articles from Finland and Denmark as well.[11][12][13][14]

Gameplay

Turf requires a GPS signal[15] and Internet access on a mobile phone. The goal in the game is to earn points, which is done by taking over zones and keep them as long as possible. The zone is taken over by being on the spot physically. A game round lasts for about a month. Whoever has the most points when a game is finished will be the winner and will have a chance to determine a new zone. Turf is like a mixture of King of the Hill and orienteering in a digital form. Players can see each other on the map in real time when GPS is turned on.[16] Players can defeat others if they are the first to the intended zone. You can travel between the zones in any way you like, but om bike or by foot is the most common way.[17]

Bonanza

Once a year a special game is held, called Bonanza. In it, all participants gather in a city and run a stand-alone game session in a few hours. Bonanza contains zones that are not in the regular game, and they are much more densely arranged for it to be an exciting race. It´s like a championship for Turf. The first Bonanzan organized on Djurgården in Stockholm, Sweden on 21 May 2011. This year (2016) it was held in Kalmar.[18] To this date all of the Bonanzas has been in Sweden because it is still the country with most players.

Other events

Other, smaller, events occur that are similar to the Bonanzas. They can be in different places with different orientations (canoe,[19] only by foot, long seclusion etc.). In 19 June 2011 one of the first Turf events was at Dreamhack in Sweden.[20]

Closed events

A event can also be a closed event where only the invited has access. It could be for a smaller group or in a gameform where it's not possible to have to many players. For example, the game has been used in school sports lessons, during the year (2016) has more than 300 physical education lessons consisted of "orientation" of the Turf.[21]

Zones

A zone is a predetermined physical location anywhere on Earth. In July 2016 there were 41,560 zones (an increase of almost 14,000 zones the past two years),[22] deployed all ower the world, mostly in the Nordic countries, the Netherlands, South Korea, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

A zone can be have a attribute (if not it's normal) and there are for example zones at bridges and in water.[23]

References

  1. ↑ "Turf - Outdoor addication, Brief history". Andrimon. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  2. ↑ "Han har cyklat minst 2000 mil på två år" (in Swedish). Vestmanlands Läns Tidning. 23 July 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  3. ↑ "Mobilspelet som håller dig aktiv" (in Swedish). Norran. 21 July 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  4. ↑ Sandra Bengtsson Stiskalo. "Mobilspelet Turf ger motion" (in Swedish). Ålandstidningen. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  5. ↑ "Turf och upplevelser av ett landskap" (in Swedish). Ethnologists at the Department of Culture and Media Studies at Umeå University. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  6. ↑ Daniel Goldberg (29 July 2016). "Efter Pokémon Go – rusning till svensk föregångare" (in Swedish). Dagens Industri. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  7. ↑ "Turfare jagade mobilzoner i Kalmar" (in Swedish). Sveriges Radio. 23 May 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  8. ↑ Natalie Caballero Löf (29 August 2012). "Västeråsare anordnar turf-bonanza i helgen" (in Swedish). Sveriges Radio. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  9. ↑ "Turf - Outdoor addiction, Supporter". Andrimon. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  10. ↑ "Turf i media" (in Swedish). Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  11. ↑ "Arnolds Bjerg erobret" (in Danish). Sjællands Nyheder. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  12. ↑ Sandra Bengtsson Stiskalo. "Mobilspelet Turf ger motion" (in Swedish). Ålandstidningen. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  13. ↑ Alice Granroth (25 July 2013). "Jaga spelzoner med GPS" (in Swedish). Österbottens Tidning. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  14. ↑ Fanny Fröman (10 August 2015). "Spelet som tar dig ut på cykeltur" (in Swedish). Hufvudstadsbladet. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  15. ↑ Fredrik Claesson (5 January 2013). "Erövra din stad!" (in Swedish). PC för Alla. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  16. ↑ Eva Wieselgren (27 May 2016). "Ta över grannbyn med Turf" (in Swedish). M3. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  17. ↑ Marianne Lundvall (2 June 2012). "Vi kallar oss turfare" (in Swedish). Jnytt. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  18. ↑ "Hundratals deltagare väntas till "Turf-VM"" (in Swedish). Barometern. 16 May 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  19. ↑ Peter Karlsson (30 August 2015). "Turfande kanotister intog Malmfjärden" (in Swedish). Barometern. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  20. ↑ "TURF @ Dreamhack". Dreamhack. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  21. ↑ Daniel Goldberg (29 July 2016). "Efter Pokémon Go – rusning till svensk föregångare" (in Swedish). Dagens Industri. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  22. ↑ http://warded.se/turf/regions.php
  23. ↑ Daniel Elfvelin (23 August 2012). "Vem äger Lerum?" (in Swedish). Lerums Tidning. Retrieved 20 July 2016.

External links

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