The shortlist
The best GPS territory games in 2026
A territory game is one where you capture real ground and someone can take it back. There are only a handful still being worked on, and they are good at very different things — so this is not a ranking. It is which one suits which player, with the date each last shipped an update so you can see it is alive.
We make one of them, BloodRivals. It is on this list on the same terms as the others, including the part where we say who should play something else.
At a glance
Swipe the table sideways →
| Game | Best for | What you capture | Does it last? | Last update |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ingress | Coordinated faction strategy | Portals on landmarks and public art, linked into control fields | Not compared here | Sept 2026 |
| Turf | Zone capture in monthly rounds | Zones placed in cities, communities and nature | Scores reset when the round ends | Aug 2026 |
| BloodRivals | Owning individual addresses that earn | The real building you are standing at | Until a rival takes it — nothing resets | Sept 2026 |
| Turf Wars | A mafia game on the real map, since 2009 | Real-world places, defended from other mobsters | Until another player captures it | May 2026 |
| RunStrict | Runners who want territory | Hexagonal tiles you run through, under a set pace | 40-day seasons, cleared at the end | Sept 2026 |
| KYRO | Runners with no distance target | The block inside a closed loop you run | Not stated on its listing | Sept 2026 |
Last update is the App Store release date, checked 2026-09-15.
If you want faction strategy: Ingress
Two global factions capture portals on landmarks and public art, then link them into control fields. It is the deepest option and the most social — the big plays need other people, in a group chat, at specific times. It is also old and dense with jargon, so walking into it cold is hard. Ingress compared →
If you want zone capture in rounds: Turf
Turf has run since 2010 and is well established across the Nordics. You take zones placed in cities, communities and nature, and the game runs in rounds of about a month — scores reset, so nobody is permanently behind. Where it has been played for years, it will have more people near you than we will. Turf compared →
If you want to own addresses: BloodRivals
Start with the catch: it is small. The players are concentrated in Norway, mainly Trondheim and Oslo, so almost anywhere else you would be starting a board rather than joining one.
What it does differently is ownership. You claim the real building you are standing at, build it up so it earns in-game income while you hold it, and other players can take it from you. Nothing resets on a date — an address is yours until a rival takes it — and there are no bots, so every claim on the map belongs to a person. It works solo; a team holds more ground. How territory games work →
If you want a mafia game on the map: Turf Wars
On the App Store since 2009, and it got to the GPS mafia idea long before we did. Its own listing describes claiming and defending real-world places from other mobsters and capturing turf from other players. It is an RPG about rank and force. Mafia games compared →
If you run: RunStrict or KYRO
These turn the route itself into territory. RunStrict flips hexagonal tiles as you run through them, only under a set pace, with three teams and 40-day seasons. KYRO fills in the block inside a loop you close, on a shared city map, and sets no distance to hit. GPS running games compared →
Not on this list, and why
Orna has territory, but it is an RPG first — the pick if you want progression rather than ground. Atlas Earth sells virtual land, but parcels are bought rather than contested, so nobody can take yours. And several older territory games are still installable but no longer updated — the ones that shut down.
Common questions
- What is the best GPS territory game in 2026?
- It depends what you want to hold. Ingress for faction strategy with a group, Turf for zone capture in monthly rounds, BloodRivals for owning individual real addresses that earn income, Turf Wars for a GPS mafia game, and RunStrict or KYRO if the territory should come from running.
- Which territory game has the most players?
- Ingress and Turf are long-established; BloodRivals is small and concentrated in Norway, mainly Trondheim and Oslo. Population near you matters more than features — a territory game with nobody nearby is a to-do list on a map.
- Is there a territory game where you keep what you capture?
- Yes. In BloodRivals, what you hold stays yours until another player takes it — nothing resets on a date. Turf resets scores each monthly round and RunStrict clears ground at the end of each 40-day season.
- Can you play a territory game without running?
- Yes — Ingress, Turf and BloodRivals are played by walking to places. RunStrict gates capture on pace; KYRO is built around runs but sets no distance to hit.
Free on iOS and Android. No ads. Optional in-app purchases.
More comparisons
- Location-based gamesThe genre, and what is still active in it
- Property gamesBoard, idle and location — three kinds that play nothing alike
- Territory gamesHow claiming and holding real ground works
- Territory games on mobileScreen strategy, or the map of your own city
- GPS gamesBattery, rural coverage and how much walking is really needed
- Pokémon GO alternativesFor catching-game players wanting stakes
- Ingress alternativesTerritory without the coordination overhead
- Turf alternativesGPS capture without the monthly reset
- Atlas Earth alternativesVirtual land other people can take
- Landlord GO alternativesProperty games you have to walk to
- Orna alternativesGPS games with real-world stakes
- Geocaching alternativesWhen you want the ground to be at stake
- GPS running gamesTerritory capture without a pace requirement
- Walking gamesA reason to go out — without a step counter
- Mafia gamesCrime empires from the sofa vs turf you walk to
- Games that shut downMinecraft Earth, Wizards Unite and more — and what's left
Pokémon GO, Ingress, Niantic, Scopely, Turf, Andrimon, Atlas Earth, Landlord GO, Get Rent, Reality Games, Monopoly GO!, Monster Hunter Now, Pikmin Bloom, Jurassic World Alive, Orna, Northern Forge, Geocaching, Adventure Lab®, Groundspeak, Munzee, RunStrict, Claim of Zones, Capture, KYRO, Movements Lab, Territory Run, Minecraft Earth, Mojang, Microsoft, Catan, Nerd Ninjas, Ghostbusters, Sony Pictures, FourThirtyThree, The Walking Dead, AMC, Next Games, Draconius GO, Harry Potter, Wizards Unite, WB Games, The Witcher, Spokko, CD Projekt, Maguss, Parallel Kingdom, Run An Empire, Location Games Limited, Father.io, Proxy42, Mafia City, YottaGames, Mob Wars: LCN, Underworld Empire, The Grand Mafia, Territorial.io, State.io, AI Games, The Battle of Polytopia, Midjiwan, RISK, Hasbro, SMG Studio, Turf Wars and MeanFreePath are trademarks of their respective owners. Named across this site only to compare them; no affiliation or endorsement is implied, and nothing on this site is a statement about their earnings, payouts or business practices.