QONQR

Hometown pride takes on all sorts of different meanings to various folks. For some, it’s sports teams. For others, it may be celebrating something their town is known for, no matter how silly it may be. However, this isn’t always enough. Some people not only want to watch the world burn, but they want to do it in the name of hometown pride and bragging rights; which is kind of the whole point of the game QONQR (pronounced Conquer), produced by a Minneapolis, MN company of the same name.

The concept behind QONQR is a tad complex: this game mixes the idea of an MMO, with location-based apps, plus in-app puchases that allow players to purchase an arsenal of weapons. Players can choose one of three factions in order to help take over the globe, or in most cases their geographic location. Based on their actual location, players will fire nanobots at opponents or the location in order to take it over, in a world wide capture the flag style game.

There is no real distinctive advantage or disadvantage to which faction is choosen. The real advantage however, comes with both teamwork and the weaponry in the form of weaponized nanobots, players can buy. QONQR isn’t the type of game one can get ahead in by being a solo artist. Some level of cooperation with others of the same faction within a certain area is required, especially if players want to steal that area from another faction.

However, the very thing that makes QONQR fun may also be it’s very downfall. QONQR is pretty reliant on purchasing in-game content, specifically weapons, in order to get the competitive edge. Most players aren’t going to go bankrupt anytime soon from purchasing IAPs, however. But the other fascinating (or annoying, depending on personal opinion) thing of note is the “evolving” currency. Meaning what players purchase one day won’t necessarily be the price they pay for that same level of credits a week later.

All that aside, QONQR has some fine playability. The interface is simplistic, but slick. There aren’t any crazy animations for anything, though for the kind of game it is, it doesn’t seem necessary. Most of this game is text interface, but totally readable and not a visual pain.

QONQR may not be for everyone, but for those who long for something different it may be the game to check out. It’s a basic design approach but its a perfect gamification of the whole Foursquare craze. Though the heavy usage of IAPs may scare some, there’s still a considerable amount of enjoyment to be had without being a power user. A lot of user-created story arcs and other assorted content has been created by the community, and it’s easy to see why; in the age of technology, QONQR allows us to participate in warfare on a cyber battlefield.