Booyah's iPhone game MyTown turns real world into boardgame

Augmented reality is the new buzzword when it comes to linking the real world and virtual world in a way that both high street businesses and software developers can leverage technology to engage new customers.

But developer Booyah is still making use of more basic GPS systems to bring users into physical locations through a new iPhone game called MyTown.

"We want to blur real and virtual worlds - you’re navigating the real world by checking out pizza places, leaving comments for other people, and you’re also competing with friends with points and on a leaderboard," Booyah CEO and co-founder Keith Lee tells VentureBeat. "There are a couple startups that get press, but no one has become the de facto leader in the space."

MyTown turns real-world locations into something of a Monopoly board, allowing players to buy locations in their immediate area, earn money from them and expand them, while gathering extras from actually visiting the place in person.

Its previous attempt at a similar, more social location-based experience, Booyah Society, has seen a rather underwhelming reception on iPhone, though the far stronger and more traditional gaming element of MyTown could be just what the company needs to finally land that killer real-world app.

06 August 2010 MyTown goes global as Booyah checks into UK, Australia and Canada

26 May 2010 2.5 million US users and MyTown's now expanding into 34 countries and onto Android

20 May 2010 MyTown on the march as Booyah signs up for Google Places

17 May 2010 Booyah picks up $20 million in third funding round

06 May 2010 MyTown hits 2 million users