ABSTRACT
The wide prevalence of mobile devices (MD) equipped with positioning technologies such as GPS or WiFi fingerprinting has opened new avenues for multimedia applications in gaming, gamification, and game-based learning. In a location-based game (or geogame), the presentation of media content is generally triggered by changes in the player's geographic position; the player's location also determines the available game actions, thereby inciting them to visit and experience places which they might otherwise not. This simple but effective principle of location-based gaming is exploited in augmented reality games, such as PokémonGO, game-oriented social activities and educational geogames. However, despite their potential for supporting learning, Schaal and Lude (2015) suggest that most educational geogames are simply derivates of geocaching; they use MDs for navigation and the presentation of the place-based tasks, but do not include more elaborated spatial game elements. This is significant, as Puentedura (2014) argues that technical applications should enhance and transform traditional tasks both to produce a better game experience and increase learning. With this in mind, this chapter gives an overview of the evolution of location-based games for educational purposes, provides empirical insight into evidence for using location-based games to support learning in geography and other subjects, and finally discusses future trends for location-based games for geography and environmental education.
