Monsarrat Wins 7th Patent in Outdoor Video Games

Monsarrat, Inc., which Jenna Seiden (former Pokemon Go VP) says is making the industry successor to Pokemon Go, has won its 7th patent in outdoor video games. Unlike Pokemon Go, which place game content into the real world at zero-dimensional map points, Monsarrat’s games use game zones, continuous areas outside that a player walks through to play, like the Holodeck on Star Trek. This 7th patent relates to stopping players that misbehave, trying to run, walk backwards, walk sideways or otherwise go beyond normal walking behavior.

First the game detects this forbidden motion, and then it punishes it by moving the game world. As if on a treadmill, the player can run as fast as they want to, but they’re not going to get anywhere. They can’t make progress through the game world that way. The feature has already been coded into Monsarrat’s upcoming mini-game, Landing Party, which is already on app stores as a demo. Now Monsarrat is moving to file this patent internationally.

Although Pokemon Go brought one type of gameplay outdoors, “collecting stuff”, isn’t a popular game genre. And their technology for pinpoints doesn’t support, for example, racing car games which need a racetrack, or roleplaying games, which need a whole world to explore. Monsarrat’s technology, using game zones that have no fixed position and can be placed anywhere, opens up outdoor gaming for the first to time to the powerhouse video game genres: action, roleplaying, strategy, and simulation. For that reason, Monsarrat’s upcoming game, and its technology, are creating a new platform in video games, outdoor play, that supports dozens of different game genres.

See videos and more at monsarrat.com.