MyTown, built by Booyah, reminds me a lot of monopoly, but without the board and family. Players can buy locations that are close to them and have other players who check-in to those places pay them rent — all in virtual currency. Once the owner collects a certain amount of rent, they can upgrade to increase the location’s value and thus earn more from rent. Back to Monopoly, it’s like going from owning Baltic Ave to Boardwalk.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":218975,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"business,games,mobile,","session":"B"}']A new feature with the game’s global availability includes integration with Google Places, a directory of real local businesses. Users can now locate and lay claim to any location that appears on Google Maps. Within those locations, the game also allows users to scan barcodes to unlock virtual currency.
Other location-based services are available globally, including popular mobile check-in game Foursquare, which started its global push at the end of last year and now covers the entire world, and Gowalla.
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San Francisco-based MyTown has raised close to $29.5 million in funding and claims to have more than 3.5 million users in just a few months time. With the global availability, the app may continue to see rapid growth.
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