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Location-Based GamesMonths of work

INTVL

Run-tracking GPS app with neighborhood territory mechanic · Indie (US) · Active 2024-2026

Self-described as a hybrid running tracker + neighborhood territory game. Smart GPS overlays let runners chase 10K PBs while 'holding down your neighborhood' against other community members.

Areas compete

Players physically run their own neighborhood to defend it from rivals; explicit framing is 'battle certain people in the community you live in for running territory.'

People support each other

Community-of-neighbors framing - the design assumes runners know (or come to know) the others competing in their zone, and the leaderboard scope is geographically local rather than global.

Why this is worth knowing

Tiny indie example that explicitly uses the word 'neighborhood' as the unit of competition - useful as evidence that the pattern is emerging in commodity fitness apps, not just specialist LBGs.

Statusactive
YearActive 2024-2026
WhereIndie (US)
Effort to start a local versionMonths of work
LanguageEnglish
Verificationhigh confidence
Adjacent

Others in the same family

Turf (turfgame.com)

Location-Based Games · Sweden / Nordics, global

Swedish-built MMO-style GPS game (by Andrimon) where players capture virtual zones placed on real-world maps using their phone's GPS. Played in monthly rounds with full reset; densest in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, and increasingly the UK and Germany. Annual Bonanza events bring players to a single city for hours-long standalone tournaments (2026 Bonanza in Gothenburg).

Stride: Walk, Run, Capture

Location-Based Games · Global (US-based indie)

Players track walks/runs and capture hexagonal tiles on a real-world map; rewards 'determination over speed' so consistency wins, not speed. Joins thousands of nearby players competing for city/town control.

Walksy / WalkOff (fog-of-war walking games)

Location-Based Games · Global indie

Your city map starts under a mist; every step clears fog around your GPS position and reveals streets, parks, and landmarks. Add friends, join/create guilds, fight guild territory wars over city sectors.

My Block, My Hood, My City - Neighborhood 5K

Fitness & Movement · Chicago (South/West Side focus)

Jahmal Cole's nonprofit fights Chicago segregation by physically moving young people across neighborhoods. The 5K randomly assigns each run group a different neighborhood to run through; Explorers takes after-school cohorts from one South/West Side block to enrichment activities in other parts of the city.

Helium Mobile Discovery Mapping + Boosted Locations (LA pilot)

Experimental / Web3 · United States (Los Angeles flagship, expanding)

Helium Mobile subscribers opt into Discovery Mapping: walking/driving with the app maps eligible H3 hexes (~2 basketball courts each); subscribers must hit 40 hexes/day to earn. The data drives Boosted Locations. High-footfall hexes where hotspot deployers earn extra MOBILE rewards. LA was the first city specifically targeted with a city-wide boosted-location rollout.

Mental Health Mates (defunct April 2026 - included as cautionary)

Health & Public Good · UK (London-anchored, 150+ local walks)

Founder Bryony Gordon's network of monthly Sunday Walk-and-Talks for people with mental-health issues, organized by local volunteer hosts in 150+ UK locations (Cambridge, Royston, Highams Park, etc.). Free, no booking, judgement-free.