A Review on Location Based Services for Mobile Games

Abstract

As mobile users take their devices with them everywhere, adding location-awareness and incorporating geographic data into the applications is an important way to keep users connected to the surrounding world and people nearby, enhancing the overall contextual experience. Through the use of sensors like GPS, accelerometer, gyroscope and more on a mobile device, the addition of rich location and motion capabilities, automated location tracking, geofencing and activity recognition is feasible. In this paper, the facilities available on mobile devices for incorporating location-based services in mobile applications and the way this location awareness relates to mobile games are critically discussed. The paper consists of a review of previous research on the field and enlists all the necessary elements and components exposed by different platforms encompassing: (1) native functionality for Android and iOS platforms (2) web applications and (3) hybrid functionality for cross-development platforms like PhoneGap. This paper contributes to the field of location-based mobile games research by offering an enhanced understating of location-based services, as well as providing best practices for battery efficiency and performance that can be used as a starting point for adding locational awareness functionality.