Monday Morning Gamification, Gaming Public Transport

It’s gamification time again. Now, I’m a big user of public transport. I don’t have a car so almost all the times I travel, it’s on public transport. I’ve been doing it for so long I’d like to think that I’m pretty good at it. So now there is the chance to turn this most common of skills into points – and what do points make? Prizes! This from the most recent issue of Wired (Dec 10th 2010):

If you’re Jason Bourne, public transport is a thrill; for the rest of us, it’s a drag. Unless you’re playing Chromaroma. “We wanted to make something that added magic to someone’s life, every day,” says the games 37-year old creator Toby Barnes, of Brimingham-based developer Mudlark…. Working as a team or individually you get bonuses for hitting special “collections” of stations or completing missions such as the diamond runner” between Bond Street and Chancery Lane (imitating the couriers who ferry gems between jewellers and safe houses).

The game (as you might have guessed) is set in London currently, but it’s a great idea and I hope to see it spread! (As I’m in London more now for our work with the Wellcome Trust, I should look to have a go!)