SCVNGR and Quno to bring rail-play to UK stations

It says something about the apparent popularity of location-based titles that a rail ticketing website has decided to offer station-based gameplay to iPhone and Android users.

Quno – a rail search and booking service due to launch later this year – has announced it is to partner with LBS app SCVNGR to offer up a series of challenges in eight major UK train stations.

A total of six challenges will be offered in each location - London Waterloo, Paddington, Liverpool Street and Euston; Bristol Temple Meads, Birmingham New Street, Manchester Piccadilly and Edinburgh making the line-up.

Delivered via a dedicated app, Quno states the move forms a vital part of the company's efforts to engage with – rather than merely serve – its consumer base.

"Interacting with rail travellers at rail stations will enable us to better understand their needs while providing some light hearted entertainment," says Quno MD Jeremy Acklam.

"At Quno we understand that customers want us to deliver the latest technology to make their online rail search and booking simpler. With SCVNGR we have extended this into mobile games, delivering them direct to rail travellers."

The partnership is also evidence of SCVNGR's attempts to go beyond the check-in and reward set up practised by the majority of LBS apps.

"We're excited to have this relationship with such a stealth company in the UK, offering players the chance to earn immediate access to the Quno beta site and scoring other sweet prizes," says SCVNGR CEO Priebatsch.

Back in August, Priebatsch claimed users were already becoming bored with the act of checking in being the focus of all location-based play, vowing the company was already working on ways to expand the genre's appeal.

"Some brands don't get it," he concluded at the time.

"We turn down a lot of money every month - minimum six figures - because brands want to do campaigns that we think are completely contradictory to the ecosystem that we are trying to build."