Gbanga Famiglia (2010)

“I’ve played many video games, but I never thought that a game will make me walk outside in the rain…”

— a Gbanga Famiglia player

Location-based mafia game Gbanga Famiglia is an MMO game in which players can join or start their own Mafia Famiglia to take-over virtual establishments they discover whilst walking around the city. Establishments are linked to real-world establishments.

Realization

Gbanga Famiglia was an MMO-game developed and hosted by Gbanga. It had a world-wide community of competing rival mafia families.

Gbanga designed the gameplay, the visuals, implemented the apps and server infrastructure and provided the complete value added chain from community management and support to weekly content updates.

Gameplay

Join one of the 10 Mafia gangs or the Police Force to control the real-world.

Become the Mafioso of your neighborhood! With Gbanga, you will conquer your favorite real-world places, collect items, make new friends and participate in exciting quests. Gameplay happens on the streets and anywhere in the world, with real bars and nightclubs being taken-over by you on the move.

Conquered establishments become the property of the Famiglia and, in this way, whole cities can be captured. The more you explore the more points you can score.

Features

  • Uses GPS to locate you in the game world at your real-life location
  • Take-over real-world establishments such as bars, restaurants and clubs
  • Collect virtual items such as wallets, diamonds and Mona Lisa paintings
  • Chat with other players around the world
  • Pick and drop virtual characters at real-world locations
  • Discover new places and create a colorful flag for them
  • Use the friend radar option in the map mode
  • Trade the items in your inventory with friends and other players
  • Challenge your arch-rivals and ally with other players
  • Innovative real-time effects like day/night cycle and real current weather conditions
  • Numerous quests on a weekly base
  • It’s multiplayer, mixed-reality, location-based, augmented-reality, LBS, AR, MMRPG, MMO and MMTRG

Award nominations

Among many other nominations, Gbanga Famiglia was nominated for the Best Outdoor Game at the International Mobile Game Awards IMGA.

Technology used

  • Apple Xcode, Android SDK
  • MMO server (self-developed on LAMP/Linux)
  • Social media sharing
  • Real-time maps with OpenStreetMaps.org

Documentary video