The team at area/code are the brain trust behind Big Games - large-scale, multi-player, location-based games in which players interact with both the real-world and a virtual one. Of course, they say it in a much cooler way....

"Big Games encourage a playful use of public space. They have their roots in the neighborhood games of childhood; in the campus-wide games and stunts of college; in the nerd-culture of live-action role playing and Civil War re-enactments; in the art-culture of Happenings and Situationism; in urban skateparks, paintball fields and anywhere people gather together to play in large numbers and large spaces."

With the legendary PacManhattan game to their credit, they have continued to push the envelope in experiential gaming. One of their latest is Plundr, the first location-based interactive game for laptops. And they built it using Skyhook and Loki.

A location-based game of piracy and trading on the high seas, users navigate in the real world to seize an island, scuttle an enemy, or trade with the natives. Using Skyhook as a sextant and a laptop as a frigate, players must move to a defined physical space and in proximity to other players to activate and play the game. In the Big Game spirit, technology is a vehicle for real-world interaction where players can meet, conquer, concede, make peace or trade - without once brandishing a sword.